Ryota Who?

The Braves sign Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito. The Phillies sign Placido Polanco and trade for Roy Halladay. The Yankees sign Curtis Granderson. The Red Sox sign John Lackey and Mike Cameron, and are making an effort to trade for Adrian Gonzalez.

How do The Mets respond? By signing 30-year old Japanese relief pitcher Ryota Igarashi, that's how.

Omar expects to hear from Jason Bay today, and I've heard the Mets are searching through the all-you-can-eat buffets in Bengie Molina's native Puerto Rico to find him and get an answer from him.

All kidding aside, I've reached a point where I think it's okay if Omar doesn't sign either guy. It'd be a shame, but with the pitching staff in its current state, I honestly don't think either acquisition will be enough of difference maker.

For Bay, although I like him a lot, committing that kind of money to a marginal defensive player a year before Carl Crawford will be a free agent is a huge mistake. As I've evidenced several times before, Crawford is a perfect fit for The Mets.

For Molina, he's now asking for a 3-year, $20MM contract. Laughable, I say!! I'm wondering which other teams are involved in signing Molina, and which ones are offering more than the Mets original 2-year, $10MM contract? I don't want Molina at all, and it'll only make me more upset if he gets a 3-year deal!

Anyway, my point is that the 2010-2011 free agent class features a much better group of pitchers and outfielders. Brian Cashman had the right idea when he passed on Johan in 2007-2008, because he signed CC, AJ and Tex in 2008-2009 and the rest is history. Unfortunately for Omar, if the Mets have a bad showing in 2010, he may not have the chance to pull a Cashman and redeem himself.

And this is why I'm seriously concerned. Omar, in a effort to retain his job, might make a deal for the sake of making a deal (bidding against himself for Bay and/or Molina). I just hope whatever he does this year doesn't affect what the team can do next year, because let's face it... the 2010 Mets are not a "Win Now" team.