Scott Atchison, who experienced numbness in his fingers while pitching Monday, has been placed on the disabled list according to Assistant GM John Ricco.

Atchison was examined Tuesday in New York by team doctors who said there is “no new structural damage.”

The 37 year old veteran reliever opted not to have Tommy John surgery last year despite a ligament tear in his right elbow.

Collin McHugh has been promoted from Triple-A and is in St. Louis. He will work out of the bullpen while with the team.

In eight starts for Las Vegas, McHugh was 3-2 with a 2.74 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. In 49.1 innings, he’s walked nine and struck out 36.

Originally Posted at 9:00 AM

Mets reliever Scott Atchison took the mound pitched last night at Busch Stadium with numbness in the fingers of his right hand, which he classified as a side effect of his torn elbow ligament.

The Mets plan to send Atchison for tests on his elbow, although the reliever is not sure what that will accomplish. He has been pitching with a torn ligament since at least 2009, according to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo.

“It’s documented, obviously, with my elbow,” Atchison said. “Some of it’s, ‘What can I handle?’ I feel like I’ve been managing it pretty good all year, and today for whatever reason the tingling came back.”

Atchison, 37, missed more than two months last season after experiencing similar numbness, but opted against Tommy John surgery.

In 19 appearances spanning 18.0 innings Atchison has a 4.50 ERA and allowed 20 hits, 6 walks, six strikeouts and a 1.44 WHIP.

He said he could not feel his fingers last night when he failed to get an out and gave up three hits including a two-run homer to Matt Holliday.

The newest Met, Rick Ankiel, couldn’t hold onto Ty Wigginton’s sinking line drive for a double. Wigginton then scored from second on an infield hit off pitcher Scott Rice. Matt Holliday followed with a two-run homer, and just like that it was over and the Mets had their fourth straight loss, 6-3, at St. Louis to fall seven games below .500.

ON THE MOUND: Jeremy Hefner had his third straight quality start, giving up three runs in six innings. Hefner retired the last ten hitters he faced. Even so, the Mets are now 0-7 when he starts. … Rice and Scott Atchison combined to give up three runs on five hits.

AT THE PLATE: The Mets had four hits, three from Daniel Murphy. … Ten more strikeouts by Mets hitters, surprisingly, none by Ike Davis or Lucas Duda.

METS MATTERS: Reliever Frank Francisco has a mild strain of the flexor pronator in his right elbow. He will be shut down for 72 hours before he resumes throwing. … Outfielder Andrew Brown was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas to make room for Ankiel.

THEY SAID IT:  “We aren’t scoring. I told him he got us to where we needed to be.’’ – Manager Terry Collins on Hefner’s performance.

BY THE NUMBERS: 12: Number of times in their last 16 games the Mets scored three runs or less.

ON DECK: Dillon Gee (2-4), Shaun Marcum (0-3) and Jonathan Niese (2-4) will be the Mets’ next three starters in this series against John Gast (0-0), Shelby Miller (5-2) and Adam Wainwright (5-2) for the Cardinals.

I enjoy researching starting pitching for any reason whatsoever, so looking into them for fantasy purposes was more fun than anything else. Today brings about a top ten list for the starting pitchers out there – and unfortunately, will not feature many surprises. The best starting pitchers out there are fairly well defined at this point, but I still dove into ESPN and Yahoo! rankings just to make sure I was not off base here. I had to check in with Xtreem on this one, but the five fantasy categories for pitchers were Wins / ERA / K / WHIP / Saves …and obviously, saves don’t apply here.

I think ESPN and I were basically sharing a brain here – but Yahoo wasn’t far off since the only major difference was their pick of Wainwright over Jered Weaver, really. I’ve got the same top 10 down as ESPN, but I differ slightly in the order I chose.

10. Zack Greinke (16 / 3.44 / 220 / 1.14) – Greinke is definitely one of the top pitchers in the game right now, but his stats always come with a little bit of confusion and disappointment. Although some saber stats have shown that Greinke could be the victim of some severe bad luck, his ERA will likely always be a little higher than you hope from a fantasy ace. He might be on the back-end of the “fantasy ace” category, but Greinke moves back to the NL this year after getting a huge pay-day, which should help his numbers overall, especially his strikeouts. If all goes well, he could easily surpass the amount of wins projected, as everyone decided to go a little conservative here.

9. Cole Hamels (13 / 3.05 / 210 / 1.12 )  – I hate to admit it, but Cole Hamels has been consistent and he has been a pretty solid pitcher across all categories. I think Weaver is going to edge him out in wins and ERA so I have him ranked slightly above him here, but do not get down on Hamels. See, outside of the wins category, Hamels comes with less risk than those who are scared away by Weaver’s declining strikeout rate and as strong a track record as anybody here. Just be careful not to start him against the Mets…

8. Jered Weaver (19 / 3.02 / 175 / 1.12) – I like Jered Weaver, and I think you should too. The Angels are stacked this year and look like they could really win a lot of games – and Weaver has to be a huge part of that. People worry about his declining strikeout rate, and honestly, it is a perfectly valid criticism. You could very well be rolling the dice with Weaver, but even in a “down” year last year, he won 20 games to the tun of a 2.81 ERA.

