How to fix the Mets

At his column for Newsday Kevin Davidoff explains what the Mets needs are for the upcoming 2008 season and what the Mets have already done during the offseason.

He writes in his list of already executed aquisitions...

"1. Retained manager Willie Randolph and all of his coaches, aside from Rickey Henderson. Thumbs up. Randolph deserves a chance at redemption"

This is interesting because many people did not like Willie after the 2007 collapse. I agree with Davidoff because Willie is truly a great person and could be a great manager. People forget that he is still new to the game of managing and just carries himself like he has managed all his life. I say give him a chance next year and he will show us all the real Willie Randolph and how could he can really be.

The next point Davidoff makes many Mets fans agree with...

"4. Re-signed Luis Castillo. Thumbs down. He's a nice player, but four years? "

I agree with this statement and so do many other Mets fans. Luis Castillo is a great secondbasemen. He has speed, hitting, he can field, the only thing that gets people nervous about 4 years is his age and his knees. Towards the end of last season Castillo played secondbase with both his knees ailing him. At the end of the season he had surgery on both his knees. It good that his knees are better, but no one knows if he will be the same Luis Castillo as he was prior to the knee problems. If he isnt the same Castillo then we are stuck with an over aged second baseman who will not be able to play. If this surgery does rejuvanate Castillo then we have a all-star second basemen that can hit after Jose Reyes and can play like a golden glover at second.

another point that Davidoff makes concerning what the Mets should do with their pitching staff is...

" 1. Trade Aaron Heilman, Lastings Milledge, Kevin Mulvey and a lower-level prospect to the A's for Dan Haren."

I would rather get Danny Haren then Johan Santana. I know you're thinking i'm crazy, but Johan will cost the Mets an abundance of young pitchers and position players who the Mets are not willing to part with. Johan is also a free agent after this season. Its not gaurantteed that Johan will even resign after this season. If we acquired Haren we would be giving up Aaron Heilman, who is a good pitcher out of the pen but hasnt lived up to his potential, and Milledge and Mulvey. I do not want to part with either Milledge or Mulvey until they both play to their full potential and we truly give them a chance to play. Milledge has enourmous potential to become a great player but does not have the drive for becoming a great player. Mulvey however pitched great in the minors last year and surprised many people in the Mets organization. But imagine the Mets starting rotation with Haren.

1. Danny Haren
2. Pedro Martinez
3. John Maine
4. Oliver Perez
5. Orlando Hernandez/ Mike Pelfrey

with this rotation i think the Mets could qualify for the Playoffs in April.

He then writes his last point which i dont really think is realistic.

"2. Trade pitcher Carlos Muniz and a lower-level prospect to the White Sox for Jose Contreras and $5 million."

I have no idea how this trade could even be considered by the White Sox. Carlos Muniz is the lower level prospect that you would need to trade the White Sox. Muniz is in no way proven at the major league level. I do believe that he will be a good reliever but you cant trade him now, he does not have value. Havinf Contreras in the Mets rotation would be a good idea because he would be reunited with Orlando Hernandez, who played with him in Cuba and on the Yankees.

I would suggest reading this article over at Newsday.com. It was a very interesting article with many new ideas that could really help the Mets next year.