Making The Call: Still Some Work to Do for Mets/Yankees

Photo of A.J. Burnett and CC Sabathia at Yankee Stadium by AP/Kathy Willens; Photo of Omar Minaya and J.J. Putz by AP/Seth Wenig

There are only a few days left to finish your holiday shopping and for the Yankees and Mets, they still have a couple of things to cross of their lists if 2009 is going to be a good year.

Amazingly, the Yankees have spent $243.5 million, but they had better not be finished. While everyone is focusing on the fifth starter, what about the offense? Last season they scored 789 runs and they have lost Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi from that group. Those players hit 52 homers and drove in 196 runs combined. In addition, Jorge Posada missed most of the season with a shoulder ailment and while his rehab is progressing well, the only backup plan is currently Jose Molina. They don’t have to sign Mark Teixeira, but how about targeting Jarrod Saltalamacchia in a trade? He could play first and catch which would allow them to deploy Swisher in the outfield and give them a lot of flexibility.

The Mets have less work to do, but they need to round out the starting rotation. Santana and Pelfrey form a nice top of the rotation and John Maine should be healthy in time for the season, so it comes down to two spots. Letting Jonathon Niese or Bobby Parnell fill one of those spots is a decent plan, but what about the other? Derek Lowe is a thought, but his home/road splits are worrisome. They could bring back Oliver Perez, but they seem unwilling to pay the price he is looking for and it is hard to blame them. What about taking a shot on Freddy Garcia? He made it back to the majors last year and pitched decently in three starts at the end of the season.

Unlike Santa, the Yankees and Mets just need to assemble their rosters by Spring Training and on a wintry day, it’s nice to know that there are only 54 days until pitchers and catchers start reporting.