7. Cliff Lee (14 / 2.98 / 212 / 1.04) – Cliff Lee is an outstanding pitcher and the fact that he won only 6 games last year is enough to confuse the greatest minds. Of course, if you look deep, it becomes as simple as Lee not getting much run support – although he was superb across the board yet again. A year older, a year wiser for Lee…he might decline just a little, but his unique combination of stuff, poise, and experience position him to bounce back from an anomaly in the win column to post another excellent year.

6. Matt Cain (18 / 2.94 / 195 / 1.10 ) – Consistency is a common theme for the pitchers on this list, and Matt Cain is quite obviously no different. It is really hard to find a knock against Matt Cain…in fact, the only thing you can hold against him is perhaps his inability to break that 20-win plateau, and it really isn’t his fault. Cain may not seem flashy at times, but he is definitely a smart pick. He gets it done across the board in every category and can be counted on for a solid start almost every single time out there.

5. David Price (20 / 3.01 / 220 / 1.14) – Some people worry about David Price because of the division that he pitches in and they claim that he will be hard pressed to win games. My counter argument is simple – watch this man pitch. He is a monster on the mound, and his stats in the second half of last year back that up more than any colorful adjectives that I could pull out of thin air here. In 15 starts, he won 9 games and 14 of them were quality starts – all to the tune of a 2.20 ERA / 0.98 WHIP / 108 strikeouts. The craziest thing about all of it? David Price might actually not be done improving yet.

4. Stephen Strasburg (15 / 3.00 / 230 / 1.10) – This is a conservative projection for one reason only, and it has been discussed – Strasburg may be on another type of innings limit going into this year. As ESPN notes, if they follow the Zimmermann model, Strasburg would be scheduled for a little over 190 innings this year – which is great, but you have to temper your expectations. That being said, once he is off the leash, Strasburg may just lead the MLB in strikeouts for years to come so his potential in limited innings can still make a fantasy owner’s mouth water. Just tread carefully here and do your research.

3. Felix Hernandez (15 / 2.98 / 225 / 1.07) – Oh Felix, if only you played for a better team, you might have been one of the fantasy favorites for years. Do not get me wrong – Felix Hernandez is arguably one of the best pitchers in baseball today, but fantasy wise, it does not always translate over. A lack of run support, not so perfect defense behind him, bad luck…yeah, Hernandez has seen it all and still continues to offer a desirable stat line. Drafting King Felix puts you in an area where you join the rest of his owners and do the same thing each year…just hope that Seattle at least puts it together for his starts.

2. Clayton Kershaw (17 / 2.74 / 228 / 1.06) – Do I really need to convince you to go out and pick up Clayton Kershaw? I thought not. With RA Dickey gone and Strasburg still on a potential innings limit, the National League belongs to Kersh. He can just do what comes natural and perhaps waltz his way to a Cy Young. Mind you, what comes natural to Clayton Kershaw is a miniscule ERA and a ton of strikeouts, along with one of the best WHIPs in the game. There is no stat for dominance, but man, I am sure he leads the league in it.

1. Justin Verlander (21 / 2.70 / 241 / 1.09) – If you manage to snag Justin Verlander for your fantasy team, thank your lucky stars and whatever god you pray to, because you struck fantasy gold. Any format that isn’t NL-only will find Verlander at the top of their overall boards as most likely the first pitcher to go. ESPN said it best – “Workhorse, thy name is Verlander.” Outside of success in the standard categories for starting pitching, he will also rack up a considerable amount of innings pitched. I honestly do not think there is anything I could say here that you have not already heard about Justin Verlander.

So a few things to note:

• Yahoo is higher on Adam Wainwright than I am, and so is ESPN for that matter, where he was ranked #12. I do think he has a quality year ahead of him, but I think I’m going to pass on him for now.
• 75% of experts rank RA Dickey at his ADP or higher (63). All I can say is that there is a lot to think about when drafting RA Dickey for the 2013 season, and I do not think I am equipped to provide an unbiased opinion on him. Another player who’s ADP is worth watching is Aroldis Chapman…he could start or he could pitch the later innings out of the bullpen – and he has undeniably filthy stuff.
• Yu Darvish and Matt Moore are both being ranked outside of the top 10 for starting pitchers, but could provide top-5 strikeout potential without hurting you in any other stat significantly. Tim Hudson still rocks as a cheap source for wins.
• As for some sleepers, the Mets have two bonafide ones in Jon Niese and Matt Harvey. Jon Niese is getting some respect this year, but he could be in for an even better season than projected. Josh Johnson, Jon Lester, and Dan Haren could all be in line for excellent years as well.

I hear that Xtreem has prepared his piece on the closers for later this week, so you all can look forward to that.

Pitchers

John Lackey – A very rough start to the season, but Lackey has rebounded somewhat. Lackey is 7-3 but has allowed 93 hits in 81 innings, walking 35 and striking out 44 putting up a 4.54 ERA. Lackey has only has one walk-free outing, and that was on June 11th. He has only K’d more then 3 in a game 5 times, with 6 being his season high. If Lackey would’ve been signed, then LF would’ve been filled from within or with a much cheaper player then Jason Bay.

Randy Wolf – Although Wolf has had some tough luck, he is 4-6 with a 5.31 ERA. He has struck out 49, but walked 39 and  allowed 88 hits. Essentially, he’s a bend-not-break pitcher, and he’s spent most of his season bending, with only 4 QS in his 13 outings.

