There's still a lot of 'Mambo' left

"There's still a lot of 'Mambo' left," Lima told ESPNdeportes.com, referring to the nickname he's known by in the Spanish-speaking world. "My arm feels better than ever, and I've shown that time and again this winter season."

You have to be amused by Jose Lima in the same way that Hugo Chavez is amusing. Their quotes are priceless, but when you realize they are dead serious, it is extremely disconcerting. I do not know where Lima will land, but I think we all know it will not be with the Mets. Omar failed to land Daisuke and Barry, but with everyone's patience I truly believe things will work out in the end as I've stated time and time again.

With Chan Ho Park in the fold, the Mets added another potentially capable arm for the back end of the rotation. At $600,000 for one year, Park could be solid pick up. The dichotomy between the Mets 1st half of the season and their 2nd half of the season is going to be tremendous. While the 1st half will be marked wither a multitude of starting pitchers, the 2nd half arms will shape into stable and dependable starting rotation.

The Mets offense is good enough to carry this team through the regular season and leave them in a good position to distance themselves from the pack in the second half. I know that Park has not been particularly good since 2001, but he did do a decent job for the Padres last year and could be a solid arm while giving the Mets youth more time develop. While the Mets rotation may not be filled with the pantheons of the starting pitching world, they certainly have the arms to surprise people.

Franco (NYC): You are nuts about Giada! She pronounces italian words correctly, not like italian americans who drop the last vowel off of anything (she does have a big head though)... Anyway, Can Oliver perez get anywhere near his numbers he had when he was nasty in Pittsburgh?

SportsNation Keith Law: Agreed on the final-vowel thing - a relative of my wife's who shall not be named refers to locatelli as "lugaTELL" - but I swear I heard Giada call spaghetti "spa-GHEE-tee." I smacked my television after that. And I wouldn't give up on Perez - there's more in that arm than you saw in '06.

While the rotation in the 1st half will draw a lot of criticism from the baseball world and the New York media (especially the New York media) as the Mets sort things out, the second half will go a long way to shutting up the pundits. With Oliver Perez, John Maine, Orlando Hernandez, Chan Ho Park, Jason Vargas, Phil Humber, and Mike Pelfrey in the mix to share the last three spots behind Tom Glavine and Pedro Martinez, I fully anticipate a overabundance of arms when Pedro returns which is a stark contrast to what other teams will be dealing with all over the league.

Omar has shown the ability to be resilient and hedge this Met team with moves like Chan Ho Park. At $600,000 he can be cut loose rather easily. You never like to throw money away, but that bit of insurance to keep Park around in the event that he is needed could end up looking like another brilliant move by Omar. Maybe I'm placing too much faith in Rick Peterson and too much into thinking that playing on a team as good as the Mets will have a profound effect on these seemingly marginal pitchers the Mets will be throwing out there, but I do not think so. I think this Met rotation is going to surprise everyone out there.

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John Altavilla thinks that the Mets answer to suspect starting pitching will be the same approach last year to that problem. Their bullpen.

Moises was ready to call it quits until the Mets came calling.

"You just look at the Mets' roster, it was a no-brainer," Alou says of signing the one-year, $8.5 million deal (with an option) he inked with the Mets last November. "At this stage in my career, I'm not looking for any extra money, you know? I just wanted to be on a winning team - on a team that looks like it can win it all. I think the Mets are that team."

I'm sure that $8,000,000 helped his decision. He only made more than that twice before and $8,000,000 would be worth more 10% of his entire career earnings. I'm glad that he is saying the right things, but it is always about money these days.

If you have not done so, catch up on TJ Quin's blogging from Ghana.

The Mets do not have any first rounds, but they do have four in the top 100.

42. Mets (Roberto Hernandez, A, to Cle)
47. Mets (Chad Bradford, A, to Bal)
77. Mets (Hernandez to Cle)
99. Mets (Bradford to Bal)

If Arizona signs their first rounder from '06 in Max Scherzer, the Mets would then have the 41st pick, 46th pick, 76th pick, and 99th pick.