At the midway point, it’s pretty clear to me that the Mets’ major weaknesses are:

#1 – Lack of a number three starter;

#2 – Lack of good D and O at 2B,

#3 – Lack of second-hole hitter with OBP;

#4 – Lack of offense vs left-handed pitchers;

#5 – Lack of a great lefty specialist;

#6 – And my personal favorite, horrible advanced scouting.

(I could attempt to prove those things to you, but I think you’d agree with #1, #2, #5 and #6).

Fortunately, the Mets have some assets to acquire these things.

#1 – Starting Pitcher

First off, I don’t believe that Zito or Willis will be available to us at the deadline.

Secondly, acquiring a legit SP gun could be expensive, so the best bet
might be hoping Pelfrey develops into that role and acquiring a solid
starter with experience who’s clearly better than Maine, Hernandez,
Soler and Bannister, using Maine, Bannister and Soler as bait. Someone
like Steve Trachsel used to be. Think 2000-2001 Rick Reed.

Identifying targets: We’re not going to get someone like Webb or
Chris Young. Simply unrealistic. Odds are we’ll be after free agents to
be from bad teams as rentals, or arbitration eligible guys small market
teams can’t afford: Jamie Moyer, Gil Meche, Jack Westbrook, Tony Armas
Jr., Casey Fossum, Ramon Ortiz, Greg Maddux, Cory Lidle, Miguel
Batista, Mark Redman, Scott Elarton.

Cleveland doesn’t really have the need to deal Westbrook, and Seattle
is only 3.5 out in the West. Maddux doesn’t appear to be a viable
option as he has a no trade and hates NY.

That leaves these options:

   

Code:

Team  Starter     Throws   Age  Contract   ERA WAS   Tony Armas Jr. RHP   28   FA to be   4.44 DL TB    Casey Fossum   LHP   30   Arby El    4.84 WAS   Ramon Ortiz    RHP   33   FA to be   4.85 PHI   Cory Lidle     RHP   34   FA to be   4.95 ARZ   Miguel Batista RHP   35   FA to be   5.01 KC    Mark Redman    LHP   32   5.0 opt.   5.27 KC    Scott Elarton  RHP   30   4.0 ’07    5.38

The only name that really jumps out on that list to me is Redman.
Redman is a lefty, having the worst year of his career and is trapped
in Kansas City. Strikes me as someone with high bounce-back ability.
And he has a World Series ring with the 2003 Marlins.

Kansas City is a good trade partner as well as their financial and
rebuilding situations means they’d be willing to dump salary and take a
host of minor league B-prospects trying to stockpile and get lucky.
They also might be willing to add Mark Grudzielanek to the deal to save
even more cash.

What JP would do: Victor Diaz and Eddie Camacho for Redman.

#2 – Second Base

Ideally, the Mets could acquire one guy to address multiple weaknesses.
For example, getting a second baseman with speed, high OBP, good
defense, who can hit lefties well and hit second.

The one guy who stands out at me as meeting this requirement is Ray
Durham of San Francisco. Free agent to be, making $7.0 million.
1.074 OPS vs left this year, .900 OPS vs left 2002-05.

.341 overall OBP this season. Lost a step or two but knows how to run the bases, can swipe when needed (4 SB, 0 CS).

Very good at hitting behind runners, good OBP/OPS with runners on and runners in scoring position.

What would San Francisco ask in return? Well, he is 34, but Brian
Sabean loves old guys. Although, SF has Kevin Frandsen in AAA, hitting
.297 with .358 OBP and .795 OPS at age 24. So, perhaps an arm like Alay
Soler, which would offset the cost of Durham, and another kid.

Other options include:

Adam Kennedy (low OBP, can’t hit lefties)

Todd Walker (average OBP, can’t hit lefties, abysmal defense)

What JP would do: Alay Soler and Henry Owens for Durham

#5 – Lefty specialist

Darren Oliver is very good vs lefties (.152 / .208 / .258)

Unfortunately, Pedro Feliciano is not (.292 / .319 / .400)

   

Code:

Options:             BAA vs Left Ari  Randy Choate      .091 Bal  Kurt Birkins      .136 Mil  Jorge de la Rosa  .148 KC   Jimmy Gobble      .164 Fla  Taylor Tankersley .167 Min  Dennys Reyes      .171 ChC  Will Ohman        .175 KC   Jeremy Affeldt    .185 Phi  Aaron Fultz       .200 ChC  Scott Eyre        .203 Col  Ray King          .205 Phi  Rheal Cormier     .216 Col  Tom Martin        .220 Pit  Damaso Marte      .228 TB   Jon Switzer       .231 Was  Mike O’Connor     .232 Hou  Trever Miller     .235 Fla  Jason Vargas      .256

Choate struggled vs lefties in years past.