Joel Pineiro – After walking 27 all of last year in 214 innings, Pineiro already has 21 walks in 84 innings. He’s been striking out more batters, but his 4.56 ERA says that when contact is being made, its being sent far. 11 HR allowed all last year, 9 up to this point. Also has given up 9 runs in 2 starts this year.

Jason Marquis – Currently on the DL, but that is probably a good thing. Jason went 8.1 innings, giving up 20 runs and allowing him to hold his 0-3 record and his 20.52 ERA closely. Signing him would’ve just been more money the Mets couldn’t have spent to replace him.

Hitters

Bengie Molina – After a torrid start where he was hitting well over .400, Molina has calmed down, hitting .261 with 3 home runs and 16 RBI. Uncharacteristically, however Bengie has walked 12 times to his 16 strikeouts. He also had a DL stint so far, and has only thrown out 19% of runners. Looking like a good idea to not sign him in retrospect.

Matt Holliday – The 120 Million Dollar Man is putting up decent numbers, but nothing near his worth hitting .295 with 6 HR and 25 RBI with 6 steals. With Albert Pujols hitting in front of Holliday, one would expect those numbers to be much higher but Holliday isn’t putting up the numbers

Garrett Atkins – .216/1/9 is his BA/HR/RBI slash line. He has since lost his starting position as the Orioles 1B to a combination of Rhyne Hughes/Ty Wigginton.

Johnny Damon – .280/3/18/4 is his BA/HR/RBI/SB slash, and nothing here says he is worth more then his 1 yr/8 million dollar deal, but it was to be expected once he was moved out of Yankee Stadium and that short RF porch his home run production would plummet.

Adam LaRoche – .250/7/36 is his BA/HR/RBI slash line. A notoriously slow starter, his average to above-average defense makes these stats tolerable until he decides its the 2nd half of the year and goes bonkers.

Chone Figgins – .228/0/16/13 is his BA/HR/RBI/SB line. Chone is a usually strong BA producer, but has been used at 2B and has not been able to consistently hit. He is still walking at a healthy pace, but it can’t offset the fact that he isn’t hitting the ball well.

It is always easier to look back on a situation and say the best decisions were made as an organization, but the Mets did not bite on any of these players who were grossly overpaid and have reaped the benefits of having some financial freedom going into next year to fill key positions that may be opening, or to cut ties with other positions that may be financially prudent (Castillo-release, anyone?). By not making snap-decisions, the Mets have produced an over .500 team without adding a plethora of marquee-type free agents.

Now that the Hot Stove season has come to and end, here are five of the worst signings I believe went down this Winter.

Matt Holliday – Cardinals 7 years, $120MM – Everybody loved this signing, but I laughed my ass off when I first caught wind of it. Already 30-years old and in a 3-year decline (’07 1.012 OPS, ’08 .947 OPS, ’09 .909 OPS), I was overjoyed that the Mets passed on this ticking time-bomb. Can you imagine having to pay him $52 million dollars from ages 34-36?

Brett Myers – Astros 1 year, $5.1MM – Maybe I’m just a little biased for this former Phillie, but what in God’s name would possess the Astros to lay out this kind of dough on this meat-head? Infinitely better pitchers signed for much less this offseason. Batters scorched him for a .869 OPS last season and his velocity has declined for three straight years. I was keeping my fingers crossed that he’d resign with the Phils.

Brandon Lyon - Astros 3 years, $15MM - I don’t know what they put in their water in Houston these days, but the FHA should investigate. Where does Lyon come off getting a sweet commitment like this? This has burn written all over it, and with the latest news that he will be behind in spring training because of a cyst, Houston you have a problem.

Ivan Rodriguez - Nationals 2 years, $6MM - Sorry, I’m not buying into all that jazz about how Pudge was needed because he works so well with pitchers. He’s in steep decline, and is just a stop gap until Flores comes back in May. The 38-year old future Hall of Famer had the lowest OPS (.664) of his career last season and has a .290 OBP over the last three seasons. You don’t pay $6 million bucks for production like that, especially if you’re cash-strapped like the Nats. The worst team in the NL will once again claim that honor in 2010. Exhale, Mets fans.

Ben Sheets – Oakland 1 year, $10MM – I would rather have Kelvim Escobar who is two years removed from surgery than Sheets who is only one year removed from his date with a scalpel. Escobar’s best season of 18 wins in 2007 trumps Sheets who has never won more than 13 games in a season. Take away the AL/NL differential and their career ERA’s are identical. I’d rather have Escobar for $1.2MM and pocket the additional $8.8 million smackeroos.

Other stinkeroos included Jason Kendall ($6MM), Adrian Beltre ($10MM) and Fernando Rodney ($11MM).

Look for my top five signings of the offseason tomorrow. Could a Met be lurking in there somehow? Hmm.. You’ll have to wait and find out…

Usually around this time of year, once the Super Bowl has been played and sports docket is less than fulfilling for most of us, I start to get that itch for baseball.  I can almost smell spring when having visions of baseball, either at the ballpark or on TV.  And it’s usually accented with the hope that my team, the Mets, are going to head into the season as contenders again, hoping for their first world championship since 1986.

