The Mets slightly stunned some people by signing Jose Valentin so quickly in the free-agent season, and one must wonder which of two issues caused the immediacy — 1. the November 12th opening of the market for free agents or 2. the apparent loss in the Daisuke Matsuzaka sweepstakes. Or a combination of both?

It’s possible the Mets signed Valentin to avoid a bidding war for the 37-year-old infielder; supposedly there were some teams interested in him as a starting shortstop. Off the top of my head, the only team I can think of would be the Cincinnati Reds, who traded their shortstop as well as half their starting lineup for an injured middle reliever during the 2006 season. However the D-Mat auction might have affected the signing as well, for a number of reasons.

First, the Mets knew what they were bidding — reportedly around $38M — and they also must have had a budgeted number for a D-Mat contract. The Mets might have been banking on being the high bidders, then wrapping up D-Mat for a specific total cost, and planning the rest of their 2007-2008 budget around that investment. A bidding team could plan the dollars out pretty well, considering that D-Mat’s only option is to go back to Japan — something he probably doesn’t want to do, regardless of Scott Boras.

However, by losing out on D-Mat, the Mets’ planned budget goes out the window. While the “plan B” being talked about in the papers is going after Barry Zito, the real secondary plan is more complex.

Put it this way — let’s just for example say that the Mets planned on spending a total of $75M for Matsuzaka ($38M in bid, $37M for a 3-year contract). Knowing that money is earmarked, you now start figuring out what you’re going to spend for a second baseman, a left fielder, another pitcher or two, and various role players. If the Mets planned to spend $75M on D-Mat over three years, they may have also planned to spend $10M over three years for a second baseman, and $25M over three for a leftfielder, for a total of $110M. So maybe they banked on getting, say, Adam Kennedy for 2B and either Carlos Lee or a combination of players (via trade or free agency) to fill left field. Again, this is just an example — the numbers are merely thrown out there for illustration.

But by losing out on D-Mat, the budget and the plans go out the window — assuming the Mets are targeting a big-time starting pitcher (as Matt Cerrone noted, the high bid establishes this assumption). Now, instead of spending $110M over three years for three players, they might need to spend the whole kaboodle on one player — most likely Barry Zito. To adjust the plans, you spread the $110M over five-six years and start looking at short-term solutions for second base and leftfield.

So instead of a 3-year deal for a younger guy like Adam Kennedy or Mark DeRosa, you wrap up Jose Valentin for one year and hope to grab somebody like Mark Loretta on another one-year deal to platoon with him. You do the same with left field — maybe sign Uncle Cliffy and Moises Alou to incentive-laden one-year deals. Rather than locking up a younger player at pitcher, 2B, and LF for several years, you get the ace first, then figure out the rest on a year-to-year basis, always maintaining flexibility (i.e., no long-term deals). Plugging in Valentin immediately means you have at least half of a platoon at either LF or 2B, and also establishes what’s left to spend early — always a valuable advantage.

If that’s indeed the way the Mets are working, then we very well might see Zito at Shea in 2007 (and at CitiField in 2009). However, it’s likely at the expense of spending dollars on youth for 2B and LF. This isn’t such a bad plan, considering that Lastings Milledge or Carlos Gomez may be ready to step into the outfield by 2008, and neither Kennedy nor DeRosa would ever be confused with Ryne Sandberg.

The key to the whole “plan”, of course, is to get Zito, which, considering his agent Scott Boras, may not happen until January. Therefore, it would not be surprising to see the Mets make a few more quick signs of veterans like Loretta, Floyd, Alou, or Ryan Klesko, before the winter meetings in December. By then, they’ll want to concentrate on one target — a starting pitcher — and decide whether they’ll have a shot at Zito or will need to make a trade for a similarly skilled ace.

We’ve seen enough “top tens”, “top 40s”, and “wishlists” … now it’s time for YOU, the Mets fan, to rate the top free agent targets.

Omar Minaya has a busy offseason, and hopes to have current Mets such as Tom Glavine, Orlando Hernandez, and Chad Bradford locked up before the annual Winter Meetings begin. In the meantime, how is he supposed to make sense of the free-agent market?

This is where you come in. Help evaluate the talent available by rating the Mets free-agent targets. Score them from one to ten, based on their skill and perceived value.

