Joel Sherman of the New York Post, reports that soon after the Colorado Rockies acquired Huston Street in the Matt Holliday deal, the Mets checked in and made an offer for Street.
Sherman explains that the Mets wanted to trade reliever Aaron Heilman, but that the Rockies wanted Pedro Feliciano as well.
The Mets said no, and that was the end of the negotiations.
I would have pulled the trigger on that… Not only would we have jettisoned Heilman out of here, but it would have given the Mets more leverage in a K-Rod deal.
In his article, Sherman also writes,
“The more I talk to Met officials the more I sense they want to use Street as the eighth-inning guy and still obtain a closer such as Brian Fuentes or Francisco Rodriguez. The Mets recognize they do not just have a ninth-inning problem, but that their whole late-inning contingent was troublesome.”
As I wrote last week, the Mets need more than just a closer, they need to construct a bridge to the closer with a reliable setup man and two reliable specialists.
I believe we have a solid righty specialist in Joe Smith. After that it’s just a wild gamble. If somehow Feliciano and Schoeneweis are back next season, I guess one of them would be the lefty specialist, though I’d rather have a fresh face in the role.
I do like the Mets thought process on this though, and I am glad they feel the need to get not just one closer, but a second one as backup who will fill the setup role until he is needed.
It’s a solid plan.