But alas, I feel more than a twinge of apathy right now.  Omar Minaya has once again given us false hope, as he signed modest slugger Jason Bay but then made no other significant moves.  Well, unless you consider Kelvim Escobar, Henry Blanco and Gary Matthews, Jr. significant.  I’m sorry Omar, but with each marginal move, you are increasing my own margin of apathy.

That doesn’t mean I won’t root for the Mets.  After all, when fandom is in your blood, you can’t ever remove it.  But beyond the fact that this Mets team has as much chance to contend as the ’62 Mets, is the fact that I almost would rather not watch it all unfold.  Clearly there are better things I can find to do with my time, and the fact that I’m saying that and writing that really bums me out.

Would I feel differently had the Mets added the likes of Cliff Lee or Roy Halladay or Matt Holliday?  Probably yes, but even if they somehow added all three of those guys without magically depleting the farm system, there would still be holes, and that’s not good.  It’s not good for the Mets, their fans, or my apathy.

Jon Heyman of SI.com,is now reporting that free agent outfielder, Matt Holliday has agreed to a seven-year, $120 million contract with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The deal includes a full no trade clause as most Scott Boras contracts do.

Holliday batted .353 with 13 home runs and 55 RBIs in 63 games with the Cardinals after being acquired in a July trade from the Oakland Athletics.

The Cardinals increased their original offer that was reported to be $112 million for seven years, and the deal has an option for an eighth year.

Including the options, Jason Bay will be 35 at the end of his deal with the Mets, while Holliday will be 37.

I’m looking forward to reading all the Holliday got overpaid posts and articles in the next few days. Oh wait… there won’t be any because he didn’t sign with the Mets…

I preferred Bay as I believe he is better suited for hitting at Citi Field than Matt Holliday.  Bay is not strictly a power hitter and in Citi he can hit doubles and drive in runs as well as knock the ball out of the park.  The Mets lineup if healthy and back to 100% has now become a very formidable one.  This potential lineup is better than the 2006 team that just missed out on the World Series.

Bay’s signing is a great way to start 2010 but there is still work to be done.  The Mets need a catcher and it looks like this game of chicken between the Mets and Bengie Molina is going to continue into the new year.  I applaud the way the Mets are handling these negotiations with the veteran catcher.  Molina needs to lower his expectations as 3 years is just out of the question.  I know the Mets would like a 1 year deal with an option for a 2^nd but if you look at what other free agent catchers have gotten that is not going to be enough.  The Mets need to offer Molina a 2 year guaranteed deal, if he doesn’t want that walk away and go after another catcher.

Now that the Mets have Bay in left field the biggest concern is pitching.  This year’s free agent class is very weak for pitching.  The best pitcher on the free agent market was John Lackey and he is signed.  The best pitcher on the trading block was Halladay who we all know was traded to the Phillies.  My pick for a 2^nd tier pitcher was Jason Marquis who is now off the market so the Mets need now to be aggressive and go after the better remaining pitchers on the market.  I don’t believe the Mets will trade so looking at the free agents still available I’m thinking the Mets are going to go after Joel Pineiro.  Pineiro record last year was 15-12 with an ERA of 3.49.  He pitched 214 innings, the first time in his career he pitched over 200 innings.  I do feel that the Mets or any team that sign him is going to overpay for his services, that’s the way the market looks right now.

There are pitchers out there coming off of injuries that could be good for the Mets such as Chien-Ming Wang.  Wang as we all know pitched for the Yankees before being non-tendered last year.  Wang had won 19 games two years in a row before hurting his ankle rounding bases that ended his 2008 season.  Wang came back last season and the results weren’t pretty.  He struggled for the entire season, some thinking that the injury to his ankle forced him to change the way he pitched which resulted in him getting knocked around all last season.  Wang was sent down to Tampa to work on his mechanics and it was discovered that he had weakness in both his hips and was put on the DL.  Eventually Wang would get shoulder surgery ending both his 2009 season and his tenure with the Yankees.  Wang could be very good for the Mets but I suspect after last season the Mets are staying away from guys with injury history and won’t attempt to sign him.  I understand the thinking and if Wang does have a good season with whatever team signs him I won’t hold it against the Mets.  Wang is a big risk to a team that has really no depth in the rotation, not performing or getting injured would really hurt the Mets and they can’t afford that.

Overall Bay’s signing is a great way to start 2010 but there is still work to be done.  I believe that Bengie Molina will eventually be our starting catcher and the pitcher that the Mets do sign will not be met with 100% satisfaction whether it’s Pineiro or Sheets or Wang or whomever.

According to Jon Heyman of SI.om, the Mets have upped their offer to free agent Jason Bay to include a fifth year option. Additionally, they are also planning to contact Scott Boras to discuss his client, outfielder Matt Holliday.

Yesterday, the Red Sox signed John Lackey, while the Phillies added Roy Halladay in a 3 team deal that sent Cliff Lee to the Mariners.

The Red Sox also signed outfielder Mike Cameron to a 2 year deal worth $15.5 million and announced he would be their everyday left fielder. 

Tha Angels signed former Yankees LF/DH Hideki Matsui to a one year $6.5 million deal.

Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is now reporting that the Cardinals have offered Matt Holliday  a new 8 year deal which would pay him $16MM annually. Obviously, the Cards are anxious to get a deal done and this offer would be hard to top unless the Yankees were to get involved. It actually tops the 7 year, $100MM contract Albert Pujols signed in 2004. 