Please note that many free-agents have been left off the ballot. For example, you won’t find Aramis Ramirez, as he’s not likely to be displacing David Wright at third base. Some “stretches” are there, however, such as Roger Clemens, because, well, you never know. If you think anyone is missing, let me know and I’ll add him.

Please note that you can leave a short comment for each player … so feel free to post a line or two.

Now go rate the free agents!

If the rumors are true, and the Red Sox or some other team bid close to $40M for the right to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka, then I’m very happy the Mets lost the auction. The only logic I see in such a high bid is to keep D-Mat away from other teams, not sign him, and get the posting fee returned in 30 days.

Sure, there is supposed to be an element of “good faith” attached to this process, but forty million seems overly excessive. And it is not outside the realm of believability for a team to get stonewalled by Scott Boras and not come to an agreement on terms. Boras has a big chip to play in his pocket — D-Mat can play one more year and become an unrestricted free-agent, available on the open market. That said, Boras and D-Mat can confidently walk away from the negotiating table if they don’t get the price they want. And if a team offers, say, $10M per for 3 years, isn’t that a pretty fair offer? And would you be surprised if Boras held out for $15M per?

Which brings up another interesting twist. What if the Seibu Lions promise Boras a cut of the posting fee to insure that D-Mat signs a contract? Naturally, this would be a shady, under-the-table deal, but with the amount of dollars potentially changing hands, it would behoove the Lions to spend a few million to guarantee they get the posting fee. After all, if D-Mat doesn’t sign, then Seibu gets zilch.

Enough of the D-Mat chaos … the better news is, there’s another Japanese pitcher available, also through the posting process, who won’t be nearly as costly as Matsuzaka, yet just might outperform him — Kei Igawa.

Igawa’s stock has dropped considerably since a so-so performance against the US team last week. However, his numbers over the last few years in Japan have been more than respectable, his skills are MLB-caliber, and he’s a 27-year-old lefthander. His “poor” game against the USA is overblown. Consider this: how would you expect ANY pitcher to do against a team of MLB All-Stars? Do you honestly believe that Roger Clemens or Roy Oswalt would dominate a lineup that bats David Wright seventh and Chase Utley eighth? In addition, Igawa had not pitched in several weeks, after pitching 200 innings in the regular season, so he very well may have been a little rusty and not at his best. Even under these conditions, he managed to pitch seven strong innings, giving up only two runs against the strong US team. The one weak point was that he walked six. But if you look at the US lineup, it’s easy to understand why he might have been pitching around a few guys.

Regardless of what Scott Boras is spewing, Daisuke Matsuzaka is no guarantee to be an ace; in fact he projects more realistically as a #3. Igawa is nearly as talented, and therefore could also project as a #3 or #4. The only real difference between the two — besides the hype — is the posting price. The bid to win Igawa should be significantly smaller than D-Mat’s, and therefore a better gamble. Not to be ignored is the fact that D-Mat auction price will establish the market value for Japanese pitchers, so it should be easier to gauge a top bid for Igawa.

Further, with all the attention and hype on D-Mat, it should be much easier for Igawa to make the adjustment to the USA and MLB — for all of 2007 he’ll be in D-Mat’s shadow, the “other” Japanese import. With D-Mat absorbing the media pressure, and Igawa coming in with lower expectations, success seems much more likely.

By the end of the weekend, we’ll know who won the Matsuzaka sweepstakes. Yet there will be a much quieter, more cost-effective auction immediately after — for Kei Igawa.

While we sit on our hands and wait for the Seibu Lions to decide whether or not they’re going to accept the mysterious bid for star pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, let’s see if we can’t clear up a few misconceptions about D-Mat. (My apologies to the Scott Boras propaganda squad, which did a marvelous job convincing everyone that Matsuzaka is the Second Coming.)

1. His first name is pronounced “Dice-kay”. Such as in “Andrew Dice Clay”

2. He does NOT throw the gyroball. No, really, he DOESN’T.

3. He USED TO throw in the “high 90s”. He now ranges around 88-92 MPH. Boras did a great job of stepping around that one, by stating things like “he’s been clocked as high as 100” … indeed, about four years ago.

4. He has not quite “dominated” Japanese baseball. For example, he’s never won more than 17 games in a season, and has gone 15-15 and 14-13. Granted, he’s played on bad teams, so he could suffer from Roger Clemens run support disease.

