Here’s the plan:

Sign Matt Holliday and Chone Figgins – PAY HIM to play second base – hold onto our prospects, give Daniel Murphy a full year at first base while Ike Davis continues to develop.

Our Farm System needs to replenish, which should be a major priority over the next two seasons. I think our first-round selection is protected in next year’s draft – I could be wrong.

Agreed on John Lackey. If you look at the other rotations in our division, his presence on our staff is almost a necessity. I would add Randy Wolf to the rotation, move Maine to the pen to join K-Rod, Parnell, Nieve, Stokes, Feliciano & Figueroa or Bostick.

Reyes
Figgins
Holliday
Beltran
Wright
Murphy
Francouer
Santos/Thole
Pitcher

Santana
Lackey
Wolf
Pelfrey
Ollie, Niese, Misch or Nieve

Bullpen: K-Rod, Maine, Parnell, Stokes, Feliciano, Nieve, Niese, Misch, Bostick or Figueroa

Bench: Pagan, Tatis, Cora, Evans or Chris Carter, Santos/Thole

Minor Leaguers: F-Mart, Davis, Havens, Tejada, Holt, Mejia, Familia, Beaulac, Niewenhuis, Bowman, Stoner, Broadway, Carter

Other than Santana, Wolf, Beltran, Tatis, Cora & Figueroa, the entire roster is comprised of young ballplayers just developing or just entering their prime.

We definitely need to get younger, and be very careful not to deplete our farm system unnecessarily.

NOTES:

Be realistic: Our goal should address short-term needs with a long-term view.

Regular line-up: Lots of power, lots of speed and balanced from both sides of the plate. Figgins is necessary as insurance on Reyes’ legs. If Reyes is healthy, home plate will become a turnstile. Where’s Castillo? Traded to an A club with cash that can carry his 12 doubles for a prospect.

Rotation: Add Lackey for reasons Ed cited. We need another girder placed at the front end of the rotation. Moving Maine to the pen removes one health consideration from the rotation, bolsters the bullpen and plays to his two-pitch strength. We know Parnell is not a starter. I think each of the 4 candidates for the 5th slot could crack the rotation and all of them are in their 20’s, which is an appropriate use of the 5th slot – not some weigh station for some retread. Are you listening, Omar?

Bullpen: Power arms. K-Rod, Maine, Parnell, Nieve, Stokes – not fun for most hitters. Lefties – Feliciano, Bostick, Niese, Misch – a respectable selection. I wish Omar added Jeremy Affeldt when he was available. Oh, well…

The Bench: We need somehow to integrate Pagan on a semi-regular basis. Occasional spot-start for Beltran when his knees get cranky, late inning replacement for Holliday are most obvious instances. Francouer is capable of running into a wall. Intrigued by Chris Carter, who would complement Tatis well coming off the bench. Train him to cover RF and 1st base. Ditto Evans. Thole’s development as a legitimate ML backstop remains an issue to monitor. Omir is adequate – and he is a gamer.

Well, that’s what I’d do. Let’s hope that Omar has a few lucid intervals this winter.

At the same time they need to rebuild their farm system because that’s in worse shape than the ML team.

What a mess.