This weekend I actually speculated that Holliday would get 8 years in another post in which I asked if Jason Bayat 5 years would be a better deal for the Mets.

I am now becoming very concerned about the Mets strategy in low balling Bay with a similar offer to the one he rejected from the Red Sox. Yesterday his agent said that he would be making an announcement this week. Some have reported that Bay already has a 5 year offer from an unamed team.

If Bay does end up signing elsewhere, it will be slim pickings for the Mets and I have no idea how they would proceed moving forward.

The Mets have now seen hitters Matt Holliday, Curtis Granderson, Chone Figgins, Mike Cameron and pitchers Randy Wolf, Roy Halladay, Rich Harden, Andy Pettitte, Brad Penny and John Lackey all come off the market in the last two weeks.

Slow moving market?

More like a slow moving Mets front office.

Edwin Jackson yesterday was also rumored to be joining the Mets, but that rumor was also shot down less than 20 minutes later.  Unfortunately, we live in an age where the quest to break the news, outweighs the responsibility to accurately report the news, and it frequently leads to the kind of inaccurate reporting we saw on Day 1 of the 2009 Baseball Winter Meetings.

Regardless, those rumors did get me to think about what I would like to see happen at the winter meetings for the Mets this year. 

My wish list for the winter meetings begins with a starting catcher. I’m hoping that the Mets are done signing every backup catcher on the market, and will now focus on acquiring a starting catcher for the 2010 season.  As we all know, the team is very high on Bengie Molina and would prefer to sign him, but the problem is that Molina is said to be wanting a 3 year deal.  There’s no way that the Mets can give into him.  Omar cannot cave into any of the pressure that Molina and his agent are putting on him regardless of how much he wants him.  It’s very unlikely that any other team would give Molina a 3 year deal, and Omar cannot give in to the players demands as he did last year when he agreed to give Oliver Perez a 3 year deal.

It’s important to remember that the 2010 starting catcher would be a one year stop gap, and that Josh Thole, barring a major setback, will be the everyday catcher for the Mets in 2011.  The Mets did sign a very good defensive catcher last week in Henry Blanco, and they also have Omir Santos and Chris Coste. Rod Barajas is still available and would be a good alternative to Molina, and Dioner Navarro could possibly be non-tendered and become available as well. The bottom line is that the Mets have options and are the ones sitting in the driver’s seat, not Molina.

The second item on my wish list is to get a starting pitcher.  The Blue Jays are reportedly taking offers for their ace Roy Halladay, and besides the huge cash outlay that Halladay would require in an extension. it’s going to require a bunch of top prospects be sent to Toronto in exchange for Halladay’s arm.  The Mets farm system is not very deep at all, and trading away our best prospects will set this organization back so far it could take years to recover.

It’s imperative that the Mets focus all of their attention toward signing free agent John Lackey.  He will not cost as much per year as Halladay, and of course he won’t cost the Mets any of the prospects that Halladay will.  The  Mets need to sign Lackey and then go after a second tier pitcher like Joel Pineiro, Randy Wolf, and Staten Island’s own Jason Marquis, who wants desperately to be a Met.

Finally I want Matt Holliday.  He will cost a ton of money, but his bat and power is much needed for this team next season and beyond.  He is not exactly the best defensive player, but he is still an upgrade over what we had last season. Holliday would be a force in the lineup and provide much needed protection for David Wright.

I know my list is long and costly, but this is what I believe the Mets need to do for them to be competitive next season.

Sure, the free agent pool is sort of thin this year, but anything less than an all-out effort to make this club better than the floundering one of 2009 will be flat-out unacceptable.  Yet, I’m pretty sure that’s how it will shake out.  This article mentioned that Matt Holliday or Jason Bay may not fit well in Citi Field’s outfield, but I sure as hell would rather one of them in the lineup than the other guy they mentioned—Mike Cameron.  But we’ll probably wind up with Cameron roaming our outfield again.

They go on to discuss some of the free agent pitchers like John Lackey, who apparently is asking for too much money.  Of course he is…. the man has put his time in with the Angels and he’s been a steadying force on that rotation for years.  I would have no problem overpaying for a guy like that, and the fact that the same guy who overpaid Ollie Perez last year is possibly balking at what Lackey is asking for is ludicrous.  This article goes on to mention other possibilities like Randy Wolf and Jason Marquis and Joel Pineiro.  One of those guys would be a decent #3 or #4 guy, but I wouldn’t even feel great if the Mets signed all three of them.

Folks, this is going to be a bad off-season for our team.  I’m not sure if Minaya is waiting for the stronger 2011 free agent class, or if he’s just a lousy GM.  Considering he may not last as our GM until 2011, I’m going with the latter.

He specifically cites the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels and Boston Red Sox as the three finalists for Holliday’s services.

Only a handful of teams have the resources and desire to sign Matt Holliday. In that sense, the market for the left fielder’s services is quite small. But it’s plenty big enough for Scott Boras to exploit. And you can bet that Holliday will end up with the contender who offers the most money.

 The big-money AL teams will have their sights set on Matt Holliday.

The Yankees, who need a left fielder, are interested.

The Red Sox, who need a left fielder, are interested.

