However, according to Ken Davidoff in Newsday, “The Mets haven’t shown much interest (in Winn).”

…from what i can gather out of san francisco, if the Mets are willing to take on all of winn’s money, including his $8.6 million salary for next season, they will not have to give up a significant prospect in trade…

In his report for the New York Post, in which he details who on the Mets is ‘untouchable,’ and who is not, Joel Sherman writes that the Giants are unwilling to eat any portion of Winn’s salary, while quoting a Mets official as saying, “That is a lot of money, and you tie yourself up and miss out on somebody else you really want (for 2009 and beyond).”

Winn is batting .275 with five HR, 40 RBI and 20 stole bases in 98 games for the Giants this season, during which he has played both center and right field.

However, according to Jon Heyman at SI.com, the Mariners have been asking for LHP Jon Niese, whom the Mets consider to be ‘untouchable.’

The thing is, as Joel Sherman writes in a report for the New York Post, “Rival clubs describe the Mets as making too many prospects untouchable, which also severely diminishes the chances for a trade.”

According to Sherman, not only are Niese and Fernando Martinez considered ‘untouchable,’ so are RHP Robert Parnell, RHP Eddie Kunz and 3B-2B Dan Muprhy.

Sherman also discusses Ramirez, Jason Bay and why the Mets may be willing to trade Mike Carp.

 …from what i can gather, the Mariners were scouting the Mets all weekend at Shea Stadium, which would suggest a deal for ibanez may not only include minor-leaguers…

The left-handed hitting Ibanez, 35, is batting .275 with 14 HR and 61 RBI for the Mariners this season, while hitting .307 against lefties and .262 against righties.

…not that i want him, and not that the Mets even have room for him, but i wonder, if the Mets were to take on Jose Vidro and his $8.5 million contract, could they get ibanez and vidro from seattle while giving up less talent in return…

Speaking on Niese, Joey DeMayo has a good Q&A with the left-handed prospect up at NYBaseballDigest.com.

The left-handed hitting Ibanez, 35, is hitting .275 with 14 HR and 61 RBI for the Mariners this season, while batting .307 against lefties and .262 against righties.

In a report for Newsday, in which he explains why Manny Ramirez is not an option for the Mets, Ken Davidoff writes, “The Mariners have been asking a high price in return for Ibañez.”

…like in other cases, the buzz from seattle is that the M’s must get back two high-ceiling prospects, equal to the type of talent they would draft with two first-round picks…

Meanwhile, according to Peter Gammons, in a post to ESPN.com, the Pirates are still listening to offers for OF Jason Bay, “but right now there doesn’t seem to be anyone willing to step up and pay the price.”

Such as the Mets, who, according to Stark, feel the asking price for Bay is too ‘excessive.’

In a recent report for SI.com, in which he too explains why Ramirez will not be traded to the Mets, Jon Heyman writes, regarding Pittsburgh’s asking price:

“Mets people balked at including top outfield prospect Fernando Martinez for Nady and are said to be extremely reluctant to part with either Martinez or left-handed pitching prospect Jon Niese.”

Yesterday, in a video report for FoxSports.com, Ken Rosenthal said the Mets will not trade Martinez, Niese, nor Robert Parnell.

Lastly, in a separate post, citing ‘one baseball man who has spoken with the Mets,’ Stark writes that the Giants and Mets have had recent conversations about 34–year-old OF Randy Winn.

…from what i can gather out of san francisco, if the Mets are willing to take on all of winn’s money, including his $8.6 million salary for next season, they will not have to give up a significant prospect in trade…

Winn is batting .275 with five HR, 40 RBI and 20 stole bases in 98 games for the Giants this season, during which he has played both center and right field.

By the way, in Stark’s post, he also details Minaya’s efforts to wade through the relief pitcher market, which could include such targets as Cla Meredith, Chad Bradford and Jeremy Affeldt.

Meanwhile, as I mentioned on SNY’s The Wheel House yesterday, which you can watch by clicking here, it would be wise for the Mets to approach this year’s Trade Deadline assuming Ryan Church will miss additional time this season, even if he returns healthy from his current stint on the disabled list.

And so, during his talk with reporters, Minaya said:

“Right now, we’re going to give the guys we have an opportunity.  But, you have to continue to look at things and see if there’s somebody out there that we feel is an upgrade…Are we going to be in the marketplace looking for guys to improve? Yes, but it has to be the right guy.”

That said, in the New York Post, Joel Sherman recently wrote that names such as OF-1B Xavier Nady, OF Raul Ibanez, OF Randy Winn and OF Adam Dunn are will be most associated with the Mets.

Sherman also mentions that Minaya might be willing to take on a bloated contract, if it helped to reduce the value of the prospect needed to acquire a corner outfielder.

The sense I get from people in Seattle and San Francisco is that neither the Mariners nor Giants are eager to trade Winn or Ibanez, who are both relatively affordable, under contract and are both still useful and productive players.

The buzz from Cincinnati indicates that the market for Dunn is surprisingly quiet.  Additionally, Dunn will likely be a Type-A Free Agent, and could net the Reds two draft picks, assuming he is not re-signed to an extension - in short, the two draft picks could end up being far more valuable than the type of prospect a team will trade for Dunn today.  What’s more, the word around baseball paints Dunn as an apathetic strike-out machine, who, while he occasionally walks, is more or less useless in the field, and so he will bring more in name recognition than actual results.

As for Nady, who is the player I would like the Mets to acquire, and the name that is mentioned most to me by other fans, at this point, from what I can gather, the Pirates are not feeling pressure to trade him.

In fact, the buzz from Atlanta suggests that the Pirates recently asked for at least one top position prospect, such as SS Brent Lillibridge.  In terms of the Mets, I believe Nady would likely cost a package including Fernando Martinez, or Mike Carp, Jon Neise and probably another pitching prospect.

There is no indication that the Pirates will ever accept a package built around Aaron Heilman, as so many fans like suggest.

Regarding the free agent market, Omar Minaya essentially ruled out Barry Bonds while speaking to WFAN earlier this week.  What’s more, according to a recent report by Ken Davidoff in Newsday, citing an e-mail from Minaya, the Mets are not interested in Kenny Lofton either.

Lastly, according to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, speaking yesterday on SNY’s Pre-Game show, the Mets are most interested in 1B-OF Juan Rivera, who is hitting just .194 with three home runs in 34 games for the Angels.

In 2006, Rivera hit .310 with 24 HR and 85 RBI, but has struggled to return to that level of production ever since.

Rivera can be a free agent at the end of this season.

In 155 games for the Giants last season, Winn hit .300 with 57 extra base hits, 15 stolen bases and a .353 OBP.

What’s more, he hit .351 against left-handed pitchers, while playing all three outfield positions and one game at third base.

…he could actually be a perfect, temporary replacement for Moises Alou, should Angel Pagan slump and does not make the opening day roster…winn is healthy, consistent and reliable, which is exact what i would want in alou’s place…plus, if alou comes back healthy, there are always teams interested in a player like winn - and so he could probably get traded again…

Winn will be a free agent after this season, during which he has a partial no-trade clause and can block a deal to 10 specific teams.

According to a previous report from Gotham Baseball Magazine, the Mets had been scouting Winn prior to last year’s trade deadline.

Speaking of rumors, according to Jon Heyman at SI.com, at least one GM believes there is no chance that 1B Mark Teixeira will re-sign with the Braves, instead he’ll be heavily pursued by the Red Sox, Orioles, Yankees, Giants, Mariners, Dodgers and Angels.