Is Lackey Worth the Dime?
I’m not going to argue that John Lackey isn’t the “best” pitcher to sign – with “best” meaning the best combination of track record, reliability and upside. In free agency however, the value of signing somebody is relative to the contract so they require, because there is a budget, however much dispute there might be over how big/small that budget is in reality. Is John Lackey’s value better than other pitchers on the market considering that by all estimates the contract he will require is far greater than those other pitchers? Naturally, this is difficult to answer now before we see what contracts all the pitchers

Fight the Power, Sign a Slugger!
Classically, any modern competitive baseball team has at least three guys who can hit for moderate power.  Look at the previous years when the Mets have been competitive:  a healthy Delgado, Wright, and Beltran would put up 30 Home Runs each and knock in over 100 runs.  Complimented with Reyes’s crafty baserunning, and a series of hitting stints from Xavier Nady, Sean Green, Endy

Keep the Prospects, Go for Lackey
Roy Halladay is available. Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos has made that clear, and is even willing to give a team a window to discuss a contract extension. This does not mean the Mets should get involved. For the first time in a few years, the Mets actually have a good farm system and I’d like to have them keep it that way. John Lackey would cost half the price, and would cost no prospects. Lackey is also a year younger than Halladay. Lackey is not better than Halladay, but I feel the 80m or so that the Mets would save would be better spent elsewhere, perhaps on a pitcher like Randy Wolf, and speedster Chone Figgins.

Heilman Goes to the DBacks
The Cubs have traded RHP Aaron Heilman to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for a pair of prospects, LHP Scott Maine and 1B Ryne White. After posting a 5.21 ERA for the Mets in 2008, Heilman bounced back somewhat to post a 4.11 ERA to go along with a 4-4 record for the Cubbies. This will be Heilman’s 4th team since the 2008 season ended. He was traded briefly to the Mariners before being shipped to the Cubs before the 09 campaign. Many guys were big fans of Heilman when he

Mets Could Use a Wang
According to many reports, such as Joel Sherman’s in the New York Post, it looks like the Yankees will non-tender RHP Chien-Ming Wang. According to his agent, Wang will be ready by mid-April or May. Within ESPN.com Rumor Central earlier this week, Keith Law had to say: “If the Yanks can work something out to keep hi