Mets' Plan for the Offseason

Sign Mark Grudzielanek

With Daniel Murphy and/or Luis Castillo as the potential second baseman, why not bring in a steady veteran like Grudzielanek to add some production from the right hand side? 

Assuming Castillo is sent packing at some point in the season, Grudzielanek would give another option for manager Jerry Manuel to use against a tough lefty, and provide some production in either the two or seven hole of the batting order when called upon. Estimated contract—1 year/$1.5 million.

Bring In All the Arms You Can to Compete for a Bullpen Spot

If I was looking to upgrade my bullpen, I'd bring in as many arms as I could and have them compete for a spot in spring training. 

The Mets have used this method for some success in the past, bringing in guys like Darren Oliver or Roberto Hernandez who were cast aside by other teams, only to have a bit of a resurgence in Queens.

Bring in guys like Chad Cordero and Mike MacDougal. Pitchers that have had talent, but for one reason or another, haven't been able to have success in the recent past.

You bring in enough candidates, you're likely to catch lightning in a bottle at least once.

Move Aaron Heilman to the Starting Rotation

This is a tough decision either way because Heilman has had great success in the bullpen.

However, he has recently suffered from a bit of wildness, and the propensity to throw the gopher ball. I think Heilman would be best served at this point by being made the No. 5 starter going into spring training. 

I don't think it serves his or the Mets best interests to bring him back into a bullpen spot at this point. If that is the plan, he should be traded to another team, so he could start with a clean slate.

With all the moves suggested above, it would leave the Mets with the following lineup/pitching:

1. Jose Reyes SS
2. Daniel Murphy 2B
3. David Wright 3B
4. Carlos Beltran CF
5. Carlos Delgado 1B
6. Juan Rivera LF
7. Ryan Church RF
8. Brian Schneider C
9. Pitcher

Bench: Grudzielanek, Ramon Castro, Fernando Tatis, Luis Castillo, Endy Chavez

Rotation

1. Johan Santana
2. Mike Pelfrey
3. Oliver Perez
4. John Maine
5. Aaron Heilman

Bullpen

1. Kerry Wood (Closer)
2. Jeremy Affeldt (set up)
3. Joe Smith (set up)
4. Duaner Sanchez (set up) 
5. Pedro Feliciano/Scott Schoenweis (whichever one isn't kept, the other one should be traded) (situational lefty)
6. Bobby Parnell (set up)
7. Jason Vargas (long man)

Obviously, each bullpen spot short of Wood, Affeldt and Smith would be up for grabs in spring training. These are just mere suggestions at this point, because I'm not certain of who would emerge.

I like the makeup of this team potentially, although Grudzielanek would not be a dependable back up SS, meaning at some point Castillo would have to be sent packing and an Alfredo Amezaga-type should be brought in that could back up at a lot of positions, as well as provide some speed off the bench.

What do you guys think about these suggestions? 

I think they are somewhat realistic, they wouldn't break the bank for the Wilpons, and it wouldn't come across as cheap either in my opinion. It could then bring back smiles to the faces of GM Omar Minaya and Manager Jerry Manuel like in the picture above.

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