December is here, and the Mets front office has been rather quiet.  Except for the extension of David Wright, and the release of Jason Bay, no major roster turnover has occurred.

Is Sandy Alderson just a pretender, as MMO suggests, or has the front office simply given up (Yes, I understand linking to one’s own blog is a tad incestuous)?  Or could it be that Alderson is still waiting out the market instead of making a rash decision that could lead to overpaying in money and/or players?  Either way, Mets fans are getting impatient.

As for Wright, he will be on the payroll through 2025, whether he is on the roster or not.  $15.5 million of his contract is deferred, and will be paid in installments during 2021 and 2025.  That will help free up salary in the near future, but the Mets better be in stronger financial shape nine years from now.

Andres Torres signed a one-year deal with the Giants, the team on which he had his only good major league season.  So now San Francisco has both Pagan and Torres, and the Mets will likely start the year without Ramon Ramirez, the key part of that trade from a year ago.  The trade can now fairly be characterized as a bust, but at the time I liked it, mainly for Ramirez.  But Ramon decided to have the worst year of his life in 2012, so it didn’t work out.

The only truly big move that is likely to occur is going to be either the extension or trade of R.A. Dickey.  Dickey appeared to be having a blue (blue blue blue) Christmas at the Mets holiday party this week.  He wants the contract talks to move faster.  The Mets appear to be waiting on the trade market now that Zack Greinke is off the board.  Everyone has thrown in their speculation, but it looks about 50/50 whether he will be signed or not.  They could get a good return on a trade for R.A., but Dickey gives the Mets some identity (not to mention his ace status on the mound), and is truly a feel-good story.  When was the last time a Met was on the cover of Sports Illustrated?

For now, it’s time for us Mets fans to wait out the front office.  Don’t expect any big moves this year.  More payroll will be coming off the books following the 2013 season.  Until then, your loyalty will be tested.

Within the next 2-3 weeks, the Mets should be getting 3 key injured players back.  SS Ruben Tejada, C Josh Thole, and OF Jason Bay are all beginning to play rehab games this week.  So which players on the current major league roster will they replace?

In the case of Thole, the answer is simple – Either Mike “Grand Slam” Nickeas or Rob “Snap Throw to First” Johnson (whoever is sucking the most when the time comes) will be replaced.

Has Kirk done enough to stay on the big club?

When Tejada comes back, he would have replaced Vinny Rottino.  However, the injury to Justin Turner muddies the picture a bit.

Omar Quintanilla is likely to replace Turner on the roster.  If Tejada then replaces Quintanilla, the Mets will only have one player to backup second base, shortstop, and third base – Ronny Cedeno.  That’s assuming Cedeno’s minor quad strain doesn’t turn into a major pain in the posterior.  If the Mets decide they need 2 backup infielders, then Quintanilla would stay, and Rottino would be sent down after all.

For the sake of this post, let’s assume the latter will be the scenario.

With that in mind, the decision of whom to drop when Bay returns becomes complicated.  It’s doubtful the Mets will carry 6 outfielders, so someone is going to have to go.  Here are the candidates for replacement:

It looks like Andres Torres, Jason Bay, and Scott Hairston will be healthy for opening day (In fact, Hairston started in center field today against the Nationals).  In addition, Adam Loewen was reportedly reassigned to minor league camp.  With those nuggets of news, the Mets lineup and bench appear to be set, barring any injuries (*snicker*) between now and April 5th.

So, the lineup looks like this:

CF Torres, 2B Murphy, 3B Wright, 1B Davis, RF Duda, LF Bay, C Thole, SS Tejada.

The bench will consist of:

IF Turner, IF Cedeno, OF Baxter, OF Hairston, C Nickeas.

Not exactly the ’27 Yankees, especially as far as the bench is concerned.  The lineup has the potential to score some runs if the middle of the order produces the way many believe it can.  But if the ol’ injury bug rears its ugly head again, there’s not much backup support, at least on paper.

But, to coin a phrase, that’s why they play the games.