The Angels, who need a power bat, are interested.

So, I fully expect Holliday to play in the American League next season. The highest bidder will determine where. He won’t be back in St. Louis, where he finished this season and seemed so comfortable in the process. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Boras clients — along with most ballplayers and most people in this country — affix their signatures to the biggest offer they can find. It’s very hard to find fault with that.

He’s right you know. Unless the Mets turn out to be the highest bidder, they have no chance of landing the free agent slugger. The Mets already have the deck stacked against them with the perception that CitiField is unkind to power hitters. Of course that isn’t true, but the reality is that it’s the prevailing perception.

Here are some poll results from 1,791 voters who were asked: Where will Matt Holiday end up?

31%  Yankees
25%  Red Sox
12%  Angels
17%  Cardinals
15%  Somewhere else

Of course the somewhere else includes about a half dozen or more other teams.

I’ve asked this question before, and as the days pass and the rumors and speculation persist, it becomes more and more relevant to Mets fans.

If the Mets fail to get Matt Holliday or Jason Bay, than what will ”Plan C” be?

We live in the age of the 24 hour news cycle thanks to the internet, but somehow when it comes to the hot stove season, it’s more like a 24 minute news cycle.

Case in point, the Matt Holliday rumors.

Everyone who has an inkling, a feeling or a thought on the Holliday situation keeps adding to the suffocating cycle and viral onslaught of baseless information that contradicts itself from minute to minute.

Matt Holliday’s free agency has now taken on a life of it’s own. Much like the SciFi classic, “The Blob”, it creeps, and crawls, and eats, and grows.

Scott Boras doesn’t help matters when he keeps saying that his client Matt Holliday is this year’s Mark Teixeira, but nothing could be more further from the truth. Holliday is definitely not in the same class as Teixeira, and it’s not even close.

Teixeira is a superstar and a perennial MVP candidate, whereas Matt Holliday is neither of those things. And yet by the enormous volume of information, most of it useless, you would think Holliday is the second coming of Ted Williams.

In the last three days, the Holliday twists and turns, which are being fueled mostly by wild speculation, have reached a new level of internet saturation.

One of the more popular hot stove sites had over 30 different links or references to Matt Holliday in the last 48 hours alone. And they were all in individual blog posts! Now take that number and multiply it by the number of letters in Holliday’s name, square it and then multiply it again by the number of baseball blogs and… well, you get the picture.

One minute the Mets won’t spend on Holliday, the next minute the Mets are going all out for him. One writer gets a chuckle out of Holliday in a Met uniform, while another says it’s written in the stars. One post says that Holliday is too rich for the Mets taste, and later that day he’s right up the Mets alley. Geesh…

The worst part of it is that 24 hours later, a whole new slew of blog posts with the same contradicting information is recycled and regurgitated the next day. Of course, the names have been changed to protect the guilty, but basically its the same crap, over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. It’s completely mind boggling.

Actually, it’s indescribable… it’s indestructable… Nothing can stop it!

Sadly, I myself posted a Matt Holliday blog when either Heyman or Rosenthal reported that a source told them Holliday preferred to sign with the Mets or Yankees. The next day there were conflicting reports and I was going to repost the updated information. As I gathered my thoughts, the story changed again and Holliday was suddenly back on the Mets radar, but then… <Insert a terrifying scream here.>

To be continued…

According to Ken Davidoff of Newsday, he has a source who has told him that Matt Holliday’s top two choices in free agency are the Yankees and the Mets, in that order. When that Davidoff wrote that blurb about Holliday wanting to come to NY, Joe D. wrote the following,

Holliday’s agent is none other than Scott Boras. I can assure you that Holliday’s comments had more to do with money and less to do with a burning desire to play for New York. I’m sure that he and Boras are both acutely aware that the Yankees and Mets are ranked first and second in MLB’s highest payrolls. If Holliday really made those comments, it was merely a strategic move to start a bidding war and inflate his value.

Today, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports writes the following:

The thought of free-agent left fielder Matt Holliday signing with the Mets is good for a chuckle. Some who know Holliday say he would prefer not to play in New York. Also, his power to right-center makes him a poor fit for Citi Field. The Mets would not be so desperate to upgrade in left if Fernando Martinez had justified talk that he might be a left-handed Manny Ramirez.

Now there’s a real kick in the groin…

Not only does Rosenthal completely debunk Ken Davidoff’s source, but at the same time he takes a big swipe at one-time Mets top prospect, Fernando Martinez, who has now been passed up by Jenrry Mejia and Wilmer Flores in the most recent Baseball America Top 10 rankings. However, it is somewhat revealing that the Mets would consider giving a 5+ year contract to an outfielder if F-Mart was really waiting in the wings.

Last week, I wrote a blog that asked the question what if the Mets can’t sign Holliday or Bay, what’s the backup plan? (You can read that here.)

With the Red Sox currently negotiating with Jason Bay, and this new revelation from the Matt Holliday camp, the question that I posed last week seems less and less like a hypothetical question, and more and more like the reality of the situation.

The blogosphere has been buzzing with the pros and cons of each leftfielder, while Mets fans debate about which would be a better fit at CitiField.

The agents for each player are already embroiled in a war of words as to which of them is the most complete player, and Boras has already made it known that it could take a Mark Teixeira sized contract to land his client, Matt Holliday.

