putz is 4.5m, k-rod is 12m… reyes is 4.5 million and lazied his way to 58 stolen bases last-year he’s also the best SS in MLB not named Hanley Ramirez… delgado is old, but he still ops’d higher than d-lee.

David Wright, Jose Reyes, K-Rod, Murphy, pelfrey and maine are all under 30.

They have the best SP in baseball.

Minaya did a great job this offseason so far, he got K-rod well below his original asking price. He got putz for practically nothing.

The mets are a starting pitcher away from contention, while the phillies are getting worse.

Does anyone else really see Moyer repeating his year last year, and Utley having the same monster first half next year? Lidge will remember who he is in due time, too.

like drunken sailors.

Their offense is in shambles. Their pitching outside of wang and CC aren’t spectacular either.

his +4 ERA, his 86 walks and his medical history don’t impress me a bit. Considering who he is replacing, the difference is negligible at most. he’d have to top mussina’s numbers last year to make more than a 1 or 2 game impact for the 09’ yankees. If him and WANG put up 400 innings combined, they might make the wildcard. But they still can’t hit.

They both have addressed their problems.

Mets – They came into this offseason with some questions. A number 2 starter would be nice (as Maine/Pelfrey are more 3’s), bullpen help was a thought, and another bat somewhere. Out of all those needs, what area should they have addressed before the bullpen? Spending all their money on a number 2 starter and not addressing the pen is interesting, but this was a team last year that, had they had a pen, would’ve been in the playoffs. The offense, even accounting for regressions, should be okay.

They still have a rotation question. They can probably fill one spot with Jon Niese, who projects as your typical mid-rotation lefty, but they need one more arm beyond that. I think they are expecting Nick Evans and Dan Murphy to fill in on offense to address some needs. Murphy can hit. There’s indications they can make one more mid-level move. I expect them to go after a starter, maybe to bring Oliver Perez back or sign someone else. I’m not so sure that they wouldn’t be better off going after a bat, though. That said, if they buy Evans and Murphy helping out, and I buy Murphy by himself and I buy Evans/Church as a platoon, then going after that starter makes some sense. They’ll be looking for an innings eating type of starter, so I won’t be surprised if the Cubs revisit Marquis with them, allowing them to add another bat (assuming Murphy stays in the OF, then their need would be at 2nd, as they’ll give Delgado a shot entering the year).

By midseason, Fernando Martinez could be ready, allowing Murphy to go to the infield if Castillo (or Delgado) are struggling.

Yankees – The lineup, as was discussed in a post, isn’t bad. It has the chance to have bouts of excitement mixed in with bouts of struggles. That said, their biggest need was pitching, so going that route made sense. I still think they need another bullpen arm, but they’ll work to get that 5th starter first, I think. As it stands, their starting positional players look to be

C – Posada
1st – Swisher
2nd – Cano
SS – Jeter
3rd – Rodriguez
RF – Nady
CF – Cameron (if the trade happens)
LF – Damon
DH – Matsui

My guess at a lineup

1. Damon
2. Jeter
3. Matsui
4. Rodriguez
5. Cano
6. Nady
7. Swisher
8. Cameron
9. Posada

It’s a potentially deep lineup, but for the middle has questions. It could be good … but it could struggle. If you buy Swisher bouncing back and potentially raking with that RF porch, and I do, then the lineup could be much better, as Swisher could go to the 3rd or 5th spots, sliding some folks down. As I type this, I think that flipping Cameron and Posada is a thought.

Their system will have enough chips to spin to make moves at midseason, particularly since Hughes isn’t in a key role. He’s lost some luster, but he’s still a valuable asset who, according to some, showed his former potential in Arizona Fall League. I expect the Yankees to add that 5th starter (CC, Burnett, Wang, Joba) and then to potentially find a way to add a pen arm unless there’s a good value bat available.