Mets offseason

Starting off with the bread and butter, here are/were my offseason goals for the Mets, updated with current progress.

1) Bring in an ace starting pitcher, no matter the cost (The stove is very hot..)

Honestly, at this point, every single deal I have heard for Santana that doesn't include Reyes sounds good to me. There is so little out there, that I can see myself rationalizing a deal along the lines of Pelfrey, Humber, Milledge, Gomez, Fernando Martinez and Deolis Guerra for Santana. It's sad, but I really don't have tremendous faith that any of these guys will develop into great players, and I want to see Santana in orange and blue in the worst way. Tell me you care who is in right field next year if Santana takes the mound on opening day for the next 8 years...

2) Upgrade the bullpen ( ??????)

Well the Mets off-season is underway for 53 days now, and I feel like I have made as much effort to upgrade the bullpen, well unless you consider addition by subtraction, which will be discussed in #3. However, how can this not be priority #1. This was so clearly the cause of the meltdown, and I feel like its not being addressed. Yes, Padilla and Sanchez are due to come back healthy, but they need to be treated as pleasant surprised if they're healthy, not be counted on. Get on it Omar..

3) Get rid of Guillermo Mota under any circumstance (Check plus)

Unbelievable, I would have been willing to pay a team to take him AND pay his salary, and somehow we got a team to not only take him off ours hands, not only eat his salary, but send us a decent player at a need position. Estrada for Mota has to go down as one of the biggest head scratching trades in MLB history. Looks like maybe there's a reason Milwaukee has the most bars per capita in America (Meyer, Brian).

4) Upgrade at catcher (Check-ish)

Haven't really done this, however, I don't truly think Omar is done looking yet. Omar will have no problem non-tendering Estrada if a better option becomes available, seeing as we gave away less than nothing (literally) to bring him here. I'm really glad Omar didn't give Posada 4 years, as I think I will be as effective as Posada in 2011. While I'm glad Castro will be back due to his power bat and getting to hear the Imperial March every few games, you know he isn't good for more than 100 games played, and is much better suited for a backup role. Even when filling in full time for Paulie, it was evident he can't handle playing constantly. He's a perennial backup, but a good one at that. As for the second head of Omar's 'two-headed monster, I'll say two things. 1) Yorvit Torrealbea at 3 years/$15 million? Michael Vick is a better investment at this point, maybe G-d is a Mets fan for making that one fall through. 2) I'm OK for now with Estrada being the second half, but I hope Omar keeps his eyes open..

5) Re-sign Castillo (Check)

I know some people disagree with me here, but I thought this was the right move. He's great fit for this team. A perfect 2 hole hitter that allows Reyes to flourish, a solid defender who meshed well with Reyes, and a guy who was surprisingly clutch in his 2 months in New York. However, 4 years, $32 million? It must really be a tough market out there...

6) Pick up the option on Alou. (Check)

.341 with a .916 OPS. He can play on my team any day, even if its only for 100 games. This guy is ageless, must be the ammonia.

7) Bring in a mid-level veteran outfielder

Alou can only be counted on for about 100 games, Beltran is guaranteed at least one DL stint, and who knows what young guys will still be on the roster come April. I'd feel a lot more comfortable with someone that you can feel OK with plugging in when someone goes down. Endy will be around, maybe give Green $3-4 million to break the All-Time Jewish Home Run Record on the Mets, but we need someone who can play every day if needed. Some ideas: Luis Gonzalez, Jose Guillen, Kenny Lofton

8) Improve scouting

It's painful watching the Yankees and Red Sox crank out great young players by the minute. Where's our Joba Chamberlain? Or Clay Buchholz? Or Jon Lester? Or Dustin Pedroia? Or Jacoby Ellsbury? As of this moment, the Mets have two first round picks and a sandwich pick, let's spend some money on scouting and get some young studs.