What's Next?

Pending his physical, Jason Bay will officially be announced as a Met this week. Our offensive woes, it may seem, are cured. Bay is almost a lock to hit .265-.270, hit 25-30 HRs and have 110+ RBIs. His bat will also increase the number of runs scored by Reyes, Castillo and Beltran, assuming they bat 1-2-3 in the order.

Kudos to Omar Minaya. That's right, I said it. Kudos, Omar. He signed Jason Bay to the contract that he was originally offered. Omar didn't take the "mystery team" bait. He offered 4 years. Bay signed for 4 years, with an option for year 5.

I hope Omar continues to take the same approach with Bengie Molina. Although the fat man wants 3 years, Omar is sticking with his 1-year + option offer of $6 million per season. For what it's worth, I'm actually starting to come around to having Molina as a Met. Looking at what Molina did in San Francisco with a young pitching staff, he just might be what Ollie and Big Pelf need to help them harness their abilities. (In fact, I read somewhere that with Molina behind the dish, Ollie and Pelf could be the 2010 version of Jonathan Sanchez and Matt Cain.)

Once Molina is signed, I hope Omar doesn't decide to call it quits. Better backstop or not, the Mets still need a legitimate #2 starter. The answer just might be in Chicago, in the form of the volatile Carlos Zambrano. Not to be confused with Victor, "Big Z" is a legit #2 who has John Lackey's attitude and Lou Pinella's temper. Plus he's Latino, which is always a selling point for Omar.

I've heard that The Cubs aren't going to trade him, but I've also heard that they're trying to cut salary. The Mets could offer a package of a Major League ready arm, Luis Castillo and perhaps a few other prospects for Zambrano. Once Luis is out of the way, Orlando Hudson could be had for $3 million.

Keep your eyes peeled, folks. Lots of good stuff will happen in the next 10 days for The Metsies.