Major League free agent chatter is about to heat up in the coming weeks. Especially here in New York, where the Yankees will likely do very little and the Mets will likely do a whole lot—and probably screw it up.
A lot of the talk I’ve heard revolves around Matt Holliday, the St. Louis outfielder who is represented by the mighty, might Scott Boras. Of late, Boras has likened Holliday to Mark Teixeira, which is a laughable, inane, ludicrous comparison. To begin with, Big Tex didn’t compile most of his numbers in a park like Coors Field. Second, Big Tex is a wicked defensive player. Third, Big Tex has never been as bad as Holliday was with Oakland last year.
If I know the Mets (and, sadly, I know the Mets), they’ll make a major play for Holliday, envisioning him protecting David Wright (or vice versa) in a revamped middle of the lineup. But this would be foolish. If Omar Minaya is wise, he takes his (offensive) money and goes straight to the house of Chone Figgins, the Angels’ splendid third baseman. Yes, there’s the defensive alignment problem—the Mets are locked at third with Wright, at short with Jose Reyes and at second with (good God) Luis Castillo. But Figgins has shown an ability to play anywhere, including the outfield.
So why sign him? Because the Mets, being the Mets, constructed a ballpark that sucks the power from most boppers; that will only reward speed, speed and more speed. I’m not saying it’ll certainly work, but if I’m in charge of the 2010 Mets, I’m thinking of the mid-80s Cardinals of Vince Coleman, Willie McGee and Tommy Herr. Run, run, run, run, run—and hope the old-school generation of offensive somehow works.
As for pitching—hell, go after everyone