5. He’s an “old” 26. He only threw 72 innings in 2002 because of a “tired arm” or an “elbow injury” — depending on who you talk to. His legendary 250-pitch, 17-inning game, followed by a save and a no-hitter at Koshien as an 18-year-old is merely one example of the abuse his arm has been through.

6. He’s not necessarily the “best” pitcher in Japan. Yes, Matsuzaka is definitely one of the better pitchers in Japan, but it’s not like he’s light years ahead of everyone else. For example, Kenshin Kawakami, Shinobu Fukuhara, Kazumi Saito, and Hiroki Kuroda all outperformed D-Mat in 2006. Further, the last four recipients of the Sawamura Award (basically, Japan’s version of the Cy Young) were Saito, Toshiya Sugiuchi, Kei Igawa, and Koji Uehara.

7. He won’t be an MLB ace. Boras claims Matsuzaka is a #1 starter, and is fond of saying that a great pitcher is a great pitcher no matter what league he’s in. Oh yeah? Then why did Alay Soler and Mike Pelfrey have so much trouble in the bigs, after dominating AA? You can’t tell me that D-Mat is going to have his way with MLB hitters when his toughest opponents in Japan were Benny Agbayani, Tuffy Rhodes, and Kaz Matsui. A more realistic expectation is to see D-Mat as a #3 starter, possibly developing into a #2. That’s not to say he can’t be a #1 — only that it shouldn’t be expected.

So keep the above in mind while sweating out this posting process.

The goal here is not to trash Daisuke Matsuzaka … in fact, I’ll be pulling for the guy no matter where he ends up (as long as it’s not elsewhere in the NL East). Rather, it seems appropriate to tear down the mountain of hype spun by the Scott Boras publicity machine.

It’s going to be difficult enough for this kid to adjust to the culture of the USA, but to have to come in with the load of a $50M+ investment on his shoulders, and an agent saying “his fastball is like Tom Seaver’s, his slider like Steve Carlton’s” is too much for anyone.

I realize Boras is out to grab every last dollar he can get, but is it worth the expense of destroying the ego and confidence of a young hurler?

Mets fans no doubt are having deja vu all over again … we were promised a Japanese import who was hyped to be the next Honus Wagner — only with power! — and three years later that same “superstar” was struggling to get out of AAA.

Let’s hope the same fate does not befall Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Over the past two years, there have been numerous rumors bandied about regarding the Mets and Alfonso Soriano. Half the rumors said the Mets were after him, the other half said they didn’t want any part of him, because of his questionable attitude, poor fielding, propensity to strikeout, etc., etc.

Now that he’s on the open market, the Mets have been ice cold — not even a whisper of interest has been leaked from the front office. Columnists, bloggers, and blogging commentors are split on Soriano’s value, with the majority feeling that he isn’t worth the money.

However, the Phillies have made it clear they will aggressively pursue Soriano, beginning this weekend. His presence would give the Phils a lineup that includes Ryan Howard, Soriano, Chase Utley, and Jimmy Rollins — a powerful group that compares favorably to the Mets’ returnees. All by himself, Soriano could be the difference-maker — much the same way Carlos Delgado was key to the Mets’ success in 2006.

So let’s try this again … are the Mets interested in Alfonso Soriano? If not, shouldn’t we rethink the idea?

It’s kind of like being in high school and thinking about asking a girl out. You think you like her, she’s pretty, but maybe those braces are a turnoff. And you’re not sure you like the way she’s always flipping her hair, and chewing gum with her mouth open. But then you hear some other guy is about to ask her to the dance, and suddenly she becomes all the more interesting … in fact now you’re certain you want to date her, and just what were you thinking before?

The Mets wouldn’t mind seeing Soriano re-sign with the Nationals. They wouldn’t mind seeing him go to the American League. The Cubs would be a great place for him to go. But the Phillies? The NL East?

For all the people who don’t want Alfonso Soriano in a Met uniform because of his supposed selfishness, poor defense, and high strikeout rate, I ask you: would you rather see him in a Phillies uniform? Will you be satisfied with Adam Kennedy at 2B, batting .260, and Lastings Milledge hitting 12 HRs in left field, while Soriano is on his way to hitting 50 or 60 homeruns, 45 doubles, stealing 40 bases, and combining with Ryan Howard to be the most fearsome 1-2 punch outside of Fenway? All of a sudden those 150+ strikeouts don’t seem so terrible. And the poor defense has become arguably acceptable. The selfishness doesn’t exist, because the Phillies will be winning — selfish people are usually only noticed on losing teams.

