Footprints in the Snow: Mets

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

At $149,373,987, the New York Mets had the National League's highest payroll in 2009. Their fourth place finish in the NL East, 23 games back in the standings, might suggest that the cash Omar Minaya dished out wasn't money well spent. A closer look reveals a team harassed all season by injuries and a group of hitters that could never find a long-term answer to produce runs.

In the outfield, Carlos Beltran had a potential All-Star season broken up, playing in only 81 games due to a knee injury. In fact, only Jeff Francoeur amassed more than 500 at-bats among Mets outfielders, and he was a mid-season import from the Atlanta Braves.

The infield wasn't spared either as mainstays Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes had their seasons cut extremely short due to injuries. Even staff ace Johan Santana ended his season early with elbow issues.

The good news is that most of these players are expected to be healthy and ready to go for spring training.

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Who Might Leave

Brian Schneider, C; Carlos Delgado, 1B; Fernando Tatis, 1B/OF; Alex Cora, INF; Gary Sheffield, OF; Ramon Martinez, INF; Elmer Dessens, RHP; Ken Takahashi, LHP (released).

Shopping List

After Santana, the Mets have a huge need for starting pitchers to fill out the rest of the rotation. John Maine, Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez combined for only 60 starts and a 5.24 ERA last. The Mets are said to be looking at Joel Pineiro, John Lackey and Jason Marquis as possible rotation additions. Any of the three would be welcomed with open arms.

As position players go, someone will need to be brought in to catch, a first baseman may be needed if Delgado does not return, and a power-hitting outfielder, someone to man left field, would also be considered good news. Any of the players brought in to fill these needs will need to bring some power with them. The Mets were last in the National League with 95 home runs last season, and only a portion of that can be blamed on their new cavernous ballpark.

Matt Holliday and Jason Bay are both being considered for the left field vacancy and rumors have been surfacing about an Adrian Gonzalez trade from San Diego to the Mets, but the Padres may be asking for too much in return. Bengie Molina has also been spoken about in Mets' circles. It's believed the Giants catcher is highly sought after by Mets brass.

Money Matters

The Mets have quite a few arbitration-eligible candidates, led by Francoeur and John Maine, who are both expected to be brought back. Tim Redding is also available to return, an idea that wouldn't even be considered if the rotation wasn't a nightmare. Still, Redding will have to sign for a discounted rate, even though he did pitch well down the stretch. On the free-agent front, Delgado would like to return to the Mets, but will have to prove he's healthy by playing winter ball. Gary Sheffield has also expressed interest in returning, but the Mets will test the free-agent and trade markets prior to considering that option.

You already know the Mets spend gobs of money -- don't expect that to change in 2010. The Mets should continue to have one of the highest payrolls in the National League and they'll probably spend between $20 and $30 million this offseason.

Offseason Goals

With the injury issues this past season, you would have to expect the Mets to put a training regimen in place to try and prevent a similar fate in the 2010 season. Look for the Mets to try a number of options to ensure good health this offseason. It would also be nice for the Mets to add some power to their lineup. They were the only National League team to fail to hit 100 home runs as a team, and Daniel Murphy led the team with 12 home runs.