Who’s next?
There are several options the Mets can use. They can sign Carlos Beltran (a .273 BA, 29 HR, 105 RBI and 35 SB in 2002), a guy that the Kansas City Royals are trying desperately to get rid of. The only catch is he doesn’t play third, he plays center field. But, we desperately need a good outfielder like him. Another advantage is he’s young (25), and we could use some good young players like him. A disadvantage is the fact that he plays for a small-market team, and coming to a large-market team, like the Mets, with the spotlight of the press constantly on him, it could mess him up big time. A major rumor right now is Ken Griffey Junior coming to New York for Armando Benitez, Roger Cedeno and pitching prospect Pat Strange. That seems like a little much though, don’t you think? Over the past two seasons, Junior has only had 30 homeruns, less than a single one of his seasons since 1995. Another negative with Griffey is the fact that he doesn’t want to come to New York. And according to the New York Post, the Mets don’t want Griffey. So the question mark remains on that subject.
Now we move onto the subject of third-base. We could either sign Bill Mueller (six errors in 2002), or we could trade for Shea Hillenbrand, or Joe Randa. A third option is signing Japanese star third-baseman Norihiro Nakamura.
For the shortstop problem the Mets have, according to the New York Post, the Boston Red Sox may be getting rid of Nomar Garciaparra, which could solve numerous Met problems, but top prospect Jose Reyes is almost ready (he should be ready by Opening Day 2004), and it is highly unlikely that the Mets will make that move.
The Mets have also announced that they are still looking to sign reliever Mike Stanton.
Will Musto is writer and webmaster for Fonzie Online. Check out Fonzie Online at http://www.fonzieonline.cjb.net/. You can reach him at webmaster@fonzieonline.zzn.com |
