On Friday I took a look at all of the weaknesses the Mets needed to address this off-season, and focused on why they should re-sign both Luis Castillo and Paul Lo Duca.

This morning I wanted to delve into the outfield situation.

Let’s start with left field which was handled quite well by Moises Alou last season… when he was healthy. He had a consistent season for the Mets and batted .341 to lead the Mets, and in only 328 at-bats he hit 13 homeruns, drove in 49, scored 51 times and had a .916 OPS, second only to David Wright. By all standards this was an exceptional season and even more remarkable given that Alou posted these numbers at the age of 41. The Mets hold a team option for about $7.5 million dollars in 2008, and even if he only played in 125 games it would still be the biggest bargain since Peter Minuit purchased Manhattan Island for $24 from the natives.

While everyone seems all to willing to get rid of Carlos Beltran, let me be the voice of reason. Carlos Beltran is among the most productive players at his position in the majors, and ranks in the top five in all major statistical categories. He can not only win a game with his rare blend of power and speed, but can also change the the outcome of a game with his gold glove caliber defense. Although the media likes to paint him as soft, he is the kind of player that usually guts it out when he is sore or in pain, and has proven that even when he is at less than 100%, he can still dominate the game like very few others. The Mets are set in center field for the next five years.

Again, I think I may be going against the grain when I say the Mets should trade Lastings Milledge in a package to obtain a starting pitcher. (Dan Haren maybe?) Let’s not be so quick to dismiss Shawn Green, and consider for one minute the possibility of keeping him and signing a right handed platoon partner. Although Green is clearly not an everyday player, he absolutely flourished as a platoon player and gave the Mets some dramatic hits during August and September, and led the Mets in several offensive categories during that stretch. He is also a capable first baseman that came in very handy when Delgado went down.

I would suggest the Mets look into signing Shannon Stewart to platoon with Green. I love Carlos Gomez, but lets face it… he is at least a full season away from being major league ready and was totally over-matched at the plate.  

The 34 year old Stewart is coming off of a season where he hit .290 and scored 79 runs while driving in 48 runs at the top of the order. He has some pop in his bat as evidenced by his 12 homers, and he still has sharp base running skills. He has had many stints on the DL, but they were all related to the artificial turf in Minnesota. Last season while playing on grass, he had 576 at-bats in 146 games which ranked second on the A’s. He is a career .298 hitter, with a .362 on-base, and .434 slugging pct. He can also step right in and play everyday in the event we were to lose Moises Alou, thus keeping Endy Chavez as the 4th outfielder where he clearly performs at his best. Shannon Stewart won’t cost a lot of money either.

Let me know what you think….

Later this week I will finish it off with a look at the pitching.