Earlier this evening, a story broke out that Fred and Jeff Wilpon had made plans to retain general manager Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel for the 2010 season. 

However, after Monday night's late breaking news, maybe the Wilpon's should have some second thoughts. 

Following the Mets 6-2 victory over the Washington Nationals, SNY and WFAN baseball insider Jon Heyman, on live television, announced that the Mets had rejected a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays for the services of the best pitcher in baseball: Roy Halladay. 

What did the Mets have to give up for Halladay? Jose Reyes? No.

Carlos Beltran? No. David Wright? No. A package of John Maine, Oliver Perez and Mike Pelfrey? No. 

All the Blue Jays wanted was...(drum roll please)...Fernando Martinez, Jon Niese, Ruben Tejada, and Bobby Parnell. That's it! 

Granted, you can't blame any general manager for not wanting to mortgage the future on a pitcher who will be 33-years-old next year. Not to mention he will be a free agent after the 2010 season. However, the Mets would have made out like John Dillinger robbing a bank if they only gave up these four prospects for the best pitcher in baseball. 

Halladay is 11-3 with a 2.73 ERA, 113 strikeouts and 17 walks in 132 innings this season. He has mastered the American League, a league where pitchers' ERA's usually go to die.

He has four complete games this season, compared to his nine complete games last season, which gives him 44 in his career.

Can you imagine how he would do in the National League where the lineup has the pitcher batting ninth?

Better yet, can you imagine how he would do in a park like Citi Field, which is a pitcher's park in every sense of the word? These are rhetorical questions; questions Omar Minaya doesn't care to answer, apparently. 

For all the accolades 20-year-old Fernando Martinez has received the last couple of years, he underachieved in his short stint with the big club this year. In 91 at bats, Martinez hit .176 with a .242 OBP. He is now infamous in Mets lore for flopping like a fish in Milwaukee while chasing after a fly ball, and is now spending time on the Mets already full disabled list. 

As for Niese, he got off to a promising start last September when he shut down the Atlanta Braves in his first start. However, he finished the month with a 1-1 record and a 7.07 ERA in three starts. Niese was called up again in May, and was underwhelming in two starts, recording a 0-0 record and a 5.91 ERA. 

Does this mean that Niese is a bust? No.

He is young, and there is still a lot of room for improvement. He is pitching well in Triple-A Buffalo, posting a 5-6 record with a 3.82 ERA in 92 innings. However, when a pitcher like Roy Halladay becomes available, hesitation is not an option. 

Tejada is a young short stop in Double-A, batting .272 with just two homers and 27 RBI. He is not the Mets top shortstop prospect; that title belongs to 17-year-old Wilmar Flores, who has drawn comparisons to Derek Jeter. If the Mets were afraid to let go of Tejada and his underwhelming numbers, they should be ashamed of themselves. 

Finally, Parnell is the only prospect with legitimate major league experience, and he has been shaky all season. Parnell is 2-3 with a 4.26 ERA; he has looked dominate at times, and overwhelmed other times.

He never took advantage of the opportunity to become the Mets set-up man when J.J. Putz went down in May, and has been regulated to one-sided games recently. 

In short, the Blue Jays were willing to take practically nothing for Halladay. The Mets could have made a move that would have hampered the Phillies playoff hopes for this year, and give themselves the best 1-2 punch in baseball history. 

Johan Santana followed by Roy Halladay would have given the Mets a huge advantage in a short series, even with all the injuries on the Mets offense this year.

Looking forward to 2010, a combo of Santana and Halladay, along with Francisco Rodriguez in the bullpen, would have made the Mets instant favorites to win the NL East, and instant favorites to represent the NL in the World Series. But, that is why they play the game, of course. 

The Mets had a golden opportunity to change their recent misfortune. They had a chance to make a statement to their fan base, to their players, and to their rivals. The New York Mets might be down right now, but they are not down for the count. Omar Minaya should be ashamed of himself, especially if Roy Halladay is putting a red Phillies cap on his head in two weeks.