However, a thought has occurred to me that has me somewhat baffled. What if both players resign with their former clubs?

Theo Epstein, GM of the Boston Red Sox, sounded pretty confident on Monday when he said that Bay was one of his most important players and that he will do what it takes to resign him. Jason Bay later added that he wants to stay in Boston and that he absolutely loves playing for the Red Sox. Epstein said he would continue working toward a deal until the last possible moment before Bay officially becomes a free agent in fifteen days.

Meanwhile back in St. Louis, Joe Straus in his live chat for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, suggested that the Cardinals are already discussing the groundwork for a 6 year $96 million dollar contract, to keep Matt Holliday in St. Louis. Holliday enjoyed his time with the Cards and loved the ballpark. Also important to note is this one small but very important fact; the Cardinals have hire Mark McGwire as their hitting coach. McGwire is Matt Holliday’s personal hitting coach.

The Red Sox and Cardinals now have 15 days to exclusively negotiate with their former players before other teams can begin contacting them.

If both those players get resigned, the Mets may find themselves looking at players like Hideki Matsui, Bobby Abreu, Jermaine Dye and Vladimir Guerrero, each of whom come with some added risk.

The Mets could also venture into the trade market for players like Carl Crawford who will cost them several premium prospects including Ike Davis, Fernando Martinez and Jenrry Mejia, or they can instead take on Vernon Wells for two low-level prospects, but also assume his huge $105 million dollar commitment as well.

The other alternative would be to overwhelm San Diego or Milwaukee for their All Star first basemen and add the big bat the Mets desperately need at 1B instead of LF. The free agent market at first base is very weak.

The best thing we could hope for is that neither Bay or Holliday resigns, and that their negotiations fall apart.

Even if just one of them resigns, it would be bad news for the Mets as a huge bidding war will ensue for the remaining leftfielder. A bidding war that will see offers that are so high that it will force the Mets to back off and consider another option.

The question then becomes, which option?

Holliday’s agent is none other than Scott Boras. I can assure you that Holliday’s comments had more to do with money and less to do with a burning desire to play for New York. I’m sure that he and Boras are both acutely aware that the Yankees and Mets are ranked first and second in MLB’s highest payrolls. If Holliday really made those comments, it was merely a strategic move to start a bidding war and inflate his value.

This season you’ll be hearing about dozens of players who want to play for New York, accompanied by heart warming sentiments about how they grew up rooting for the Mets or Yankees.

Yesterday on WFAN, SI.com’s Jon Heyman said he believes the Mets would like to sign Holliday, and that he will most likely stay in the National League despite some heavy attention from the Yankees and Red Sox.

I have no problems with the Mets going after Holliday, however I am always skeptical of players who are motivated by the all mighty dollar and are looking for that big once in a lifetime payday.

Yesterday, Scott Boras compared Matt Holliday to Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira. Is he kidding me?

The Los Angeles Times writes the following,

“These guys are blue-collar superstars,” Boras said. “They don’t hit 50 home runs, but they’re complete players. They can give you something without swinging a bat.”

Teixeira signed with the New York Yankees last winter, for $180 million. Boras would not say what his asking price would be for Holliday, but he made clear he considered Holliday’s abilities in getting on base, hitting for power and playing superior defense similar to those of Teixeira.

“There are differences between hitters and complete players,” Boras said. “Matt Holliday is a complete player. There is, frankly, no one like him in the market.”

Obviously, Holliday won’t get anything close to $180 million dollars as far as a total package goes, no matter what Boras says, but he should be able to get a five year deal averaging $18 million dollars with an option for a sixth season.

I’m thinking that he ultimately signs for $90 to $100 million dollars… Probably $100 million so that Boras can pad his ego by telling his clients he landed a nine figure deal.

Does that sit well with most of you?

It seems like a steep price to pay for someone who really isn’t the true power hitter that we really need.

I believe Jason Bay would come for five years or less and his average salary probably won’t exceed $15 million dollars.

An even better option would be trading for the Colorado Rockies’ Brad Hawpe, who could be available. His career .283 BA, .377 OBP, .498 SLG looks pretty damn good when you compare those stats to either Bay or Holliday. The money we save can be used to secure a top of the rotation starter and an everyday catcher.

However, the Mets will need more than just a single free agent slugger to be competitive in the National League East.

The free agent market, as a whole, isn’t very deep this season so Omar Minaya and the Mets will most likely look at acquiring new talent via trade to try to patch the team’s numerous voids.

Colorado is an interesting trade partner as they seem to be segueing in a new generation of younger and cheaper stars, including the likes of Dexter Fowler. By doing so they are also looking to shed some of their more expensive stars.

The two in particular that would seem most likely to warrant a look by the Mets are Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe.

Atkins is coming off a year where he hit for career lows in the average, home run and RBI department. There is talk that the once-powerful third baseman will be non-tendered, which means the Mets could acquire him without losing prospects.

This looks like an attractive option to buy low on a productive player that could platoon at first base and spell David Wright at third on days where he needs rest, right?

Wrong.

Atkins, who is already in the midst of a prolonged slump would suffer greatly away from Coors Field.

Let’s look at 2007, a year in which Atkins hit .301 and clubbed 25 home runs cumulatively. Atkins hit the ball extremely well at home and posted a .349 average at Coors Field. However, his road average plummeted to .254.

