The Mets have made the competition for second base more interesting. As of today, six candidates will be challenging to man the position: Luis Castillo, Daniel Murphy, Ruben Tejada, Justin Turner, Brad Emaus, and Russ Adams.

Luis Castillo is a player with an inflated salary, a leftover from an era when Omar Minaya did for the Mets what Isiah Thomas did for the Knicks, overspending on players who underperformed. Fortunately, the Mets don’t have an Eddie Curry on their roster. Hopefully, Alderson will find another team willing to part with prospects to obtain Castillo’s services.

Daniel Murphy is a player whom the Mets misplayed when they tried to convert him into an outfielder. The team’s latest hope is that he can succeed at second base.

Ruben Tejada is a player who was pushed too soon into a starting position. He’d benefit by starting this season in Triple-A. Let’s see if the Mets have the wisdom to make that move.

Justin Turner should have been a September call-up. Why he wasn’t is mystifying. Last season in Buffalo he hit .333 with a .906 OPS. He deserves a shot at second base.

Brad Emaus is a 2010 Rule 5 selection. Why didn’t the Blue Jays protect him? Last season in Triple-A he hit .298 with an .890 OPS. Another player who should be given a fair chance to make the Mets starting lineup.

Russ Adams also played for Buffalo last season, hitting .264. As he’s 31, I’d rather see the Mets start the season with someone younger.

 

Now that the Mets have signed Tim Redding, are they a better team than they were last season? I doubt it. Career-wise, Redding has a losing record of 34-51. That’s not very good. Of his seven seasons in the Majors, he’s had only one winning season. In his best seasons, he’s won 10 games, something he did twice. In his last four seasons, his ERA was under four once.

In comparison, Oliver Perez won 10 games for the Mets last season. In his last four seasons his ERA was under four once and over six twice. He’ll cost them alot more money to sign, which I hope they don’t do. Too erratic.

Which leaves Derek Lowe. Of the three, he’s the only only with a winning percentage in his career. He’s won at least 12 games for the past seven seasons, though he had a winning record in only five of them. And in each of his last four seasons, his ERA was under four. He’d make a much bigger difference than would either Redding or Perez.

Minaya: Spend the money; sign Lowe.

In one of the stranger stories I’ve read in awhile, Philadelphia Phillies’ pitcher J. C. Romero has been suspended for the first 50 games of the 2009 season, a suspension that will cost him $1.25 million, for taking a supplement that he bought last July in a New Jersey GNC store.

Romero denies doing anything wrong. Before he took the supplement, he discussed it with Phillies strength and conditioning coach Dong Lien and with two nutritionists. Both nutritionists told him it was okay to take it, though Lien didn’t give it his approval.

When asked about the supplement, Romero said “Everyone takes something. Some guys drink coffee, others supplements. We try to make sure they’re all legal.”

Romero said that he tried to follow the rules; however, he did not call baseball’s drug hot line. By making that call he might have saved himself $1.25 million.

Boston’s trade of Manny Ramirez boggles the mind. Sure, they needed to get rid of Ramirez, but why did they so overpay to do that.

They sent Ramirez to the Dodgers, agreeing to pay the estimated $7 million due to Ramirez for the rest of this season.

In return, the Red Sox received Jason Bay from the Pirates.

Is a Martinez for Bay trade an even deal? No way. Bay can’t compare to Martinez. I’d have thought that the Red Sox could have gotten more for Martinez. But not only were they unable to get more, they gave up more.

As part of the 3-team deal, the Red Sox also sent reliever Craig Hansen and Triple-A outfielder Brandon Moss to the Pirates. Thus the trade boiled down to Manny Ramirez, Craig Hansen, and Brandon Moss for Jason Bay. That’s unbelievable.

The fact that the Red Sox were willing to give up so much to get rid of Martinez indicates DESPERATION.