Molina, LaRoche, First Base and Starting Pitchers

Mike Puma of the NY Post is reporting that the Mets are inching closer to a deal with Bengie (or as I like to call him "Chubbie") Molina. I'm starting to get annoyed with this whole Molina thing. Just sign the guy already, don't give him more than 2 years and let's get on with our lives. The Mets have bigger (not literally, of course) fish to fry here. We need to add pitching and a nice bat for the bench, and figure out what we're doing over at 1B this season. So please, sign Molina and let's get on to the rest of the off-season list.

In another area of interest to the Mets, Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on twitter that Adam LaRoche rejected a 2 year $17.5 Million deal from the Giants. Which I don't understand what the Giants think they are doing even trying to sign LaRoche with Huff, DeRosa, Uribe and Sandoval already on board. This piece of information is very interesting to the Mets because it may affect how they move forward in regards to 1B. Unless LaRoche was told he'd be a part time player by the Giants, I would say this prices him out of the Mets range at 1B, especially with Omar seemingly okay with starting Murphy there to start the season. Personally, I'd like to upgrade first base but not at the expense of having to hold back Ike Davis, who I feel will be a good major leaguer. Interestingly enough, I like Davis better than Thole and am more concerned with holding Davis back than I am Thole.

As far as starting pitching goes, it looks like the Mets have some competition from the Dodgers for Joel Piniero, according to Metsblog.com, who is relaying information from ESPN Los Angeles. Like I've said before, I'm okay with Piniero but I'd rather trade for pitching (Arroyo) and sign one of the high risk starters like Bedard, Wang or Sheets. Part of that is because I still think the Mets can move Castillo in a deal for Arroyo...

Speaking of Sheets, according to MLB.com he's a little too pricey for the Cubs, as he's believed to be asked for 2 years at $10-12 million/year. This is a bit much considering the guy has been hurt for the better part of the last two seasons. However, as a Mets fan I like this because I feel that outside of the Yankees, no other team will really be able to give Sheets the money he wants. It's getting to a point in the off-season where because Omar hasn't done much he actually has the most flexibility, to do the most with his team in free agency. Also, it helps that the Cubs and Dodgers are teams in uncertain financial states. The more I think about how Omar has been waiting, the more I like his plan. He's really putting himself in a good position to make whatever moves he can with his money he has yet to spend. Way to go Omar, now it's time to strike...