Silva lists Erik Bedard and Brad Penny, as well as former Met Chad Bradford among his bargain bin list.

Silva doesn’t believe that Bedard would require more than an incentive laden deal next season, but warns he is injury prone, and Penny rebounded nicely after leaving the Red Sox in August.

…i have always been high on Bedard, but he has struggled the past two seasons with injuries and another injury-plagued starting pitcher is not exactly what the Mets need next season…he made only 15 starts and none after July 25…that said, he was impressive with the Orioles in 2006 and 2007…he finished third in the American League with 221 strikeouts in 2007…if he is healthy, he is a top of the rotation starter, but that of course must be proven…

…Penny pitched real well down the stretch for the Giants, going 4-1 with a 2.59 ERA in September and totaled 15 wins all year, proving that he is over the arm injury that plagued him in 2008…he could fill in nicely in the middle of the rotation, but at this point i don’t see Penny as a solution to the hole at the top of the rotation…

…with regards to Bradford, i would love to see the Mets re-acquire him…he can consisently get right handers out with that submarine delivery, and he and Pedro Feliciano would make for a great setup duo in the seventh and eighth innings…

For the full list of bargain bin free agents, check out Silva’s post.

Meanwhile, the Mets are 6–3 in Livan Hernandez’s nine starts this season, though five of the six wins were against the Braves, Pirates, Nationals, Marlins and Brewers.

Eventually, the Mets will promote Oliver Perez, who will re-join John Maine, Mike Pelfrey and Johan Santana, meaning one of Redding or Hernandez will get bumped from the rotation.

I would think Redding will slot in to the long-relief, spot-starter role, while Hernandez is allowed more time to pitch.

Nevertheless, from what I can gather, the Mets continue to keep an eye around baseball for an ‘experienced, reliable, consistent starting pitcher,’ to be counted on, every five days, for the back of their rotation.

According to MLB Trade Rumors, during the last few weeks, pitchers like Javier Vazquez, Jonathan Sanchez, Erik Bedard, Jarrod Washburn, Jon Garland, Roy Oswalt, Jason Marquis, Jake Peavy and Brad Penny could all be available, while Pedro Martinez remains unsigned as a free agent.

Sanchez, Peavy, Bedard and Oswalt will require a lot in return; Penny is too much of an injury risk, despite pitching well for the Red Sox; and Garland is having a poor season with the D’Backs.

The two guys from this list, who fit ‘experienced, reliable, consistent, back-of-the-rotation starting pitcher,’ would be Washburn and Marquis, both of whom are free agents at the end of this season, as well as Vazquez, who is under contract through 2010.

I’m not sure the Braves would ever deal a player under contract, in the middle of a pennant race, to the Mets, leaving Washburn and Marquis as players to watch as we get closer to the July 31 trade deadline.

If you remember, according to published reports, the Mets rejected a deal from the Cubs during the Winter Meetings that would have swapped Marquis for Aaron Heilman, who was instead traded to the Mariners for J.J. Putz.

Marquis was eventually traded to the Rockies, who are 13.5 games out of first place today and nine games under .500.

In a report for Newsday, Ken Davidoff looks at the Mets needs and writes, “So must the Mets.”

According to Davidoff, Peavy is not likely to accept a deal to the Mets or Phillies, which is why believes the Mets must go after rehabilitating free agent Ben Sheets, “and also discuss Erik Bedard with the Mariners – who, like the A’s, could be more open to younger prospects.”

…the thing is, while i believe the Mets need another dominant starting pitcher more than anything else, they also need a full-time, experienced, multi-purpose, back-up infielder, and a power bat, and they probably only have enough prospects to get one, maybe two, of the three… and, at what point should Omar Minaya trade young talent for the sake of patching short-term holes, while not waiting so long he ruins the major-league season for the sake of the farm system… tough balancing act…

…well, that answers that, since jones alone is better than any one prospect the Mets could have offered – pre-santana…plus, the O’s got seattle’s second-best pitching prospect in hillman…again, as long as bedard didn’t end up on the Phillies or Braves, or Dodgers, i’m happy…