I don’t know that Alfonso Soriano is worth the “Carlos Beltran-type money” he’s looking for, but he is certainly a valuable and expensive talent. The Phils have already hinted that they will offer an $80M, 5-year contract (though without a no-trade clause), and those numbers might already price the Mets out of the running. However, they might not have to … consider that:

1. Soriano has been pining to return to his “home” in New York City ever since he left the Yankees.

2. The Mets could offer him the no-trade clause in lieu of more money.

3. Soriano could be promised the starting second base job.

4. With Soriano in the lineup, the Mets are more or less a lock to compete for the postseason.

5. Soriano could be reunited with former coach Willie Randolph, a man he respects.

6. Soriano could return to the world’s biggest stage, New York. Whatever he gives up in baseball contract dollars, he could easily make up for in endorsements and future business connections.

All of the above are important issues to Soriano that the Phillies cannot offer. True enough, it’s almost always about money, and history indicates that Soriano is all about the dollars. But if the Mets lose the D-Mat sweepstakes, do not go after Barry Zito, and can’t trade for or sign a big bopper to play left field, they might kick themselves for not at least considering Soriano, and finding out if he would come down on his price in return for possibly more favorable issues. You never know until you ask.

Would it be so bad to have a 40-40 guy starting at second base for the next 3-4 years? Or do we really think Ruben Gotay and Anderson Hernandez are the future at the keystone?

This is one of the most agonizing periods of the year. Because of exclusive negotiating until November 11th, no “new” free agents can be signed. Due to that, no trades will be made, either. Add in the D-Mat auction — which might not be completed until after Beaujolais Nouveau arrives — and it’s a pretty boring, dormant time for rabid, news-hungry baseball fans. About the only real, hard news that can occur is either a player re-sign (ho-hum) or a managerial change (who cares, unless it’s your team?).

Although, we did get one bit of good news today — Carlos Delgado will waive his right to demand a trade. As a veteran who was dealt in the middle of a multiyear contract, he had that right offered as part of the MLB collective bargaining agreement. While it was good news, it was hardly earth-shattering — half the fans didn’t realize he had that opportunity, and the other half were pretty certain he wouldn’t exercise it. After all, Delgado has already purchased a nice big house in the area, moved his family in, and began throwing himself into community causes — he’s entrenched himself for the long term, thank goodness.

One piece of news that the Mets could create — but won’t — is an official declaration that Aaron Heilman will be given an opportunity to win a spot in the starting rotation. Wouldn’t that be great news? Wouldn’t it let a number of people breathe out a big sigh of relief?

The Mets won’t make this accouncement because they’re too hardheaded and refuse to give in to Heilman’s wishes. Oh, they’ll make 101 excuses, beginning with the supposed disarray of the bullpen. Guillermo Mota may not return because of the 50-game ban; Chad Bradford, Pedro Feliciano, Roberto Hernandez, and Darren Oliver are free agents; Duaner Sanchez is not a guarantee to return healthy — the list of excuses goes on and on. Why these are good excuses to keep him in the bullpen, while the starting rotation situation is currently in much dire straits, defies all logic.

Look at this: Pedro Martinez is out till July or August. Steve Trachsel will not return. El Duque and Tom Glavine are free agents, with no guarantee of returning. Those are the Mets top four starters from 2006, and it is completely within the realm of possibility that none will pitch for the Mets in 2007. But it’s more important that Aaron stays in the bullpen. Whaaaaaaa ??????

Take a look at the Boston Red Sox. They have Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, and Tim Wakefield returning. That’s a pretty nice trio. Yet, they are still going to add Jonathan Papelbon to the 2007 rotation. This decision comes despite the fact that their bullpen will be led by Keith Foulke and Mike Timlin, two rapidly aging veterans who are no longer dependable and coming off a very poor 2006 season. Yet they are willing to remove their one sure thing — Papelbon — from the bullpen and insert him into the rotation. How? Why? For the same reason Bobby Cox pulled his sure thing — John Smoltz — out from the closer role and into the rotation. Because someone with the potential to be a solid 6- to 7-inning starter is much more valuable than even a “cream of the crop” closer.

