Sheets, Santos, Niese and Bench

According to SI.com, Ben Sheets is looking for about $8 million guaranteed for 2010. I'm going to make this short and sweet. SIGN HIM. Give him what he wants and get him in the fold. The Mets cannot afford to lose Sheets, especially not to the A's, so they better give him whatever he needs to bring him in. There's nothing more frustrating than the possibility of the Mets having to trade for Sheets in July, when they can just pay a little extra now. I don't see the logic. Isn't the extra couple million now, worth more than say, Fernando Martinez, in July? I think so...

As reporting by Adam Rubin of the NY Daily News, Jerry Manuel is suggesting that Omir Santos will be the Mets number one catcher this season. At this point, I'm ok with it as long as it means saving money so we can get some starting pitching. I really don't think the starting options available are better than Santos, at this point. There used to be a better option on the market, but Omar made a smart move by not giving him two years, and he resigned with the Giants.

In the same article, Rubin talks about the Mets pursuing Smoltz, which, as long as he's willing to be a swing man this year and doesn't keep them from signing Sheets, I am game for...

Also on the pitching front, Metsblog relayed from ken Davidoff, that Niese threw off a mound today. Exciting stuff. I think this kid can be really good if given the opportunity. As long as the Mets take it slow with him, there's no way I see him being worse than a solid number 4 starter.

Also on Metsblog, Matt Cerrone talks about other blogs and fans hoping the Mets will sign Ryan Garko. As far as I'm concerned I think Mets fans are a little too high on Garko, who in my opinion, is a nice back-up but not great. I think there are other options out there that will be more cost efficient, like Chad Tracy.