With news that the Baltimore Orioles have signed Chad Bradford, here’s a look at the remaining Mets free agents. They include Mike DeFelice, c; Cliff Floyd, of; Tom Glavine, lhp; Roberto Hernandez, rhp; Yusaku Iriki, rhp; Ricky Ledee, of; Guillermo Mota, rhp; Darren Oliver, lhp; Steve Trachsel, rhp; Michael Tucker, rf; Chris Woodward, ss. Out of this list, I would have to say that the players the Mets want back most would be Glavine, and perhaps Oliver but Oliver’s agent has stated the Mets have not really made any contact with the free agent. . 

Now that Bradford is gone, Aaron Heilman becomes that much more untouchable.  As long as Sanchez comes to spring training healthy you have to feel pretty good about the back end of the relief core with Wagner being set up by Sanchez and/or Heilman.  I was fairly confident the Mets would resign Bradford especially because recent reports stated that the submarine style reliever was close to a two year deal with the Metropolitans.  However it appears that the Orioles snuck in with a third year and 10.5 million that clinched the deal for Chad and his agent.  Bradford made about 1.5 million with the Mets so signing for 10.5m is a nice raise. I’m not going to fault Omar on this deal not getting done.  It’s ludicrous to offer three years for a 7th inning reliever.  How often do these types of pitchers put together five effective years in a row?  That’s what is being asked of Bradford considering he has had a couple good years in a row already.  Plus he’ll be pitching in a league where the hitting is much more difficult to pitch to. 

Out of the list of remaining Mets free agents, don’t expect, Woodward, Ledee, Roberto Hernandez, or Steve Trachsel to be back.  The Mets signed Damion Easly who will take Woodward’s place.  Trachsel as we all know has over stayed his welcome regardless of his 15 wins, Ledee was useless and Hernandez really never contributed much since coming over from the Pirates in the Nady deal.  We know the Mets want Glavine back and Oliver did a fine job in long relief but it’s very possible that neither of them will return to the Mets.  It is expected that by the weekend the Mets will finally know Glavine’s intentions.  Although a better deal is probably on the table from the Mets, I’m growing less confident that Tom will return.  I’m not sure what the thinking is in regards to Oliver.  Perhaps the Mets are simply waiting and not viewing his role a priority because they have a number of much younger pitchers to draw from for long relief.  Never the less at the moment the Mets relief core which was brilliant on 2006 is suddenly looking like it has a few holes to fill.  The Mets are also losing out on some free agent pitchers who recently signed with other clubs.  Although Minaya has stated that he may be able to improve the starting rotation through trades, you have to assume any deal can no longer include Heilman or another hole in the pen will be opened up.

Mota could still be resigned but even if he is, he will not be eligible to play for the first 50 games. When he is ready to pitch, how can the Mets even be confident that what they are getting is as good as the juiced up pitcher that Mota was last year.  It’s very likely the Mets will be depending on some of their younger pitchers they have in the system and acquired recently in trades. 

Michael Tucker, Mike DeFelice, and Yusaku Iriki were marginal players at best and certainly no Mets fans are going to scream if they do not return.  But it is clear that Omar has his work cut out for him.  With Glavine still not signed, he is going to most likely have to go after and over pay for Barry Zito.  Zito is probably not as good a pitcher as Roy Oswalt who the Mets tried to acquire at the trade deadline last year but the Mets will probably have to give him a similar contract.  At the very least the winter meetings should be very interesting for Omar and Mets fans.

Extra Innings.  Why in the world did the Yankees bid 26 million on Kei Igawa?  This is a back of the end rotation guy at best. The Yankees are said to be offering somewhere around 17 to 18 million for one year.  So ultimately it comes down to almost 45 million for one year!  Unbelievable, and this from a team that recently said they were not going to spend money wildly any more.

For once, Scott Boras may actually be trumped.  It appears that the Red Sox can basically low ball for Daisuke Matsuzaka.  Here’s the reason; if the Sox do not sign him then the 51 million they gave to his Japanese team will have to be returned.  If that happens, you can bet no Japanese owner will work with Boras again.  Maybe Theo Epstein still has what it takes after all.