New York Mets News

The Metsa TM two biggest off-season objectives, to paraphrase Captain Obvious, are to acquire another slugger and to add a No.

With the hot stove league upon us, I asked four independent Mets bloggers for their thoughts on the state of the team and some of the decisions the Mets will face in the weeks and months ahead.

Omar Minaya, left, needs to see Carlos Delgado, right, on the field before he talks to him about returning to the Mets next season.

Free agents go on the open market today, and with a lack of trading chips, the Mets are expected to dive in deep to fill their multiple holes.

The Mets opened free agency quietly yesterday, stirring only long enough to scotch reports of a potential three-way trade involving Luis Castillo.

If increasing the Mets' power is a top priority, is acquiring a big expensive bat -- Matt Holliday or Jason Bay -- the best way to do it? No doubt, the team needs a slugging percentage higher than the .394 it produced in 2009.

As currently constituted, the Mets' roster has four vacancies -- four in number and, in a more subjective, informal and real way, at least four -- slugger, starting pitcher, catcher and reliever.

With acknowledgment of and apologies to Cleon Jones, Rusty Staub, Darryl Strawberry, Mike Piazza and David Wright, the Mets usually have made their bones on the mound.

If you are a New York Mets fan and want to create a Mets-themed Christmas tree, it is rather simple.

With the hot stove league upon us, I asked four independent Mets bloggers for their thoughts on the state of the team and some of the decisions the Mets will face in the weeks and months ahead.

With the hot stove league upon us, I asked four independent Mets bloggers for their thoughts on the state of the team and some of the decisions the Mets will face in the weeks and months ahead.

Heyman: on WFAN, about Holliday, Bay, Lackey, etc. Thursday, November 19, 2009 Jon Heyman of SI.com recently talked with WFANs Mike Francesaabout the MLB off season, which you can listen to here .

This afternoon in an appearance on XM 175 MLB Home Plate , former Mets catcher Paul LoDuca expressed a desire to return to the big leagues in 2010.

According to figures compiled by Baseball America, the Mets spent less money on the 2009 draft than any other team in baseball.

General manager Brian Cashman and the Yankees got the memo last off-season and it resulted in the club's 27th World Championship.

The Mets have talked a good game about spending money and retooling this offseason.

But the Mets have made it their mission this offseason to sign a big-ticket free agent, a person familiar with the club's thinking said as the clocked ticked down to midnight yesterday.

Omar Minaya should have a blank check from owner Jeff Wilpon, right, but can the Mets actually sign any difference-makers? Like Bonnie and Clyde after their final encounter with the Feds, the Mets have just too many holes to fill right now.

The Mets have talked a good game about spending money and retooling this offseason.

Starting pitcher Andy Pettitte #46 of the New York Yankees pitches against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game Three of the 2009 MLB World Series at Citizens Bank Park on October 31, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.