The Daily News reports the Mets are looking to compete with the Yankees for CC Sabathia. In the three by-line article, the News baseball staff says Omar Minaya will look at how the free agent market pans out and may make an offer.

To quote:

“Meanwhile, Omar Minaya was dicussing a trade for a pitcher with a GM but said he would first have to see how Sabathia’s free agency was progressing, a baseball executive said. A Mets official subsequently wouldn’t deny interest in Sabathia.

“Such a deal with the Mets likely would require backloading some of Sabathia’s salary, at least until Carlos Delgado’s $12 million and Billy Wagner’s $10.5 million salaries for 2009 are cleared.”

For me, getting Sabathia would be a real coup for the Mets and if they do, Minaya will have a little less pressure on himself to totally revamp the bullpen, even though I expect major changes out there no matter what.

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Let’s go under the assumption the Mets won’t break up their core, meaning David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and now, Carlos Delgado, will be around to hopefully torment NL pitchers or frustrate you guys with RISP.

The Mets don’t have a deep farm system, but there is talent down below.

Of this group, F-Mart, Niese, Parnell, Kunz and Murphy, who is the Met you’d least like to deal?

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The Mets picked up the $12 million option on first baseman Carlos Delgado, signed outfielder Fernando Tatis for $1.7 million, and learned Oliver Perez filed for free-agency where he stands to make much more.

By acting quickly, the Mets are addressing their offensive obligations before concentrating on pitching.

Bringing back Delgado should stifle most of the trade rumors and signing Tatis should lessen the need to go after an outfielder this winter (toward that end, Pat Burrell rejected a two-year, $22-million package from the Phillies).

Delgado, who made $16 million last year, turned around his season, and that of the Mets, with a hot second half, and over the final 85 games hit 27 homers with 80 RBI to merit MVP consideration. Tatis, who hit .297 with 11 homers and 47
RBI, is expected to share left field with Daniel Murphy.

Meanwhile, on the first day of the FA filing period, Perez, Damion Easley and reliever Matt Wise all filed.

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As the Phillies were rolling around on the infield last night much to the dismay of most Mets fans, take solace in that 2008 is officially over. The last out of the World Series officially brings with it the start of the 2009 season, although the Mets have been thinking for the past month about what went wrong and what to do about it.

It’s time to build GM Omar Minaya’s shopping list for the Hot Stove Season.

Here’s my list:

1. Starter #1: Fixing the bullpen begins first with fixing the rotation. They need to add a starter to begin shaving innings from the bullpen total. They will attempt to re-sign Oliver Perez and add a solid, but not spectacular starter such as Derek Lowe.

2. Closer: The Phillies proved a dominant closer is better than a closer-by-committee format. Brian Fuentes appears first on their list. The money is too steep for Francisco Rodriguez.

3. Starter #2: The Mets need fifth starter. They could go in the market, they could gamble with Jon Niese or they could bring back Pedro Martinez.

4. Adding bullpen depth: The Mets’ bullpen blew 29 saves, but Billy Wagner only coughed it up seven times. There were a lot of collapses in the seventh and eighth innings. Help is needed.

5. Bench (right-handed hitting outfielder): Fernando Tatis should be re-signed, I could go with the platoon of he and Daniel Murphy. Adding a proven bat would be beneficial, but not at the expense of adding pitching.

6. Re-signing Carlos Delgado: It’s doubtful Delgado will duplicate last season’s second half, but there shouldn’t be that big a dropoff. I don’t understand the eagerness of some to trade him. Afterall, for a team with holes, trading him adds another. Delgado does have a no-trade clause so it will cost something to get him to waive it.

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Howard Johnson is back as Mets’ hitting coach, which is fine by me because I enjoy talking with him. However, I’m not so sure things will be any different next year, and I wonder whether it is because of the same hitting coach or the same players.

I’m thinking the latter.

I hitting coach can go over film and mechanics with a hitter, but once he’s in the box, that guy is on his own and he’d better know what to do.

Every situation calls for a specific fundamental approach.

-It begins with getting on base, and it doesn’t matter how. Take the damn walk. And, this includes everybody, not just Jose Reyes, who fails to work the count. When they win and the offense clicks, David Wright likes to say, “we kept the line moving.” Well …. ? Why don’t they have that approach all the time. The Mets wasted way too many at-bats last year, and that starts with the approach by the hitter, who should have learned what to do in high school.

-Runner on second, no outs, hit the ball to the right side of the infield.

-Runner on third, less than two outs, hit a fly ball.

This isn’t brain surgery, it’s baseball.

