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.