Think about that. Smoltz was hands-down one of the top 3 closers in the game. Papelbon was easily one of the top three closers in the AL last year. Adam Wainwright was probably the best closer in the 2006 postseason. Yet, all will be starters in 2007.

Aaron Heilman is a very good pitcher. He’s proven that two years running. He’s a good setup reliever — maybe one of the better ones in the NL. However if the Red Sox can afford to take Papelbon out of the closer’s role, how is it so impossible to take Heilman out of a setup role? Especially when you consider that the Mets have Sanchez — who many believe is even better than Heilman? Add in the fact that ChadBrad will probably come back, both Bert and Mota can be re-signed fairly cheaply now, and you have Juan Padilla returning from injury. Remember Padilla? He looked pretty good, and was going to be in Heilman’s role before his elbow injury. Oh, and then there is Royce Ring and Heath Bell coming back, and Henry Owens could be ready to contribute. Not to mention the endless list of middle relievers available on the free agent market.

Unfortunately, the Mets’ stance regarding Heilman’s role is not based on logic. It’s a pride thing, apparently. Omar will not be pushed around by some punk.

Mets’ brass, if you’re listening, consider this: if you make the announcement that Heilman will have a shot at the rotation, it will help in your negotiations with Glavine, El Duque, Mark Mulder, Barry Zito, Ted Lilly, and/or any other free agent pitchers you pursue. Their agents can’t laugh at your offers and say “you need my guy — you have nothing but #5 starters!”. Instead, you can do what the Red Sox are doing. Announce Heilman as a candidate for the rotation. Get Jay Horwitz to write a dozen press releases, hyping Heilman’s dominant career at Notre Dame, the fact he was a two-time first-rounder, his success in 2005 winter ball as a starter, his little-known but effective breaking pitches that were trashed in his middle-relief role but will be vital as a starter. Get him a few starts on Jose Valentin’s Mantai team in Puerto Rico, and tell the world about it when he throws seven innings of shutout ball. Take pictures of Aaron and Rick Peterson chatting about pitching grips. Quote Peterson saying something about what a bulldog Heilman is, how he’ll be a Cy Young candidate. Hype, hype, and more hype — and then you can go into negotiations with Scott Boras — be it for Zito or Matsuzaka — and say, “well, you know, we don’t need your client that badly … after all, Aaron Heilman is developing into a #2 starter …”

End the insanity already. Give Heilman his opportunity. It will benefit everyone.

We’ll find out in a couple days whether the Mets have the right — or even bid for the right — to sit with superscum … er, superagent … Scott Boras for 30 days to negotiate a contract for Daisuke Matsuzaka — or, D-Mat.

Actually, I’m not sure we’ll find out anything. Looking at the posting process, it looks like the deadline for the bids is 5pm Wednesday, then the Seibu Lions have 10 days to accept or reject the offer — but they are not told which team made the highest bid. So it’s quite possible that, barring a leak from MLB, we won’t know who has the right to sit with Boras until around November 19th.

Which should drive all of us nuts in the meantime. Rumors are circulating that the Mets are putting in a bid, and that they won’t be doing anything major regarding their pitching staff (other than attempting to re-sign 2006 Mets) until this fiasco of a process is complete.

We’ve covered this in a previous post about Daisuke Matsuzaka, and there is an excellent piece of research regarding D-Mat from the guys at MetsGeek, so I won’t go into the details of this Japanese import again. However, one piece of evidence does make me a bit nervous.

Supposedly, D-Mat used to throw in the high 90s, and once touched 100 MPH (at the 2000 Sydney Olympics). Now, he reportedly throws in the 88-92 range. In addition, back in 2002, he missed the majority of the season due to either a “dead arm” phase or an elbow injury that didn’t require surgery — the explanation depends on who you talk to.

These are startling revelations for a 26-year-old pitcher, who you would hope is going into his prime, not in decline. While I’ve seen lots of great research regarding D-Mat’s past, what I’d really like to see is some geek’s evaluation of top Japanese pitchers through the years, and their performance from their late 20s into their early 30s. Historically, young ace pitchers in Japan are treated in stark contrast to the youthful arms of America. In Japan, a pitcher on a roll is used on back-to-back-to-back days if necessary — not for a few innnings, but for entire games. It is not unusual for a young hurler in the Koshien tournament to throw 250+ pitches one day, record a save the next day, then toss a no-hitter the day after that, as D-Mat did as a 17-year-old. While I’m 100% against the babying of American pitchers — especially the 100-pitch limits for grown men — I also believe that the Japanese treatment of pitchers is just as harmful, if not worse.

