DANA POINT, Calif. – Mets general manager Omar Minaya has three important pitching vacancies, but evidently no plans of committing to three big contracts.
Though the Mets need a closer and two starters, there probably are just two seats at the all-you-can eat buffet table. Somebody will have to settle for an appetizer.
Minaya said yesterday that the most likely scenario has the Mets committing big dollars to a closer and one starter, with the team looking to fill the final spot in the rotation by acquiring a less expensive pitcher through a trade or by handing the job to rookie Jon Niese.
“You have two [starting] spots opening up, you want to fill one of those spots for sure,” Minaya said during Day 3 of the GM Meetings. “I don’t think you’re going to be able to go out and get that big-money guy [for the other spot].”
If the Mets were to sign Derek Lowe, whom they highly regard, that probably would end Minaya’s shopping spree in the starting rotation. But it wouldn’t preclude him from making a trade for Tampa Bay’s Edwin Jackson, in whom the Mets remain interested.
Lowe figures to command at least $14 million annually, but the Mets also have Pedro Martinez’s $12 million salary coming off the books. Minaya wouldn’t divulge what his financial parameters are for next season – the Mets’ payroll was $140 million in 2008 – saying he still has to speak with ownership.
Neither Niese nor Jackson would cost the Mets little more than the minimum salary.
“In an ideal world, you want to bring Jon Niese into camp as a fifth starter and if he takes off he’s got the job,” Minaya said. “If he doesn’t, he goes to Triple-A, and at some point he’s ready to go.
“That fifth guy [for the rotation], you’re not going to get that guy in December, you’re going to get that guy in January.”
Minaya said he has had numerous discussions with other general managers this week, but he expects to leave these meetings today without having made a deal.
mpuma@nypost.com