This is a trend that can be seen when looking at the past two years as well.

Certainly, a pitcher’s friendly park, like Citi Field would do a number on Atkins’s performance.

Atkins’s teammate, Brad Hawpe’s, name has come up numerous times in rumors connected to the Mets. Unlike, Atkins, Hawpe is a very consistent player, who has hit 20+ home runs and driven in 80+ runs in the past four seasons.

Hawpe also doesn’t suffer nearly as badly from the Coors Field effect, and in some cases has actually hit better on the road than at home. Unfortunately, Hawpe has his flaws as well.

Hawpe is a pitcher’s best friend in the sense that he is a strike out machine.

Last year, alone, in 501 at-bats, Hawpe struck out 145 times. That is a very high percentage of punch-outs, and is five more than the Mets’ 2009 strike out leader, David Wright, had.

Throughout his career, Hawpe has never been able to grasp hitting left-handed pitching. Last year, he hit only .243 against southpaws, which is in line with how he hit them in the previous three seasons combined (.245).

Now if the team went out and acquired a slugging first baseman, such as Prince Fielder, Hawpe wouldn’t look so bad in left field because he does in fact have good power.

He could even platoon with Angel Pagan on days when the team faces a left-hander.

However, if the Mets decide not to acquire a big bat at first base, electing Hawpe to be the full-time left fielder over Bay or Holliday would be a mistake.

All in all, it is pretty clear that neither Colorado bat is an ideal fit for the Mets.

These two outfielders are the best 2 left fielders on the free agent market this year.  They will both command a lot of money, especially since they are both clients of Scott Boras.  There are not many “cons” to signing either of these guys.

Both would provide the power the Mets desperately need next year.  Both Bay and Holliday will supply the protection that David Wright needs in the lineup.  This year was the first time in Wright’s career that he didn’t have any sort of protection in the lineup and we saw the result.

A lot of people thought that Holliday was only achieving the numbers the has over his career because he was hitting in Coors Field for the Rockies.  Last winter he was traded to Oakland where he played for 93 games.  In those 93 games he hit .286 with 13 HR’s.  At the end of July, Holliday was traded to the Cardinals where he hit .353 with 14 HR’s, finishing the year off a .313 batting AVG.  Holliday doesn’t always get the respect for his defense but he is a good defensive player as well, of course I’m disregarding that error in game 2 of the NLDS which was a fluke.  He has made 31 errors in his career from 2004-2009.

Bay’s numbers are equally impressive.  He has a career batting average of .280.  Since 2003 he has hit 185 home runs with 610 RBI.  Bay does strikeout more than Holliday but he is a power hitter and power hitters are more susceptible to striking out.  Last year Bay was traded to Boston at the deadline in July, he has played in 200 games for the Red Sox and he has hit .274 with 45 home runs and 156 RBI in 200 games in Boston.

Obviously the Mets are not going to sign both outfielders this year, though with this medical staff that wouldn’t be such a bad idea.  All joking aside, I would rather the Mets sign Matt Holliday.  He’s 2 years younger than Bay, his defense is better and he doesn’t strikeout as much.  The defense is key to me as left field in Citi Field demands an outfielder who can field well.

Both players are in their prime and would be an asset to any club that signs them.  Both are reportedly happy with their current teams but as we know in this day and age being content with your team doesn’t mean you won’t take the bigger pay day.  I’m guessing that money will be the ultimate factor for whatever team signs Bay and Holliday as both clubs they are with are contenders every year and are capable of winning championships.  

What do you fans think?  Am I wrong in wanting Holliday?  Would you rather have Jason Bay?  Or is there another left fielder you rather have?

Early impression: The Mets favor Matt Holliday for left field over Jason Bay, though either would help immensely. Mets COO Jeff Wilpon said they expect to spend money this winter, and really, they have no choice.

Mets higher-ups made it fairly clear that the heat is on both GM Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel. “Omar would be gone if not for that extension,” said one Mets person loyal to Minaya, referring to his $3.5 million, three-year deal. One tipoff that Manuel’s in slightly better stead is that he got to make coaching calls (such as keeping Razor Shines), while Minaya was pressured to fire friends Tony Bernazard, Ramon Pena and Julio Franco. One plus for Minaya, according to several sources, is that Fred Wilpon likes him.

Minaya is considering jobs for Kevin Towers and J.P. Ricciardi, particularly with longtime scout Sandy Johnson telling Mets people that he’s likely to retire. Towers has proven to have excellent scouting instincts over the years.

Matt Holliday finished the regular season with a .324 batting average to go with 24 homeruns and 109 RBIs. His on-base percentage of .394 and .909 OPS clearly show he was just as good away from Colorado as he was when he played for the Rockies.

Holliday would look great batting third in the Mets lineup, followed by Carlos Beltran and David Wright, or you can flip him with Wright. Either way, he would add a a great jolt of power that was missing far too often last season.

He won’t come cheap, but I’m not one of those Mets fans that are bent on pinching the Wilpon’s pennies. He won’t cost the Mets any prospects, and it’s very clear that Fernando Martinez is years away from being major league ready, and Angel Pagan would bolster the Mets bench and he’d get plenty of at-bats keeping everyone fresh.