Now that the Yankees beat him to Xavier Nady and the Dodgers dealt for Casey Blake, the question remains, will Omar Minaya make a deal for another bat to play LF?
This from Jay Greenberg from the NY Post:
Casey Blake went to the Dodgers yesterday, leaving on the market Raul Ibanez, Randy Winn, Adam Dunn, maybe Austin Kearns, unless the Royals would trade Jose Guillen and the Mets had the wherewithal and the interest in making that happen.
"I guess you would say I'm less optimistic," said Jerry Manuel about an outfielder.
Three guesses to where his real anxiety is. The first two don't count. Not just because Heilman had to pitch into a fourth inning in two nights last night after Manuel emptied his bullpen. More because the manager, in light of Duaner Sanchez's struggles, had talked wistfully before the game about getting a "closer" to pitch the eighth.
"That would be the ideal situation, but I can't say we are headed in that direction," said the manager.
Manuel's statements leads one to believe that the Mets will go out and get a bat. But Foxsport's Ken Rosenthal disagrees. He says for the Mets to get another bat, teams are asking for the likes of AA outfielder Fernando Martinez, and lefty Jon Niese and right Robert Parnell. After dealing alot of their better prospects in the Johan Santana deal, Omar may be reluctant to part with his prospects since the Mets have one of the older lineups. But after losing Moises Alou and Luis Castillo to injury, Mets fans will be questioning Omar if he does not get another bat before the trade deadline. The fact that Ryan Church is coming back soon may stop Omar from trading one of his top prospects.
In other trade rumor activity, a couple names to watch for are:
Mark Teixera-the Braves will probably wait till the deadline to deal him to the highest bidder. If they don't trade him, they will get two very high draft picks, so any potential deal will have to be better than two draft picks. His potential suitors include the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Dodgers and Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks make the most sense since they can keep Conor Jackson in LF, but they traded away alot of their better prospects in the Dan Haren deal.
Manny Ramirez-with yesterday's news that Theo Epstein is open to dealing him, many teams will be talking to Epstein before Thursday's trade deadline. He makes most sense for the Mets, but will Omar deal his best prospects for Manny. Manny would be teamed up with old friend Pedro Martinez should a deal happen and make the Mets the NL favorites to reach the World Series.
Brian Fuentes-with the Rockies possibly switching course and playing for this year, Fuentes still could be traded with the Cardinals mentioned as one trade partner. But after reading these quotes from Cards GM John Mozeliak, one wonders if they need a closer.
From St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"If we make an addition, it could be to strengthen the bullpen, or it could be from those guys coming back," Mozeliak said.
Mozeliak insists it is premature to forecast Wainwright's role until he is proven sound. Yet it appears likely given the bullpen's late-inning uncertainty and Wainwright's abbreviated timetable that he will return as closer first.
"It's not a traditional way of coming back," said Mozeliak, confirming that he and manager Tony La Russa have discussed Wainwright as a ninth-inning option. "I still think he has to pass a few more hurdles."
Wainwright has closed before. Mets fans can attest to his ability to close, and so can Carlos Beltran.
Jason Bay-Ken Rosenthal seems to think the A's are involved. Peter Gammons' recent post indicates the market for Bay may be dwindling due to the steep asking price.