I personally like Reyes, but not sure if MIN would give him up. Ditto de la Rosa.

The Royals offered Affeldt, with MacDougal for Kris Benson in the
off season. If they would make that trade last year, they might jump at
the chance to get someone younger and cheaper.

What JP would do: Brian Bannister for Jeremy Affeldt

Final Result

SS Reyes

2B Durham

CF Beltran

1B Delgado

3B Wright

LF Floyd

C LoDuca

RF Nady

Bench:

Castro (C)

Franco 1B/PH

Chavez OF/PR

Pornstache IF

Marrero OF

Rotation

R Martinez

L Glavine

R Trachsel

L Redman

R Pelfrey / Hernandez / Maine

Closer: Wagner

8th Inning: Sanchez

7th /Setup : Heilman

Lefty Specialists: Oliver, Affeldt

Righty Specialist/Fireman: Bradford

Long Men: Oliver, Feliciano

Demote: Chris Woodward

Finally tally:

OUT: Victor Diaz, Alay Soler, Brian Bannister, Henry Owens, Eddie Camacho

IN: Ray Durham, Mark Redman, Jerremy Affeldt

Is that a lot to give up? Yes.

However, look back at past deadline acquisitions:

In 1999, we gave up Jason Isringhausen, Greg McMichael, Terrance Long,
Rigo Beltran, Brian McRae, and a prospect for Billy Taylor, Kenny
Rogers, Darryl Hamilton and Chuck McElroy.

In 2000, we gave up Melvin Mora, Mike Kinkade, Leslie Brea, Pat
Gorman, Paul Wilson and Jason Tyner for Mike Bordick, Bubba Trammell
and Rick White.

These moves address our needs while not sacrificing a ton of our
future: Most notably, our rotation issues. We dealt three arms, but one
is a project (Owens) and the others appear to be #4 starters, #3 guys
at best.

Our 2007 rotation still looks okay (Pedro, Glavine, Redman, Pelfrey,
Maine) before we hit free agency and make a run at Zito. Therefore,
there’s room for Zito and a trade of either Redman or Maine, or keep
Maine in AAA until someone gets hurt.

Redman makes the same amount as Trachsel, and with Matsui, Hernandez,
Zambrano, Floyd (20.5 million) coming off the books, we can add
Milledge and make a run at Zito with out expanding payroll very much.

I fully expected David Wright to finish eighth in the Home Run Derby. I didn’t expect him to beat David Ortiz, make the finals and finish one homer back of the winner.

He hits for average, he walks, he can steal, he turns in web gems, he gets walk-off hits, he’s an MVP candidate, he’s humble, he’s a great kid, and he can out-homer David Ortiz head-to-head when he wants to.

I’m pretty sure he was tired in the semis and finals because he cured cancer and raised Roberto Clemente from the dead after the first round.

"One reason I picked Ryan Howard is because one guy can’t have it all… First place, best record in the NL, an MVP candidate… David Wright can’t win the Home Run Derby, too, can he?" — Harold Reynolds or Joe Morgan (whichever. Some ESPN former second baseman said it).

But later on Baseball Tonight, I heard something that floored me.

Steve Phillips: (gushing about Wright; whom he drafted in 2001 as GM of the Mets)
Harold Reynolds: "It’s batting practice. Are you this excited about batting practice?"
Phillips – "I’m excited because he’s hitting .327 and is an MVP candidate. This is what we thought of him when we drafted him."
John Kruk: "Prospects will get you fired."

Blood just shot from every orifice of my body.

Did John Kruk really just say "Prospects will get you fired" to STEVE FREAKING PHILLIPS?

Prospects DID get Steve Phillips fired:
Alex Ochoa, Carl Everett, AJ Burnett, Jason Isringhausen, Melvin Mora, Paul Wilson, Alex Escobar, Billy Traber, Glendon Rusch and Jason Bay…

Those prospects got Steve Phillips fired. When he traded them for: Rick Becker, John Hudek, Al Leiter, Billy Taylor, Mike Bordick, Rick White, Roberto Alomar and Steve Reed!

