Can Swapping Headaches Bring Mets Some Relief?

Adam Rubin of ESPN New York had an interesting post which I encourage all of you to check out. In it Adam wonders if  Sandy Alderson could reshape the roster by finding takers for Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo, who are owed $12 million and $6 million respectively, and maybe even Francisco Rodriguez, who is owed $11.5 million in 2011.

He suggests the possibility of swapping bad contracts and provides a nice list of possible suspects.

He says, ”If the Mets are to match bad contracts, it may come from the list of players below”.

Player	Team	Years	Millions
Vernon Wells	Jays	4	$86
Barry Zito	Giants	3	$57.5
A.J. Burnett	Yankees	3	$49.5
Travis Hafner	Indians	2	$28.75
Aaron Rowand	Giants	2	$24
Scott Kazmir	Angels	1	$14.5
Kosuke Fukudome	Cubs	1	$13.5
Carlos Silva	Cubs	1	$13.5
Carlos Guillen	Tigers	1	$13
Gil Meche	Royals	1	$12.4
Milton Bradley	Mariners	1	$12
Oliver Perez	Mets	1	$12
Aaron Cook	Rockies	1	$9.75
Kenshin Kawakami	Braves	1	$6.8
Luis Castillo	Mets	1	$6
Ryan Doumit	Pirates	1	$5.6
Scott Linebrink	White Sox	1	$5.5
Juan Rivera	Angels	1	$5.25
Jack Wilson	Mariners	1	$5

See anything you like?

I wouldn’t mind seeing the Mets bring back Scott Kazmir. Maybe Warthen, or whoever is named pitching coach,  can help him return to the form he showed early in his career with the Rays. He is owed $12 million in 2011 and has an option for 2012 at $13.5 million which would be very reasonable if he can get back to harnessing his control.