Koshien is that stage that creates baseball stars — it is not unlike a baseball version of American Idol, though stars of Koshien tend to remain popular stars much longer than, say, Clay Aiken. However, for many Japanese superstars, Koshien is the pinnacle of their career, and far more important than any achievements in the pro ranks. With that in mind, it’s easy to understand why D-Mat threw all those pitches in three consecutive days — it was the biggest performance on the biggest stage of his life. At the same time, you have to wonder how harmful that week of his life was to his arm. In addition, after that performance, D-Mat became something of a legend, and no doubt was subsequently depended upon to repeat similar feats. The statistics tell us he’s completed many games in the Pacific League, and surely someone can tell us if he threw 200+ pitches on short rest in unregulated international competition, such as the Olympics? He may well have thrown on consecutive days at the end of a regular season, if his team was in the playoff hunt — this is a standard practice in Japan going back to the 1950s. So although D-Mat is only 26, it may well be a very “old” 26.

It’s not my place to say his career is nearing the end, but I do think you have to seriously consider these issues before plunking down $20-30M just to negotiate with him.

Meantime, if anyone finds, or has, any comparative analysis of other young Japanese pitching stars, and how they fared past age 25, please post a comment.

According to agent Bob Garber, the Mets are interested in Mark Loretta.

Though this might sound like the hot stove heating up in Flushing, my guess is that this is more Garber hyping up his client to nudge the Boston Red Sox. We witnessed very similar posturing just a few days ago from Mike Mussina’s agent — and lo and behold, the Yankees are now hammering out a deal to keep Mussina away from the Mets, Phillies, etc. for another two years.

As recently as the end of October, Loretta expressed a desire to return to Boston. The 35-year-old second baseman was a good fit for the Red Sox, and remains one while prospect Dustin Pedroia is eased into regular duty with the big club. By not negotiating with Loretta now — while they have exclusivity — the Red Sox brass is playing the waiting game, supposedly waiting to consider other free agents on the market and in the meantime driving down Loretta’s price. In turn, Garber leaks out the fact that the Mets and other teams are interested to motivate talks with Boston before November 11th.

However, let’s pretend that the Mets have a genuine shot at obtaining Mark Loretta. His righthanded bat and solid if unspectacular defense would be a perfect foil for Jose Valentin in a platoon situation, should Valentin return. If Valentin returns, by the way, someone should tell him to abandon righthanded hitting altogether. In the event that both Loretta and Valentin are producing in 2007, the tandem could coexist as second basemen yet also start at other positions. Valentin has played the outfield, shortstop, and third, and Loretta has played every infield position. It would be nice to have two potent veteran bats coming off the bench, filling in with spot starts around the diamond, and platooning at second base. With their combined flexibility, Willie Randolph could easily get them 100-120 starts each, and have them available for pinch-hitting the remainder of the time. With both veterans in their late 30s, it could prove to be an ideal situation for everyone.

Speaking of free agent second basemen, it may behoove the Mets to enter the Alfonso Soriano sweepstakes for no reason other than to keep him away from the Phillies. The Phillies really scare me. With their pitching and young infielders, they’re maybe one or two players away from significantly shifting the balance of power in the NL East, and have newfound money to spend this offseason as well as Pat Burrell as a trading chip. Thank goodness they don’t appear to be interested in Aramis Ramirez — or else the entire NL All-Star infield might have Phillie uniforms. (No slight on our Metsies, but Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Jimmy Rollins are as much All-Star caliber as their Shea counterparts.) Adding Soriano and a legit leadoff hitter to their lineup — Juan Pierre is available — would make them a serious threat to the Mets, and possibly a favorite to win the East.

Meantime there has been no official word on any of the Mets’ in-house free agents. As much as I’d like to see the Mets wrap up Chad Bradford as soon as possible, that might be impossible. His outstanding 2006 season — combined with a weak free agent class — will surely make him a target of nearly every deep-pocketed team in need of bullpen help (read: Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, etc.). It looks like there could be a mild bidding war for the submariner, and the Mets may have to overpay to keep him at Shea. I hope they do.