Phillips held on and handled about four prospects correctly:

Edgardo Alfonzo, Jose Reyes, Aaron Heilman and David Wright.

And his "success" with Heilman and Wright was not trading them in the YEAR he could have before getting fired.

I’m so glad David Wright is a New York Met. Quite honestly, the first time I saw him in the yellow "National" jersey, I actually recoiled in horror. For a split second, I simply couldn’t handle seeing David Wright in a uniform without "New York" or "Mets" on the front. Steve Phillips was gushing like a proud papa because that’s how ALL Mets fans feel right now. We’ve been rooting for this kid since he was 18.

If you think "relax dude, it’s not like you haven’t had good players before." Turn on Letterman Wednesday night and listen to him. We’ve had great players before, but I could never trust Steve Phillips to let them stay more than four years. I bought a David Wright jersey after 2004 because I knew that he’d either stay a Met for life, or I’d be done as a Mets fan forever.

Hi, I’m JP. Acting Armchair Mets GM.

I’m interested in acquiring a second baseman and maybe an arm or two before the trade deadline.

Guys I’d like to acquire include:
Adam Kennedy of Los Angeles (Anaheim version)
and
Mark DeRosa of Texas.

If you’re a blogger for one of those teams, annoint yourself acting armchair GM and let’s work out a blog trade.

We can keep updating our blogs with the conversation.
Post a comment, or email me if this sounds like a fun idea.

So, in a long convoluted turn of events, the Mets will go to their 11th starter of the season on Saturday when Mike Pelfrey makes his MLB debut. Least season the Mets used only eight different starters all season, In 2004, they used 12. This isn’t THAT high a number, as below is a table of the most starters used in a season. However, observe the records of those teams on the chart. Then look at the Mets winning percentage. None of those teams on the list, nor last year’s Mets, were the best team in their league.

Most starting pitchers       used in a season since 1990: Season Team Starters Record        1993     Cleveland 18 76-86        1996     Pittsburgh 18 73-89        2003     Cincinnati 17 69-93        2004     Texas 16 73-58        1992     Kansas City 16 72-90        1996     Detroit 16 53-109        2000     Anaheim 16 82-80        1990     Kansas City 16 75-86        2002     Cleveland 16 74-88        2003     Texas 16 71-91 Source: Elias Sports Bureau Stolen from USA Today

When the Mets have made the playoffs, they’ve never used more than 11 starters:
In 2000, the Mets used 10. In 1999, the Mets used 9. 1988 NL East winning team used seven, Nine when they won it in 1986. The You Gotta Beleive ’73 team used 11, while the 1969 Miracle Mets used nine.

Sine Omar Minaya will probably make a move at the deadline, I’d wager we’ll see a 12th different starter this year.

I’m quite sure, without doing too much research, that the 14 starters the Yankees used last season are the most different starting pitchers ever used by a team that made the playoffs.

So far the Mets have used (in order of appearance)
1. Tom Glavine
2. Brian Bannister
3. Pedro Martinez
4. Steve Trachsel
5. Victor Zambrano
6. John Maine (Bannister to DL)
7. Jose Lima (Maine to DL)
8. Jeremi Gonzalez (Zambrano to DL)
9. Alay Soler (Lima Designated for Assignment)
10. Orlando Hernandez (Gonzalez Designated)
11. Mike Pelfrey (Soler Designated; Pedro to DL)

Pelfrey hasn’t been recalled yet, as the Mets brought up converted catcher Henry Owens to replace Pedro on the roster. After Friday’s game, Lima will be sent down (most likely) and Pelfrey will be formally added to the roster to start Saturday.

The Mets, with a rare off day on the first day after the all-star break, could actually throw the same starter in back-to-back games:

Thu - PIT - Trachsel
Fri - FLA - Lima
Sat1- FLA - Pelfrey
Sat2- FLA - Maine
Sun - FLA - Glavine
Mon - --- - -
Tue - --- - -
Wed - --- - -
Thu - --- - -
Fri - CHI - Glavine
Sat - CHI - Pedro
Sun - CHI - Trachsel
Mon - --- - -
Tue - CIN - Pelfrey or Maine
Wed - CIN - Glavine
Thu - CIN - Pedro

Of course, that would give something like 16 days between starts to Orlando Hernandez, and everything is subject to change based on the performance of Pelfrey and Maine.

