Mets B Plan will get B results

minaya Monday it was reported John Lackey had agreed to a five-year, $85 million contract with the Boston Red Sox. Before the close of business today expect the official announcement of the completion a blockbuster three-team trade that will make Roy Halladay a Philadelphia Phillie. It’s conceivable that, by the end of the week, the top two offensive free agents – Matt Holliday and Jason Bay – could sign deals, neither with the New York Mets.

So where is Omar Minaya during this signing trade frenzy? According to media reports the Mets GM is working on securing 33-year old, oft-injured starter Kelvim Escobar to a minor league contract deal. Escobar pitched a total of five innings for the Anaheim Angels in 2009.

The Mets are also interested in former Yankee Chien-Ming Wang. Like Escobar, he has battled injuries the last two seasons. In 12 appearances (nine starts) in 2009, Wang was 1-6 with a 9.64 ERA.

Oliver Perez, John Maine, Johan Santana, J.J. Putz, Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Jeff Francouer, Alex Cora, Fernando Martinez, Angel Pagan and Gary Sheffield all spent time on the Mets disabled list in 2009. Depleted, the Mets roster became a who’s who of misfits and youth that resulted in a free-fall from mid-July to October.

The Mets, and their fans, expect Wright, Reyes, Beltran, Santana and Francisco Rodriguez will return to form in 2010, all hopeful assumptions. But, with each Type A free agent that gets picked off, the Mets find themselves trying to answer questions (starting pitching, power and relief) with questionable solutions.

Minaya’s B Plan is now in play. The Mets are moving toward low-cost, incentive-based deals on the free agent market. Jack Cust, Jonny Gomes, Jason Marquis, Matt Capps, Mike McDougal, Joel Piniero, Wang, Escobar? Are the Mets trying to build a winning team or a .500 team? A championship team or a competitive team?

A B Plan will get B results. Maybe a more appropriate team name is the New York Mediocrities.