With Joel Piniero and Doug Davis gone to the Angels and Brewers respectively, the Mets suddenly find themselves with few free agent options left to bolster their starting rotation. Coupled with the loss of catcher Bengie Molina back to the Giants, a once promising off-season has hit a wall.
What now?
Jon Garland, an excellent option for Citi Field, seems to want to pitch on the west coast. That leaves Ben Sheets and John Smoltz, both with significant health issues. It was clear that the Mets were offering competitive salaries to both, but weren’t willing to go the extra mile to get either. Unless they can somehow get Garland, they should gamble on Sheets. The Mets only appear to have interest in Smoltz as a reliever, but the future Hall of Famer may be looking to start. He left Boston last year because they wanted to use him in the bullpen after he failed as a starter.
Word this morning is that the Mets will be making a hard push for Ben Sheets. In the event they sign Sheets, it could tun out that that they backed into the best guy. Potentially lightning in a bottle, Sheets has the the ability to emerge as a co-number one with Johan Santana.
Its the kind of move that make the Mets a contender. A healthy Sheets could turn around the energy lost from Carlos Beltran’s absence.
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This post was written by bobsikes on January 22, 2010