I didn’t intend to be gone that long. There’s a lot of topics I could cover since a lot has happened since I last posted:

(1) The Mets’ hot streak
(2) The Mets’ cold streak
(3) David Wright’s hot streak
(4) Jose Reyes’ hot streak
(5) Pedro Feliciano lashing out at Willie.
(6) My trip to Shea
(7) Mets problems for the stretch run
(8) are the Mets pressing now before the All-Star game with a huge lead?
(9) The Six Mets on the All-Star team
(10) Just where have I been?
(11) The Mets rotation and potential solutions
(12) RF: Xavier Nady or Lastings Milledge?
(13) Cliff Floyd’s injury bug
(14) Why I hate interleague play
(15) The Mets reluctance to bring up young players from the minors in general

Just to name over a baker’s dozen. Let’s see how many I can get to.

First off, I’m not worried about the Mets recent slide (2), because the Mets have dominated the NL all season long. Only one team owns a winning record vs the Mets, St. Louis. Simply put, in our own league, no one can stop us. Are we going to lose a few games here or there? Sure, slumps happen (2, 8) and competitors can get frustrated when that does (5). But I think we’ll be fine. I was at Shea for David Wright’s grand-slam vs Baltimore, chanting MVP with the rest of the fans, and I was also listening to DWright on the Jim Rome show while traveling (3, 6, 10) and I heard Wright say he needed to work on his consistency. Then I looked up and discovered his worst full month ever, he hit .286. Wright’s slumps are few and far between and he can carry us at times and be consistent enough that when someone else is hot, he’s coming through too. Reyes has been phenominal of late (4) and in the playoffs, we’ll have him to help us manufacture runs in tight ball games.

we have plenty of options to help us for the stretch, as I explained to my Yankee-loving friend while traveling for a wedding (10), the Mets have used 10 starting pitchers thus far and still have Pelfrey to try out. The key to that, and why I think a lot of Mets fans think Omar Minaya is "afraid to use young players" is we can’t add some guys to the 40 man without losing someone, and we can’t add other guys to to the 25 man without losing other veterans, so we don’t have a ton of options. Plus you don’t want to start a guy’s arbitration/free agent clock for two weeks before other players return from injury (15)

Injuries forced the Mets to go to Milledge and he did okay, and the bench is sharp with all the injuries to Nady, Beltran and Floyd (13). Milledge needs his ABs in AAA, but he’ll be back for September and he needs to be on the playoff roster because we will need a DH in the World Series (12).

The biggest reason I’m not worried about our slide is because the Mets are 43-25 vs the NL. The Mets ALWAYS have the hardest interleague schedule, and even when we are the best team in the NL, I don’t expect us to finish at .500 vs the AL. Because of the DH. AL teams pay an extra starter. It’s that simple. I’ve heard the argument "each team has to spend within its budget, so that’s no excuse" but the fact is, the Red Sox and White Sox budget for a starter and use league-minimum guys for their last three offensive spots because they don’t have to use their bench. Texas, entering my hiatus, had pinch hit SIX TIMES all season. The Mets pinch hit more than that in ONE GAME. Yes, the DH plus AL bench of the Red Sox probably makes the same as the Mets bench. But the Mets have to spread their payroll out over five bench guys instead of getting one expensive DH and using league-minimum glove men.

I’d like to see the Mets go out and get a 2B who hits lefties (Mark DeRosa would be awesome) for the stretch because they often struggle vs lefties (7) and rely on their four OF and Franco to fill out the DH spot.

My ideal World Series Road lineup
vs righties: Reyes-LoDuca-Beltran-Delgado-Wright-Floyd-Nady(DH)-Valentin-Milledge
vs lefties: Reyes-Nady-Beltran-Delgado-Wright-Franco(DH)-DeRosa-LoDuca-Milledge

Of course, our rotation is currently a mess (11). But with Maine back and an 11.5 game lead we can give Pedro some rest and make sure we have Pedro-Glavine as our healthy 1-2. Ideally, Pelfrey steps up and becomes a Verlander-like #3 option so we don’t have to make many big trades at the deadline, just getting DeRosa and a bullpen arm.

Like many baseball fans, I’m drawn to the competition of other sports as well. I love to compete. I love to win. And I love to be right. Which is why I’m usually involved in some kind of pool for virtually anything sports related.

