Listening to some Mets fans, you’d think Orlando Hudson signed up with the orange and blue two weeks ago. People are already bickering about his best spot in the lineup, and whether Daniel Murphy should continue his second base training in the Arizona Fall League. It’s not unlike the hordes of Yankees fans who already penciled in C.C. Sabathia to the Bronx Bombers’ starting rotation. Unfortunately, the free agent process has yet to begin.

First things first: yes I’d love to see Orlando Hudson as a Met in 2009, and do believe it’s a possibility. However, it’s not a foregone conclusion, and there is a sticky matter to contend with first … or maybe, it’s second.

The issue, of course, is Luis Castillo, who remains on the roster and has three expensive years left on his contract. It’s easy to say “let’s dump him for Eric Byrnes and sign Hudson”, but the reality is more complex. Further, the timing will be tricky.

For example, if you trade Castillo first, that opens up a hole on the roster, and puts the Mets in a poor leveraging position when it comes to free agents such as Hudson — and David Eckstein. Knowing that the Mets don’t have a second baseman for ’09 means their price for one goes up considerably. Sorry, Argenis Reyes will not strike fear into the hearts of savvy agents, and the Dan Murphy experiment is a longshot at best. True, Castillo had a terrible 2008, but he still holds some level of respect outside of Flushing, and as long as he’s around, the Mets don’t NEED a second baseman (except in the opinion of 99.9% Mets fans).

Don’t believe it? Consider last winter, when the Mets had NO CATCHER on their 40-man roster, and very nearly signed Yorvit Torrealba to a contract that would make Castillo’s look like a bargain. Torrealba doesn’t get three years and $15M if the Mets have anyone with a shred of experience and potential in the organization.

Now imagine if Castillo is traded, Murphy is a bust at 2B in the AFL, and Hudson DOESN’T sign — what then? Then, the Mets are really in dire straits, and could be forced into giving someone like Jamey Carroll or Felipe Lopez a Torrealba-like deal. Or they bring in a banged-up, overaged player like Jose Vidro (an Omar Minaya favorite) or Ray Durham (a Jerry Manuel favorite).

So it might behoove the Mets to hold on to Castillo until another second baseman. But then, it will be apparent to everyone in MLB that Castillo is on the block, and it could be impossible to deal him without swallowing most or all of his contract (yes, it IS possible for Castillo to be more difficult to trade than he is right now). If the Mets do indeed sign Orlando Hudson, and have Castillo still hanging around, opposing GMs will laugh heartily at any and all offers Minaya puts on the table.

I’m not sure which way works best — and not convinced a move of Castillo will be made at all. If he is still on the team come spring training, I won’t be surprised to see either of the aforementioned Vidro or Durham also brought in as motivation. Vidro can play some first base, and Durham is better suited to left field at this point of his career, so either would fit in nicely even if they don’t win the starting second base job.

Should be interesting to see how this turns out.

Supposedly, non-interim Mets manager Jerry Manuel will have a say in his coaching staff — a luxury not granted his predecessor Willie Randolph. But will he REALLY be able to choose his own staff? And if indeed he does, will it be much different from the one that was in place in game 162?

Hitting Coach Howard Johnson certainly should be back — his work getting Carlos Delgado back on track is evidence enough of his value. I really hate to play down Jerry Manuel’s role in motivating Delgado, but the fact of the matter is, it was HoJo who identified the flaws in Delgado’s swing, and worked with him to get them corrected. Johnson has also been credited for David Wright’s success — and Wright has been the Mets’ most consistent hitter over the past two years. If Johnson is not brought back, I’d imagine he’d quickly get a similar job elsewhere.

Pitching coach Dan Warthen does not have the public cache of Rick Peterson, but is well respected throughout organized baseball as a man under whom young pitchers can reach their potential. In fact it was right here at MetsToday that we suggested Warthen’s signing last February was the second-best acquisition of 2008. As it turned out, Warthen was credited with the turnaround of Oliver Perez and the development of Mike Pelfrey. Is that enough to earn a return to the big-league stage, considering that untouchables Jonathan Niese and Bobby Parnell are expected to vie for spots in ’09? Hard to say, but if he’s not retained, one would hope he’d be offered a job somewhere in the organization, to continue working his magic with young hurlers.

Bullpen coach Guy Conti could be on the way out, since the main reason he was with the Mets was because Pedro Martinez specifically asked for him to join the organization. Which is too bad, because inside sources reveal that Conti — and not Peterson — was the driving force behind many of the successful Mets pitchers. In addition to his tie to Pedro, Conti is unfortunately tied to the bullpen, which is getting the bulk of the blame for the Mets’ disappointing finish. The “correct” public move would be to make Conti the fall guy.

First base coach Ken Oberkfell could also get the heave-ho, which is another unfortunate situation. Oberkfell has proved himself as a manager at nearly every level in the minors, biding his time for an MLB opportunity. But Manuel’s wizardry kept him from an opportunity with the Mets, and as a result he may be better off moving on to an organization with which he has a better chance of managing. How Manuel deals with Oberkfell, in particular, should be interesting. Will he keep Obie around, for his baseball knowledge and reputation for fundamentals, or is Obie’s status as “manager in waiting” be too threatening? Remember that Manuel filled that role under Randolph.

Sandy Alomar says he wants to come back. Does anyone care? Hey I like Sandy as much as the next guy, but he — like Manuel and HoJo and Conti — has been around for two consecutive collapses. Is he so vital that he can escape a housecleaning — especially considering his strong ties to Willie Randolph, and the Randolph regime? One thing is fairly certain — he’ not a threat to Manuel. Plus he’s a worldly baseball man, and people like him (including me).

Sandy Alomar, Jr., is a nice guy, too — and we assume he had something to do with the great job done by Mets catchers in 2008. If he doesn’t come back at the MLB level, I’d think the team has a position for him elsewhere in the organization (i.e., Francisco Pena’s personal tutor).

I think it’s safe to say Luis Aguayo will be gone. I didn’t quite understand his hiring to begin with (favor to someone?) and Jerry has been lukewarm and non-committal when asked about the third base coach.

By the way, Jerry Manuel has made a public statement regarding his goal to stress fundamentals with the ’09 club. That’s very nice … where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, Willie Randolph made similar proclamations in the past. Hopefully this won’t be another idea passed on from Willie that goes by the wayside (or have we forgotten “resting the regulars”, “establishing bullpen roles”, etc.?).

As for coaches to bring in, it’s too early to guess, as the current coaches need to be decided first, and who knows who might be available? But, if HoJo is not retained, I’d think it would be because Rudy Jaramillo was coming in — or if Jerry’s really getting his way, we may see Gary Ward. Gary Pettis is also a possibility to be, say, a first base coach; Pettis was a coach with the Mets during the Art Howe years and also worked under Manuel in Chicago.

The main issue to address, in my mind, is what to do regarding the pitching coach. If the Mets don’t bring Warthen back, who is out there to bring in? There doesn’t appear to be anyone currently in the organization who would be considered (unless I’m missing someone?). Will Manuel have the opportunity to hire one of “his” guys, and if so, who might that be? Otherwise, is there someone special that the Mets might go after? For example, Leo Mazzone or Chuck Hernandez?