Note: Mets Focused on Pitching
Ken Davidoff of Newsday believes the Yankees prefer to trade OF Xavier Nady, instead of 1B-OF Nick Swisher.
According to Davidoff, “The Mets enjoyed having Nady on their club… and they inquired about him last July… For now, however, the Mets are focused on their starting rotation and are not looking to acquire a bat either through free agency or through a trade.”
Honestly, each day this past week, people connected to the team have been telling me not to expect any significant upgrade to the team’s offense. Unfortunately, I’m starting to believe them.
I sense two reasons for this: 1) the budget, which is not set in stone, but only flexible for the absolute right scenario, and 2) the team genuinely 
believes the offense is fine as is – especially when it is far easier to get a bat at the trade deadline than a quality pitcher.
I believe their thinking is: Ryan Church will be better than last year, because he’ll play a full season; Brian Schneider and Luis Castillo have no place to go but up; Carlos Delgado will give a full season of what he produced in the second half of last year; and Daniel Murphy will be all they hope he can be. The thing is, none of these scenarios are a given – in fact, it’s pretty easy to argue why they will not happen, as it is to argue why they will.
I agree with trying to build the most stable, well-rounded pitching staff possible, which the Mets are on route to doing. And I understand that last season, technically, it can be argued that the offense was more than fine, but that the bullpen continually ruined their efforts. However, counting on a rookie and a past-his-prime second baseman, and hoping Church stays healthy and Delgado improves at age 37, is risky – and so having at least one, new, reliable bat would he helpful.
