Carlos Delgado Files For Free Agency, Will He Be Back in 2010?

The filing period for Free Agents to begin negotiating with their incumbent teams has begun with the end of the World Series.

Carlos Delgado and Brian Schneider were the first two eligible Mets to file for Free Agency yesterday.

Gary Sheffield, JJ Putz, Fernando Tatis, Alex Cora, and Ramon Martinez are also expected to file Free Agency in the next few days.

The Mets are not expected to stand in the way of these players either retiring or signing with other teams.

Incumbent teams have until November 20th to resign their Free Agents exclusively. 

Other teams may contact them during this time, but no contracts can be signed until the current team either decides to re-sign or let them pursue other contracts.

The Mets existing core of Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and David Wright is in danger of being broken up, especially with injuries to all four of them in 2009.

Lengthy (2+months) stays on the DL were necessary for Delgado, Beltran and Reyes.

Jose Reyes had surgery on his leg a few weeks ago, so  his status for the spring is unknown and health concerns for Beltran (knees) and Wright (concussion-related) will continue until both prove otherwise in Spring Training.

Delgado only played in 26 games for the Mets in 2009 before he needed hip surgery in May.

In his absence, Daniel Murphy appeared to find his home in the defensive alignment as it was clear that he is not a gifted outfielder.  If not for Delgado's absence most of the season, it's possible that Murphy may have either been a permanent bench player or re-assigned to the Minor Leagues.

Jerry Manuel was hesitant to use Murphy against left-handed pitchers, so Fernando Tatis had several starts at first base until he was needed to play third base after David Wright's concussion in mid-August.

Omar Minaya and the Mets management need to decide if they should let Daniel Murphy have his full chance to prove himself as an everyday first baseman.

They will probably try to pursue an established first baseman via Free Agency or trade during and after the winter meeting negotiations. 

Should a good fit be found, the option of keeping Murphy at the major league level is at least an option as he has proved that he can hit major league pitchers.

Minaya's job is on the line in 2010 unless the Mets do extremely well, so his moves this winter can set the tone for the season in the fans and management's minds.  Time will tell what moves are made this winter.