Moises Alou is rehabbing again, and the Mets are hoping to get him back soon and make a determination whether they can trust him to be at least their semi-regular left fielder the rest of the season. If they decide Alou simply is too untrustworthy, they will prioritize finding a corner outfielder who can provide some level of consistent production.
The Mets went into the weekend with just two homers and a .599 OPS from left field. That production is unacceptable from a corner position, made more so by the reality that Carlos Delgado is going to remain a below-average producer at first base and that Ryan Church’s health is going to be iffy moving forward after two concussions.
The Mets are not looking for an elite left fielder because they don’t have the prospect base really to obtain one. They are willing, however, to add salary and hope that willingness will lower trade requests from other clubs.
Seattle’s Raul Ibanez is their most likely target. He is making $5.5 million this season in the final year of a contract and the Mariners are in full sell mode. Detroit’s Marcus Thames, San Francisco’s Randy Winn and Milwaukee’s Bill Hall also are on the radar.
But it appears the Mets continue to have no desire to try a still-available free agent such as Barry Bonds or Kenny Lofton, and Cincinnati’s available Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey also are not on the front burner.
The Mets believe if they are willing to take on money that they might be able to use a Double-A corner player such as Mike Carp, Nick Evans or David Murphy to complete a deal.
Despite his spotty season, Aaron Heilman continues to draw trade interests and could be used as a chip by the Mets before July 31.
Arizona, Boston, Oakland and the Cubs are the teams that call the most with the Diamondbacks among the clubs around the majors that continue to believe Heilman is miscast as a reliever and should be given a shot to start.
Heilman has been mixing in his slider more recently. The Mets have believed Heilman’s delivery would preclude him from ever being consistent enough with a breaking pitch to be a starter.
Nevertheless, the strongest advocate against Heilman as a starter, former pitching coach Rick Peterson, has been removed. And it is possible that if the Mets hold on to Heilman, they might experiment with him in the rotation next spring.
The only starters the Mets control going into next year are Johan Santana, John Maine and Mike Pelfrey.
The Padres have sent out stronger vibes that they will be in a sell mode. The most interesting candidates to be available are starters Randy Wolf and Greg Maddux, and outfielder Brian Giles.
Asked to name what he has found interesting this season, a veteran scout said: “[Cardinals center fielder] Rick Ankiel. Considering he had to stop being a pitcher because he could not throw the ball over the plate, I am staggered by not only how strong his arm is in center, but how accurate he is. I put him up there with [Philadelphia’s] Shane Victorino, [Atlanta’s Jeff] Francoeur and [Seattle’s] Ichiro [Suzuki] for the combination of arm strength and accuracy in the majors. Through sheer hard work he has made himself into a very good major league outfielder. I don’t think it is inconceivable that he could be an All-Star at some point.”