I haven’t posted here in a while, mostly because the Mets have been very quiet since improving up their bullpen with Francisco Rodruguez and JJ Putz in December. Those two pick-ups were huge – especially for a team whose bullpen blew so hard they should have been featured on IDeepThroat.com – but they shouldn’t be finished. The Mets have a few holes to fill and there’s plenty of talent out there to satisfy their needs. (Honestly, I don’t even know what’s up with these sexual references today.)

For starters, they need starters – two to be more specific. They missed out on Derek Lowe, which was not a big deal. He was asking for a pretty hefty contract for a 35 year old pitcher – he got $60 million over four years from Atlanta. The only negative about this is that the Mets are going to have to face him about four times this season, and he is a good pitcher. Not sure if he’s worth that contract, though.

I have hoped since the season ended that the Mets would resign Oliver Perez. He’s not consistent but he

pitches well when he has to. His second half of last year was unbelievable and, when he’s on the staff, it gives the Mets two pitchers to call on to come through in clutch games. If they sign Perez, that would give them a pretty good four man rotation with Johan Santana, John Maine, Mike Pelfrey, and Perez.

For that final spot, there’s still plenty of talent left in the free agent market. Here’s a list of free agents from MLBTradeRumors.com (I check this site about once an hour when I’m at work). I’d say there are at least six or seven guys on that list that would make a quality fifth starter and are not looking for too much money.

In terms of hitting, the Mets don’t need much. What they do need is a right hand hitting corner outfielder. I’ve heard of one player who fits that mold: Manny Ramirez. It may be wishful thinking, but how can we ignore the fact that the best hitter of our generation is exactly the player our team is looking for, and he is available. Say what you want about his attitude, but the guy straight up rakes. And according to my sports slang dictionary, raking in baseball terms is good. I really wouldn’t be surprised to see Minaya make a play for Manny. He loves signing big names, and has a propensity towards players Latin players.

You can check out the list of hitters that are still available from that MLBTradeRumor link also. There are some decent outfielders still available that do not have hair that looks like a flowering cannabis plant. Adam Dunn is the best of the lot. The negatives with him, though, are that he’s another lefty and he just hits homers. He doesn’t field and he doesn’t hit for average and he strikes out.

Apparently the Mets are also close to signing Alex Cora. This would give them something to fall back on in case Luis Castillo poops the bed again. I would still love to get Orlando Hudson on this team, he’s a great fielder and you could hit him anywhere in the lineup (except for 1, 3, 4, or 5 but the Mets are fine in those spots). The Mets do need an outfielder more, so they should be spending their money there but I still think Hudson would be awesome to have.

Hopefully we’ll see the Mets land some good free agents in the coming weeks. There are still a ton of quality players out there and plenty of options to fill the Mets needs.