Ruben Amaro Jr. has been the GM of the Phillies for all of what, 2 months?  Already he is doing his part to ensure Mets fans hate him.  Check out his reaction to the signing of K-Rod.

 ”I don’t think it affects us much,” general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “They’ve had Billy Wagner, and we still beat them the last 2 years in our division.” 

What he said is 100% true, but was mentioning Wagner and reminding everyone they have won the division the last 2 years really neccessary?  Mark it down, the first salvo in the ‘09 chapter of this rivalry was fired by Amaro.  Don’t expect a shot back from Omar Minaya Phillies fans, he is to classy for that.  Plus his focus is where it should be, on bettering the Mets for next season.  Pat Gillick did a good job building the current Phillies roster, if I was Amaro I would concentrate on what I have to do to keep the Phils playing at a championship level as opposed to making snide comments about my team’s rival.  Just sayin’.

Now that the Mets have filled their Grand Canyon size gap at closer, what’s next?  As we all know the Mets have several more glaring needs that they must attend to.  Here is how I rank those needs as of right now:

1. More bullpen help.
2. A #2 or #3 type starter, to replace Perez
3. Trade Heilman and Castillo.
4. Acquire a corner outfielder either via trade or free agency
5. The same with second base assuming we can get rid of Castillo.

I will detail how I think the Mets should try and fill these gaps in separate posts throughout the next couple of days.  Surprised not to see a catcher on this “to do list?”  The guy I wanted was Ramon Hernandez and since the Reds stole him today I am fine with Brian Schneider being back behind the plate next season.

What am I missing from this list?

Kudos to Matt Cerrone from metsblog.com for the exclusive K-Rod card.

As I speculated yesterday I felt it was just a matter of time before the Mets agreed to a deal with closer Francisco Rodriguez.  Today they signed the righty to a three-year $37 million contract with a 4th year vested option should he meet health related incentives, which would bring the deal to $51 million total.

While I have been on record numerous times on this site saying my first option at closer would be to sign JJ Putz at the price the Mets signed K-Rod at how could I not be on board?  This was a good get by Omar, but he still has a lot of holes to fill yet this offseason.

With that said, again, great job on this Omar and welcome to Flushing, K-Rod.  By the way what number are you going to wear?  Another pretty good pitcher on the Mets already wears your #57.

Update 12/9 6:15pm EST: It’s Official: K-Rod is a Met

I have spent probably two hours today reading stories just on the subject of K-Rod and the Mets. After sifting through the facts It does not take a genius to figure out that the Mets will more than likely land the record breaking closer.  The only issue that remains is what price they will acquire him at.  This is what we know:

1. The Mets have offered K-Rod a 2-year deal with a third year option at $12 million per.
2. Omar is doing a masterful job of providing the Mets with plenty of leverage in their negotiations.  By meeting with Brian Fuentes and Trevor Hoffman it puts pressure on K-Rod and his agent to get the deal done because if the Mets sign Hoffman let’s say, who is going to give K-Rod his money? Continue Reading »

In our Mets Musings post we will link to and discuss the major stories surrounding the Amazin’ Mets from major newspaper outlets and independent sports blogs around the internet.  If you have a Metsblog or write about the Mets in the mainstream media shoot us an e-mail at jetsandmetsblog@gmail.com to get on our radar.

Finally, the winter meeting are here!  Here are some of the stories floating around out there about the Mets and players who could be Mets come Spring Training ‘09.

• As you all probably know Omar dined with K-Rod last night in Vegas. David Lennon of Newsday reported that Omar just smiled when asked if he made an offer to the closer, but did mention that he still plans on meeting with fellow closers Trevor Hoffman and Brian Fuentes while in Vegas this week. My guess is Minaya made a preliminary offer to K-Rod as the righty seems to be #1 on the organization’s wish list. Along with meeting with Hoffman and Fuentes hopefully Omar approaches the Mariners in regards to trading for JJ Putz. As I have stated numerous times my feeling is that Putz as the closer and Huston Street as the 8th inning guy would be the best scenario for the Mets all things considered. Saving a little money with bullpen signings could free up enough money for the Mets to sign or trade for a #2 type starter as well as a corner oufield bat. Both of which, along with closer, are the biggest glaring needs for the team.

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