The Marlins State Their Case

Saturday's six-hour get-together with Carlos Delgado appears to have put the Marlins closer if not altogether beyond even footing with the other teams vying for the left-handed hitting first baseman.

"It involved many substantive issues beyond just a meet-and-greet type of scenario," said David Sloane, Delgado's Coral Springs-based agent.

"A month ago if someone would have asked me about the Marlins, I would have said they were a long shot. After the meeting we had [Saturday], I'd say the Marlins are anything but a long shot."

Let the games begin. The Marlins appear as serious as ever in this pursuit of Carlos Delgado and the interesting thing to me is that I think most teams are going to bid with similar offers. I do not think the Mets are going to step up and blow anyone out of the water and it may just come down to where Delgado wants to go. The Mets are not interested in a bidding war and no team they are up against have the means nor desire to engage anyone in a bidding war either.

"Omar said, 'I'm looking forward to talking to you on a daily basis,' " Sloane said. "I'm looking forward to it, too."

At this point the pursuit for Delgado is taking on a whole new meaning. The Mets said they had to make a play for Benson last season to keep a pitcher who's career record is under .500 out of their division rivals hands. Now there is a player on the market who is drawing considerable interest from another one of their rivals and stands to tip the scales a lot more than Kris Benson and could shift the balance of power into the Marlins direction should they land him.

"I thought Omar Minaya had lost his mind when he said at the winter meetings he was going to turn it around now," said Delgado's agent, David Sloane. "All he's done is prove me and everyone else wrong. While other GMs were playing golf, he was flying around the world signing the best players on the planet."

It appears the Mets are working hard on moving Mike Cameron to clear some salary at this point to make room for the slugging first baseman. Although they do not stand to save a lot in 2005, 2006 is when they will be clearing the most payroll from this move and getting relief.

The Mets are a step closer to acquiring Oakland outfielder Eric Byrnes in exchange for Mike Cameron, according to a source familiar with the dialogue between the two teams. The deal may now include reliever Chad Bradford as a way to lighten Oakland's financial concerns.

The A's are eager to put Cameron in center field, but asked the Mets to assume a portion of his $6 million salary. The Mets countered Saturday by offering to take Bradford in the deal, as well. Doing so would lighten the A's payroll by $3.4 million - effectively awarding them Cameron for a mere $2.4 million this year. The Mets would then use their $2.6 million savings toward signing Carlos Delgado.

It would certainly seem that this move with Cameron would be almost done in tandem because if the Mets do not land Delgado, it just seems smarter to try and convince Cammy he's happy in right.

* * *

Andy from Chuck 'n' Duck has his theory on how this entire Cameron deal might shake out.

With the A's and the Diamondbacks in trade talks already, and both of them being interested in Mike Cameron, does anyone else see one of Billy Beane's patented three-way trades going down here?

What I personally would propose:

Mets trade Mike Cameron to D-Backs
A's trade Eric Byrnes/Chad Bradford to Mets
Diamondbacks trade Jose Valverde to A's
One or two million in cash given to Diamondbacks by Mets

An interesting starting point for negotiations. Things should get interesting on this front over the next few days.

According to Joel Sherman, Hudson has added the Mets to his wishlist.

Tim Hudson has defined a March 1 deadline with the Braves to complete a multi-year pact. The Georgia native is said to prefer staying at home after being traded to Atlanta by Oakland. However, Hudson also had sketched a preliminary, eight-team wish list of where he would consider going next off season as a free agent, and that list is now believed to be nine because the righty liked the Mets' upgrades and new direction so much.

If it gets that far, the Mets would benefit from Hudson's longstanding relationship with pitching coach Rick Peterson, who was Hudson's pitching coach in Oakland. However, unlike with Beltran, the Mets should expect fierce competition from the Yankees, among others, on an ace starter in his prime. There should be no shortage of Hudson Givers.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. As much as I like Tim Hudson, he scares me. His first full season in baseball he had a 8.71 K/9. In 2004 it was down to 4.91 and allowed a career high in BAA and the second highest OBP in his career. Maybe it was an off year, but his K/9 are drastically lower in his last three years than his first three years and that is strong indicater for many people. I do not have the means to watch many of the games he pitches in so maybe he is learning how to pitch more effectively and goes for the groundout before trying to put someone away on K's to save pitches, but it's cause for concern. This season will go a long way for me in him proving he is worth the $12 to $14 million he will be asking for.

Was anyone thinking of the first Ace Ventura movie as Brien missed two field goals at the end of the game that would have given the Jets a victory?

If he had held the ball laces out like he's supposed to, Ray would never have missed that kick. Dan Marino should die of gonorrhea and rot in hell!

The phrase Einhorn is Finkel and Finkel is Einhorn just kept running through me head. I do feel bad for they guy though.