Heyman: K-Rod offered two years from Mets

I think we all better prepare ourselves for the "Freddy Coupon" name to come back into style, at least on this proposed deal.

According to MetsBlog:

In an appearance tonight on SNY, SI.com’s Jon Heyman said the Mets offered Francisco Rodriguez a two-year deal, with a third-year option, at roughly $12 million per season.

I know the closer market is slim, and the Mets want to get the best deal, but this is just silly. Rodriguez originally wanted five-years and $75 million, so what do the Mets do? Offer two-years, of course.

This might just be a play to get a cheaper deal in the long run, and Heyman doesn't expect K-Rod to take it (shocker!).

At least give the man three years. Is that so bad?

Sign on the dotted line

Pretty Please?

Mets have Indians in their corner

The Mets want to sign Francisco Rodriguez. The Indians want the Mets to sign him as well.

Why, you ask?

Because they think they'll get a deal on Brian Fuentes, the closer they want. The Mets had wanted to stay away from setting the bar for the market, but it looks like their hand is forced in this situation.

The Indians are waiting for the Mets to sign a closer, their hope being that once the big-market Mets are out of the closer derby, the prices will fall. In particular, the Indians hope the Mets take Francisco Rodriguez out of the mix. Multiple officials from other teams say they believe the Indians are particularly intrigued if Brian Fuentes' dollar demands plummet to an acceptable level for them.

The move is yours, Omar Minaya. Let's kick this off-season off with a bang.

Mets Rumor: Mets meeting with Fuentes soon

The Magical Mystery Tour of Omar Minaya rolls on.

Jon Heyman is reporting that the Mets and Brian Fuentes will have a meeting sometime today to discuss years and dollar signs. Francisco Rodriguez already has an offer on the table, according to Heyman.

The Mets made an initial offer, believed to be for three years, to Rodriguez, who is thought to be their first choice. However, Mets people like Fuenets very much as well, and view him as a viable second choice.

I wonder if Fuentes will only get a hamburger in his sit down with the Mets. Maybe only a chicken platter.

Update: Trevor Hoffman meeting soon after Fuentes get together, per David Lennon.

I guess Minaya had a case of Red Bull this morning.

Mets Rumor: Inquiring on Hoffman

The Mets are looking into Trevor Hoffman, hopefully not as their closer of 2009.

Hoffman is a Hall of Fame closer, without a doubt, so I'm not too sure if he'd be willing to accept a role other than closer. I wouldn't mind him as a set-up man, especially if the Mets can sign fire-baller Francisco Rodriguez for the 9th inning.

Per to Barry M. Bloom:

"I'm absolutely open to anything," Hoffman said at the time. "National League, American League, just something that's a good fit in a number of arenas. A lot of it is going to depend on what teams come into play."

Again, this is a second tier priority. I wouldn't mind him, but I'm not clamoring for him. I doubt anyone will be.

As expected, Perez denies arbitration

If anyone thought Oliver Perez would accept arbitration, they were crazy.

Perez turned down the Mets arbitration offer last night, and will hit the market seeking a multi-year, lucrative deal.

If Perez signs elsewhere, the Mets will be awarded a first-round draft pick, and another pick between the first and second rounds.

I'd like to have him back, but I know he will cost the Mets a lot of money. With the inconsistency they've seen first-hand over the last few years, do the Mets even want him back? Not for the money he wants, in my opinion.

Sorry for this getting lost in the shuffle, but no one expected him to accept, so I had resigned myself to the fact for a while.

Mets Rumor: Jon Garland

This is the the kind of pitcher the Mets need to focus on. Solid, durable and effective. Not a top tier starter, but someone who will fit nicely at the back of their rotation.

Per Ken Rosenthal (I wonder how many times I will write his name over the next two weeks...):

Right-hander Jon Garland, who declined arbitration from the Angels, is on the Mets' radar. The Mets are unlikely to pay top dollar for a starter after investing in a closer, and Garland would fit the back of their rotation. Johan Santana, John Maine, Mike Pelfrey and Jon Niese are the Mets' current projected starters. Garland, 29, has averaged 205 innings over the past seven seasons and likely would benefit from a move to the National League.

Perfect. If the Mets can manage to land Garland, I will feel much better about guys like Jon Niese and Bobby Parnell competing for that final spot(s) in the rotation.

If not, they must go out and sign someone else instead of handing two-fifths of the rotation to unproven rookies. Garland is high on my Mets fan wish list for this off-season.

Sherman: Don't look past K-Rod moving to NL

Just as projected (and projected correctly, mind you), Johan Santana flourished in the "weaker" National League, Francisco Rodriguez would have the chance to do the same if he signs with the Mets.

Joel Sherman brings it up in his latest Hardball column, and even gives us a little interleague action stats.

My colleague Mark Hale dug up these numbers for me about Rodriguez in interleague games: Rodriguez has faced an NL team in 45 games covering 50 innings and he has a 1.07 ERA, with just 23 hits allowed (two homers), 20 walks and 67 strikeouts.

Well then. Those are some excellent numbers.

In four games pitched against the Mets, K-Rod has earned one save in five innings of work. He's surrendered three hits (one of those two home runs allowed against NL teams -- the Marlon Anderson inside the park home run on June 11, 2005) and two runs allowed for a 3.60 ERA.

This is starting to sound better and better. Now Omar just has to sign him.

Mets Rumor: Steak dinner with K-Rod

Hopefully Omar Minaya knew in advance whether Francisco Rodriguez was a vegetarian or not.

According to sources, Minaya and K-Rod (and his agent, I assume) had a lengthy sit-down at a steakhouse last night. David Lennon reports the meeting was over four hours long. He also wrote "Minaya only smiled when asked whether an offer had been made."

Sly, Omar. Very sly.

I'm anticipating a quick signing of a closer so the Mets can move on to other things.

Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Mets will not make simultaneous offers to K-Rod, Brian Fuentes and Trevor Hoffman. Instead, they will likely offer it to their first choice (Rodriguez), and move down the line from there (Fuentes, Hoffman).

If nothing comes of that, I'm sure they'll turn to Kerry Wood before they look into a trade, as they don't want to give up any of their young talent if they don't have to.

Mets trying to dump Castillo, not finding any takers

"No surprise there!" is the resounding response from Mets fans.

There is no doubt in my mind the Mets have wanted the dump Luis Castillo for months now. Here's a tidbit from Ken Rosenthal:

The Mets are desperate to move second baseman Luis Castillo to create a spot for free agent Orlando Hudson. The only way to do it would be to exchange Castillo's contract for another of similar value, but lots of luck. When the Mets asked the Rangers about a Castillo-for-Vicente Padilla — a swap that would require the Rangers to move Ian Kinsler to left field — they were told, "No thank you."

The Mets are going to end up paying a ton of Castillo's contract wherever he goes. They might as well sign Hudson and hope they can find a suitor for Castillo.

That's actually probably a bad idea, as that would leave the Mets in a must-trade situation, and the rest of the clubs knowing they have the higher hand.

Well, I want Hudson and I don't want Castillo. Still, the Mets have bigger priorities and shouldn't focus on this.