It still bothers me that I finished second in our Spelling Bee pool earlier this month (little Yuan, you’ve made an enemy).

So naturally, I’m drawn to the World Cup. I’ll be traveling the next four days to hang out with my old college buddies and watch the USA-Italy match Saturday. I’m not taking the laptop with me. I won’t forget about baseball for four days though, I’m going to Shea for the Mets game Sunday.

I’m sure my fan will miss me.

Ok, so a six-game winning streak can bring some cockiness. The nature of Mets fans is a bi-polar one. We live and die with wins and losses. We’re never as good as we think we are after wins, or as bad as we are after losses.

HOWEVER, a situation that occurred Tuesday night that is a classic example of the underdog mentality due to the past seasons clouding our judgement.

Sure, we’ve been burned before. But this team is not the team that burned us.

Billy Wagner will blow a save from time to time, Aaron Heilman can be shaky at times…
But when the bullpen door opens, it’s still Aaron Heilman, Dirty Sanchez and Billy the Sandman Wagner stepping through that door.

To paraphrase Rick Pitino: Braden Looper ain’t walking through that door. Armando Benitez ain’t walking through that door. Kenny (Bleeping) Rogers sure ain’t walking through the door.

We’re going to lose some games the rest of the season. Some may be close games where we give up the lead.

But this team has rallied all year.
This team has fought all year.
This team has scored runs all year.
This team has slammed the door 42 times and blown a save eight times.

We’ve won three games on walk-off hits by David Wright.
We’ve won on a walk-off blast by Carlos Beltran (who by the way is hitting .371 with 6 HRs and 7 2B and hasn’t been booed since he stepped into the box that AB).
We’ve won when Endy Chavez drove in Jose "Pornstache" Valentin in extra innings for crying out loud.

We’ve got Lastings Milledge, Jose Reyes (.320 OBP!), Carlos Delgado, Cliff Floyd and Mr. David Wright.

We’re third in the league in runs, third in HR, and third in total bases (playing less games than 1-2). We lead the majors in steals and steal percentage.

We have Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine, Dirty Sanchez and Billy Wagner.
Our staff has the lowest ERA in the league, allowed the second-fewest runs, the lowest OBP and OPS against.

We’re 7.5 up on second place and we’re 11 up on the Atlanta Braves.

This team has earned our confidence.

Now is NOT the time to worry we’ll blow a two-run lead and a ball game.

NOW IS THE TIME TO STEP ON PEOPLE’S NECKS, GO FOR THE JUGULAR, AND RUN AWAY FROM THIS DIVISION.

Sure, we’re going to lose here and there. Probably 40 percent of our remaining games. But now is the time to shake off those losses and say "screw it, we’ll kick their [rears] tomorrow."

Now is the time expect victory. Our players do. Why don’t we?

Well, it’s been 26 days since Terrence Moore in Atlanta wrote about the Mets inability to put the Braves away and the Mets impending choke job during the Braves run to a 12th-straight NL East crown.

Now, it is premature to pop corks on 2006, but let’s take a look at the start of the Mets demise:

May 18, 2006

NYM 24-16   ---
PHI 22-18  -2.0
ATL 21-20  -3.5
WAS 14-27 -10.5
FLA 11-28 -12.5

Now after June 13

NYM 40-23   ---
PHI 33-31  -7.5
ATL 30-35 -11.0
WAS 30-36 -11.5
FLA 24-37 -15.0

The Mets are 16-7, ATL 9-16 since Mr. Moore’s "brink of collapse" piece.

I should send a thank you card. Wait, that’s premature. I’ll wait until October and maybe I can send him some champagne. If I haven’t sprayed it all.

Fascinating read implying that Jeff Bagwell was the lynch pin in performance enhancing drugs.

I find that completely full of hearsay and conjecture. It reminds me a lot of a story I heard from a clubhouse attendant, which is just as accurate:

The REAL Home Run Power Conspiracy goes like this:

Back in the winter of 1920, a young Babe Ruth met up with his old friend he left behind in Boston. The guy said "Hey, I’ve got something you should try. It’ll help your power."

The young pitcher/outfielder had shown glimpses of power, even clubbing 29 HR in 1919. But so far, he had just 49 career bombs.

He ate the spongey substance and the rest is history. He clubbed 54 homers in 1920 and went on to hit 611 more in his career.

