Omar Minaya's unfinished business....

Omar Minaya's Mets go into spring training with a new look bullpen and Oliver Perez back in the rotation. The Mets also wanted to upgrade at 2B and possibly at catcher, but both never got done. It appears that both will be solved internally, instead of outside the organization.
  
Orlando Hudson still appears pretty much available and he has said that he would love to play for either one of the New York Teams. The problem remains that Luis Castillo is still on the roster and can't be moved so easily. The Mets never had any real takers for the oft-injured second basemen, who is making 6 million a year for his services. According to Marty Noble of  MLB.com, the Mets entertained the idea of signing Hudson and making him play another position (probably LF), but that's not going to happen with the over abundance of outfielders on the Mets roster . Then the Mets had a second though of signing Hudson to play second everyday and making Castillo a expensive bench player, but that sounds really far fetched.

So what do the Mets do? They probably will keep Castillo playing 2B and try to get the most out of him. If he don't show the Mets he is capable of such, they will try to release him of his contract.. But that don't even look like something feasible at this point.

The Mets looked to dump another salary this off-season in Brian Schneider. There was rumors that the Mets even tried to trade Schneider to the Red-Sox, but that did not work for them. Schneider is making 4.9 Million and is the last year of his contract.  The Mets apparently think Schneider's game calling is not what everyone thought is was going to be. Besides that, he was also another oft-injured player that the Mets needed in a timely stretch of games last year.

So what do the Mets do? They will let Schneider remain as the starter for now and they are looking to trade Ramon Castro's 2.5 Million to another team. They  like Robinson Cancel's ability to backup and at a cheaper price as well..


It remains to be seen if the Mets try to sign a lefty to complement Pedro Feliciano in the bullpen. The Mets have some free agent options in Ohman, Villone, and Beimel, but rather have a open competition in spring training with the minor leaguers invited down to Port St.Lucie.

Don't expect any big things this spring except a couple of  minor trades to sure up the team which will probably free up money.  The Mets will continue to cut payroll, hopefully Castillo's name appears on that list.

- Go Mets!!!