I agree with Michael Baron’s well thought out take this morning. Says Baron:

…in regards to the pitchers Sherman mentioned, Garland was always destined for the west coast, unless of course a team like the Mets blew him away with an offer, but i think people would’ve been equally as critical if they had done that with Garland or Davis, because neither are talents any team should overpay for because neither talents can transform a franchise…the Mets were in on Pineiro but ultimately, the Mets wouldn’t increase their offer, and for a guy who i believe will not succeed outside of St. Louis, i’m not going to jump on Omar Minaya for that either…

Baron was using Joel Sherman’s column for talking points. He makes the good points that Mets are not the same destination it once was. The club was going to have to overwhelm most free agents to be in the picture. The talent in this market – save Jason Bay and John Lackey – did not warrant that. The Mets would have upped their offer to get Bay. Lackey’s health should have been a question of concern that kept them out of a bidding war with the Red Sox.

But Baron makes another point that I have been making in that Jason Marquis was the best fit that never seemed to be considered. Unlike other players, the New York native made it known he wanted to play for the Mets. If Marquis has a good season for the suddenly improved Washington Nationals, the non-signing will prove to be another hammer of media segues.

Still, the relative one-year bargains that Doug Davis, Jon Garland, and Bengie Molina are non only indicative of the market the Mets likely predicted but were also just that -bargains. Its easy to feel that the Mets could have “over paid” or easily made a offer worthy of accepting.

You can be assured that the team that ultimately the Mets are compared to in the Yankees would have paid the price to get a player they either wanted or needed. Yet the Mets did not make any of those determinations, and it reveals they better be thinking in other ways as I commented on a few days ago.

What ever the plans, the Mets are committed to it now. They have to bank now on the return to form of Oliver Perez and John Maine. Mike Pelfrey will have to improve. The Omir Santos – Henry Blanco catching tandem has to suddenly compare favoritably to the Nationals acquisition of hall of famer Ivan Rodriguez as Dan Warthen was public in his condemnation of last year’s catching. The bashing of Luis Castillo by his own club needs to have not been accurate.

It’s alot to hope.

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It’s clear that the Mets could have had Jason Marquis and at a price they might have found acceptable. Today’s report in the Daily News puzzles me:

The explanation coming from the Mets last night, via a club source, is that they are focused on offense first, as they continue negotiations with Molina and outfielder Jason Bay. As such they aren’t ready to negotiate with pitchers until they know how much it costs to add bats.

Really? You mean you don’t have salary already slotted for a starter and you cannot go after more need than once? How do you explain all your efforts to improve catching. All of those available now are going to go for about the same thing. A relaible veteran player who wants to play for the Mets should not have been dismissed so easily. If there was diagreement on Marquis, it must have been from somebody high up like Omar Minaya or Jeff Wilpon.

So the quote the John Harper got sounds like a cop out to deflect criticism. The Mets hypersensitivity toward what’s written about them in the newspaper far too often results in clearly disingenuous spin. The Mets just needed to be big boys and say that they had no interest in Marquis. Because if they were, letting him sign with the Nationals was a screw up.

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I sorta think so. Mike Silva tells Molina to take it or leave it.

With Bay, I suspect it’s that he really does not want to play in NY. He probably went into the off-season hoping the Red Sox would make a strong bid to resign him or that his hometown Mariners would come calling. If the rumor that Milton Bradley is going to Seattle is true, I doubt they would want to add another 30 year-old outfielder. Bay and his agent are waiting for someone else – anyone – to enter the bidding. Making a counter proposal to Minaya means the Mets are the only suitors.

I agree with Silva in that it’s his agent trying to get more money from the Mets.

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If the Wilpons are serious about Jason Bay, they are serious about John Lackey. If this is indeed the case Fred and Jeff have pulled off one of the best stealth operations in baseball free agent history.

There is no reason to commit to a left fielder, if they are not going to get a starter. It appears that the Mets will not be out bid for Bay, and if this is the case, they will spend for another starter like Lackey.

Brilliant move if this is the case as they effectively kept their cards close to the vest

Let’s face it. If we had not sustained so many injuries, we would not have faltered as we had. To be fair, 2009 may have been an aberation and the addition of Bay, Lackey and Molina might mean more than we can imagine..

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