…so, Dan Haren to the D’Backs, Johan Santana to the Mets, and Erik Bedard to the Mariners…

…in my book, the Hot Stove is officially over…

…in the days after the Mets traded for Johan Santana, i was sent several e-mails from fans wondering if the Mets could turn around and trade Fernando Martinez, Aaron Heilman and Mike Pelfrey, among others, to the O’s for bedard…

…man, talk about killing your minor-league system…

…anyway, obviously that was never going to happen, if for no other reason than the O’s have been asking for a starting outfielder throughout the entire off-season, such as Reds OF Jay Bruce, Dodgers OF Matt Kemp and jones, who is better than any prospect the Mets could have ever offered…

…just so long as bedard is not going to the Phillies or Braves, i’m happy…

During the Winter Meetings in December, ESPN.com reported that the Dodgers and O’s had been close to a swap of Bedard for OF Matt Kemp and RHP Jonathan Broxton.

…i don’t think broxton was ever on the table…for any deal…and once the Dodgers committed to not trading kemp, i suspect that deal came to a screeching halt…

‘Citing sources close to the Orioles,’ owner Peter Angelos called Bedard to discuss a five-year contract.

If an extension is not reached, it appears the Mariners and Orioles will finalize a proposed five-player trade which includes Seattle prospect OF Adam Jones.

…i have a feeling that peter angelos would not be a popular person in fantasy baseball leagues…i mean, other than the Miguel Tejada deal recently, does this guy ever pull the trigger…he would be the type of fantasy player that will let your trade offer sit there for weeks without looking at it…or rejects everything you send without a counteroffer…

…added to by Matthew Cerrone…

…good call, brandon…though, i think some O’s fans would go as far as to say angelos runs the team like he’s in fantasy land…

…it’s interesting that both bedard and santana are in a mad scramble right now to work out contract extensions…i hope neither is eyeing the other, because i am looking forward to all of this being done with…aren’t you…

Erik Bedard

…Update…7 am…

In a report to SI.com, Jon Heyman writes that there is still concern within Baltimore’s front office regarding this deal, which could include up to four more prospects in addition to Jones.

According to Heyman, Baltimore could ship 3B Brain Roberts off to the Cubs not longer after the Bedard deal is complete.

Meanwhile, at Prospect Insider, Jason Churchill characterizes the deal as 99 percent done, while citing the same set of prospects in the deal as Heyman.

…by the way, hat’s off to churchill, who has been like white on rice with this story for months now…

According to Zrebiec, the O’s and Mariners continue to discuss Bedard, ‘with talks centered around Adam Jones.’

“The competition for Bedard may come down to the Mariners and the New York Mets.  But the Mets have not pushed hard for Bedard, and the Mariners, while willing to trade Adam Jones, haven’t been willing to meet all the Baltimore demands.”

…first off, hickey is not quoting a source, he’s simply stating his opinion…by the way, it’s a very logical opinion, considering that the Mets are the only other team besides the M’s who are aggressively pursuing an ace in the trade market…

Last week, there had been talk of a potential swap between Baltimore and the Cubs, involving Bedard and 2B Brian Roberts.  For more, read MLB Trade Rumors.

During December, the Mets offered Aaron Heilman, Carlos Gomez and Philip Humber to the O’s for Bedard, according to old reports from ESPN.com and MLB.com, among others, but it was rejected.

…as such, i hear lots of fans suggest that the Mets should just add a player like Fernando Martinez to get it done, much like with Johan Santana…the thing is, as i wrote during the Winter Meetings, i believe the O’s have been shopping bedard in hopes of getting back a very specific set of talent, and will just as soon start the season with him now, allowing more time to try and work on a contract extension, than trade him just to trade him for parts and pieces…in other words, if the O’s can not snag a player like M’s OF Adam Jones, Reds OF Jay Bruce or Dodgers OF Matt Kemp, et al, bedard will not be traded, since he is still two seasons away from being a free agent…

…for the Mets, i still believe it is santana or bust, which i truly hope is not the case…i mean, it’s amazing to me that the Mets off-season may be perceived as a total failure if they do not manage to trade for the best pitcher in baseball…that’s a lot to live up to, to say the least…