And who said anything about Milledge or even Gomez?

Hernandez should be obtainable on the cheap.

(I’m sure some fool is thinking of trading Milledge for Hernandez. He’s not even worth Gomez. Saltiamachia might be worth Milledge. Might.)

I don’t want to trade for Hernandez who is better than LoDuca, but not that hot himself. (It’s rather easy to be better than .75 OPS+ LoDuca.)

Sign LoDuca for one year. If you make smart moves in ’09, you will be able to live with a weak hitting catcher. Or you could go with Johjima in ’09 and strengthen that position.

’09 is full of options if the Mets don’t strangle themselves with ARod or Posada this year.

barrett will be cheap pick up with lots of potential but still some risk that his down year was not a fluke.

For the record, Posada has always been known as a terrible defensive catcher. He is an awful ball-blocker, and has never been known for dealing well with pitchers. I’d be shocked if he were not a huge liability behind the plate by 2009.

Truthfully I’d rather not have LoDuca or Posada. I’d rather have a guy like Castro or Torreabla than either of these aging catchers. I am tired of the Mets having old catchers behind the plate – it’s time for a younger, more athletic catcher, even if that means sacrificing some offense.

That being said, if the Mets feel they have no real options in terms of a younger C, I’d rather they spend less money and commit to less yeas for LoDuca.

In this instance, I was referring to the Orioles and alluding to Duquette’s poor trades with the Mets.

‘Smart teams make smart transactions. No doubt that Posada would be better than LoDuca in 2008 – but do you really want to be paying him $12 million in 2010 when he’s 39?’

No, but what choices do the Mets have? They lost Flores in the Rule V. Pena won’t be ready for years. There are no viable internal options.

A declining Posada is still likely to be a 100 OPS+ guy. The Mets could use that certainty. The marginal wins are extremely valuable to them.

I suppose a trade for Ramon Hernandez, Salty or Jeff Clement might work also.

‘Sorry, I’m confused. Are you talking about Posada or Loduca? Cause I’m pretty sure you just described Jorge Posada.’

Posada hits for power and draws walks. LD has pitiful power and draws very few walks. LD is extremely one dimensional.

If LD experiences a BA collapse, he kills your team. Posada can hit .250 and still be a contributor because he has excellent secondary skills.

‘The truth is, the Mets would be much better off signing LoDuca to a one year deal with an option, at around $7 million per year, than siging Posada to a $50, 4 year deal, or trading talent for Hernandez.’

I’d take a chance on Posada. But we’ll agree to disagree on that.

Lo Duca is relatively durable, thrives in NYC, and will be somewhat inexpensive. Take the dollars and spend them elsewhere- not on catcher.

The fact that this is even a point of discussion is mind boggling to me. Unless he really is causing a disturbance in the clubhouse, sign Lo Duca quickly and move onto the more pressing issues of the off-season.