Reyes need to bunt more, increase his walks and decrease his strikeouts. He needs to hit the ball on the ground. … Carlos Delgado must discover left field more than he does. … By his own admission, Wright must learn to relax and not try to do it all when runners are in scoring position.

Johnson is there to remind the players and work with them on mechanics, but it’s up to the players to be thinking the right approach. Johnson can remind them, but it’s up to Jerry Manuel from Day One in spring training to harp on them what to do.

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Retiring Phillies general manager Pat Gillick told Bill Madden of The New York Daily News at the World Series his team’s hatred for the Mets, coupled with the disdain other teams in the NL East had for the Mets, acted as inspiration. Teams just didn’t like the celebrations and their swagger, perhaps sense of entitlement, they’ve had since 2006.

Said Gillick: “If you want to know the best thing we had going for us this year, it was the fact that all the other teams in our division hated the Mets’ guts. It started with Atlanta and all the hostility they had with the Mets through the years. Then Fredi Gonzalez left Bobby Cox to manage the Marlins and he didn’t forget everything that went on between the Braves and Mets. Look what Florida did for us the past two years (beating the Mets two out of the three in each of the last series of the season to prevent them from making the postseason). Washington doesn’t like them very much either, and all those teams seemed to really get up for the Mets.”

Both Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado took the celebrations outside the dugout, but each said they weren’t hurting anybody. In the end, they may have just been hurting themselves.

Hey, it’s not a shot at Reyes, but when an executive of your bitterest rival says the perception of your team is poor, you’d better listen. If the Mets are listening, they should realize Gillick is doing them a favor.

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It goes without saying the Scott Kazmir trade was disastrous for the Mets. But, imagine for a moment, the trade worked and Rick Peterson was able to fix the very damaged Victor Zambrano.

Let’s say the Mets turned it around in 2004 and made a run at the playoffs. They were four games under .500 at the time of the trade and finished the season 20 games under. That brought the end of Jim Duquette as general manager and ushered in Omar Minaya.

Would Minaya have come if the Mets finished that season as a competitive team? With Minaya came Pedro Martinez, then Carlos Beltran, then Carlos Delgado. It’s interesting to wonder what might have happened had Zambrano panned out.

We all know what happened with Kazmir.

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On Monday evenings at 7, I will host a Mets Chat Room, where we can talk all things Mets.

Let’s see, there’s who among the Mets’ free agents they should retain, and who out there they should throw money at. … Willie Randolph, once rejected by Milwaukee, is a candidate. … Five days after the Series they must decide on Carlos Delgado.

And, of course, we will preview the World Series.

So, there’s a lot to discuss. I hope you’ll join me tonight and every Monday at 7 during the off-season.

Thanks, JD.

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There’s a lot to like about Daniel Murphy.

He plays the game hard and smart; he’s the grit the team has been accused of lacking. A third baseman by trade who will not get the opportunity because of David Wright, he was moved to left field, and now in the Arizona Fall League is playing second and first.

Versatile defensively, and patient offensively, Murphy is on the inside track of being a star. All this, and he’s not making any money.

Yes, there’s a lot to like about Murphy, and no doubt, other teams have noticed. He could very well be the Mets most tradeable commodity on the major league level. That’s why the Mets should think about dealing him now when his value is high.

Let’s face it, the Mets aren’t going to deal Wright or Jose Reyes, and Carlos Beltran’s contract makes him difficult to deal. As far as Carlos Delgado, his age, contract, and the question if his second half was a fluke makes him hard to trade.

Who else on the major league level can be used to acquire the pitching that’s needed. Trust me, I like Murphy. I think he can be a star. But, the Mets’ have pressing needs that maybe he, in the right package, can can solve.

Given that, dealing him might be the way to go.

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Nothing new on the coaching front. Jerry Manuel thinks early next week his staff should be finalized.

On the hot seat is Howard Johnson, who said at the end of the season he believed the club had the right pieces.

Maybe they do, but something is missing, and it’s not all Johnson’s fault.

These are major leaguers and they shouldn’t have to “buy into’’ anything. They should know how to work a count and advance a runner.

It’s an organizational thing, and on the major league level, that’s the manager. We see guys swinging at garbage all the time, and in the case of Jose Reyes, where’s the encouragement to take the walk?

All I hear was they don’t want to take away his aggressiveness. Well, if Reyes walked 100 times and bunted for hits more, he’d be devastating offensively.

There’s more.

Carlos Beltran should steal more. … It wouldn’t kill Carlos Delgado to go to left against the shift. … Perhaps the batting order is flawed. Maybe Reyes shouldn’t be leading off. … David Wright was way too impatient this year.

There are a lot of ways to improve the offense having nothing to do with firing Johnson, but, that’s not how the game is played.

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