First Major Deal of 2008

Not for the Mets, but in general. The Athletics traded Nick Swisher to the White Sox for a trio of prospects named Gio Gonzalez, Faustino De Los Santos and Ryan Sweeney. The first two are pitchers, and Sweeney is an outfielder.

And for the record, it’s actually the second trade of the year. Yesterday the Phillies acquired speedy but unknown outfielder Chris Roberson from the Orioles in return for cash. Presumably he fits into the fourth outfielder / pinch-runner role left behind by Michael Bourn (no relation to Jason).

Strangely enough, for whatever reason the idea of the Mets trading for Swisher popped into my head this morning — I have no idea why. Maybe the trade was reported on the radio and it entered my subconscious, but not conscious, mind (I’m generally unconscious until at least noon and/or after three cups of coffee).

In any case, it appears that the Athletics are in what I like to call “Marlins Mode” — the mass dumping of any and all players under contract in return for the cheapest minor leaguers money can buy. So that’s where the Swisher deal becomes relevant to MetsToday — can Omar Minaya get in on the fire sale?

After sending away Danny Haren and Swisher, it’s likely that Joe Blanton is next to go. In fact, anyone over the age of 25 is probably on trading block. Some of the names in that group: Rich Harden, Alan Embree, Kiko Calero, Dan Meyer, Dan Johnson, Bobby Crosby, Mark Kotsay, and Mark Ellis. Before you say, “what in the world would the Mets want with Bobby Crosby”, remember that they’re still trying to pry Johan Santana away from the Twins. Perhaps a trade and flip involving someone like Crosby is exactly what the Mets need to do to get a deal with Minnesota done. It makes sense, considering that the Twins were previously insistent on the Mets including shortstop Jose Reyes in any deal for Santana.

More news could be on the way … we’ll be watching the Billy Beane situation closely over the next few weeks.