Friday night, Mets' $4MM 2B Jose Valentin fouled a ball off his leg and broke it. He is likely done for the season. As a result, the Mets will play Ruben Gotay and Anderson Hernandez at second base. Another result of this unfortuitous development is the rise of trade rumors involing the Mets and other teams secondbasemen.
The first comes from the Houston Chronicle where beat Jose De Jesus Ortiz mentions the obvious fit of infielder Mark Loretta. He also uses a very strong verb to characterize the Mets' interest - "covet". Is it under this impression that he feels more comfortable speculating the Astros could get either Carlos Gomez, Class AA Binghamton outfielder Fernando Martinez, or Lastings Milledge if the Astros included either reliever Chad Qualls or Wandy Rodriguezx?
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sees the Mets misfortune and offers up its own way of helping the Mets. You can judge whether the Mets should stick with their current pair of untested players.
Finally, there is speculation in this morning's Baltimore Sun about the Mets' interest in O's OF Jay Payton.
Depending on the price, this makes sense as Payton could provide a veteran presence down the stretch - if you believe in that roster strategy. Otherwise, a 4th and 5th OF tandem of Lastings Milledge and Marlon Anderson and an eventually healed Endy Chavez will have to be enough.
From my mind comes the possibilites of White Sox 2B Tadahito Iguchi, Giants' 2B Ray Durham, Adam Kennedy of the Cardinals, and Jorge Cantu from the Devil Rays. If any of those teams can pair a starting pitcher with a second baseman, a trade for a good Mets propsect good work.