Ruth never shared the secret, but wrote down the magical substance on a recipe card and buried it in his locker.

That same locker was shared by Roger Maris some 40 years later. Maris tried it. He jumped from 16 HR in 1959 to 39 in 1960, his first year with the Yankees. The following year, he beat Ruth’s single-season home run record.

Maris confided in one of his best friends, a former Yankee farm hand who had just gotten a job in 1975 managing the Kansas City Royals. Whitey Herzog shared the secret at the end of the 1976 offseason with an OF named Al Cowens, who hit just three homers that year. Cowens returned in 1977 to mash 23 home runs, his highest career total.

Herzog moved onto the Cardinals, but his running style led him to hold back on sharing his secret with his ground ball hitters.

He did however confide in Keith Hernandez, Hernadez decided that at his age, he better stick with coke. But he passed the secret on to Darryl Strawberry when he joined the Mets. Darryl Strawberry went from 27 HR to 39.

Herzog told just one other person, a young OF named Andy Van Slyke. In December on 1986, Herzog gave Van Slyke the secret. The Cardinals, however traded Van Slyke to Pittsburgh in April of 1987 and his jump from 13 HR to 21 HR helped the Pirates.

In Pittsburgh, Van Slyke shared the secret with Bobby Bonilla — who jumped from 15 HR to 24 HR — and two years later, to  Barry Bonds, who took the substance and jumped from 19 HR to 33 HR the following year.

Bonilla went to the Mets, where he share the substance with Rico Brogna. Brogna went from 7 HR to 22 HR.

Jeromy Burnitz was on that team, and while he didn’t try it, he passed the secret on to Jim Thome, who went from 25 HR to 38.

In 1998, Bonilla returned to the Mets and shared it with Edgardo Alfonzo. Fonzie jumped from 17 HR to a career-high 27 the following year.

Other players somehow found about it:
Adam Dunn went from 27 HR to 46.
Alfonso Soriano went from 2 to 18.
A-Rod even went from 41 to 52 on this magical substance.

What is the magical substance?

It’s called "25th Birthday Cake"

After finishing in the top half of the league last year and then signing Billy Wagner this offseason, the Mets sat and watched the MLB Draft picks go by until #62.

This is probably the first time in a long time that I have liked the Mets draft strategy.

With their first pick, they took a college pitcher: Kevin Mulvey of Villanova. ("Thank God I’m a Met," he said. "I’m ecstatic," he said. "This up there, a 10 out of 10.")

I’m a believer in taking college guys. Sure, you lose a couple years of age, but have the benefit of basing their performance on a more stable set of data. College pitchers have stats. Some of which actually mean something. Mulvey’s 3-8 record and 3.61 ERA do not. But he appears to have good command (88-23 K-BB), strong K/9 and a decent OBPA. Against metal bats.

The Mets second pick, Joe Smith, played his college ball a mere nine miles away from where I sit at Wright State in Fairborn, Ohio.

The former walk-on is a side-arm closer who throws in the low 90s, misses bats, gets ground balls and lists his favorite player as Chad Bradford. I saw him pitch 1.1 innings of work against my Dayton Flyers this May.

The next RHP was Stephen Holmes from UD’s Atlantic 10 foe Rhode Island. In April, he matched UD’s ace (33rd round Yankees pick Luke Trubee) in a duel, 2-1, URI. He held UD to five hits and one run. It was UD’s best hitters who combined for the five hits, as well. We’ve got this gangly kid with a knack for big hits who picked up two of those hits off Holmes. He’s the type of lefty hitter whom you’d call "a professional hitter" (if being one wasn’t an NCAA violation).

The Mets also took a pair of towering JuCo pitchers: 6-8 John Holdzkom and 6-10 Nathan Hendrick.

10 college players with their first 17 picks, including eight pitchers.

Of the high school kids, one (Jeremy Barfield) has MLB genes as the son of Jesse and brother of Padres 2B prospect Josh. He’s a 17 year old 6-5, 240 man-boy.

It appears the Mets philosophy is stockpile college pitchers who can be solid performers, but probably not stars. Use them as trade fodder. Use the international market (aka Latin America) to buy young hitters (hopefully more Edgardo Alfonzo’s and less free-swingers) and then get aces and stars via free agency.

Finally, they are using their brains as well as their wallets.