Mets Rumor: Inquiring on Hoffman

The Mets are looking into Trevor Hoffman, hopefully not as their closer of 2009.

Hoffman is a Hall of Fame closer, without a doubt, so I'm not too sure if he'd be willing to accept a role other than closer. I wouldn't mind him as a set-up man, especially if the Mets can sign fire-baller Francisco Rodriguez for the 9th inning.

Per to Barry M. Bloom:

"I'm absolutely open to anything," Hoffman said at the time. "National League, American League, just something that's a good fit in a number of arenas. A lot of it is going to depend on what teams come into play."

Again, this is a second tier priority. I wouldn't mind him, but I'm not clamoring for him. I doubt anyone will be.

Mets Rumor: Steak dinner with K-Rod

Hopefully Omar Minaya knew in advance whether Francisco Rodriguez was a vegetarian or not.

According to sources, Minaya and K-Rod (and his agent, I assume) had a lengthy sit-down at a steakhouse last night. David Lennon reports the meeting was over four hours long. He also wrote "Minaya only smiled when asked whether an offer had been made."

Sly, Omar. Very sly.

I'm anticipating a quick signing of a closer so the Mets can move on to other things.

Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Mets will not make simultaneous offers to K-Rod, Brian Fuentes and Trevor Hoffman. Instead, they will likely offer it to their first choice (Rodriguez), and move down the line from there (Fuentes, Hoffman).

If nothing comes of that, I'm sure they'll turn to Kerry Wood before they look into a trade, as they don't want to give up any of their young talent if they don't have to.

Hoffman or Street could help the Mets

Two closers can be had, both are at very different point in their career, and both could help the Mets.

On one hand, we have a 41-year-old who has notched 554 saves in his career, all but two coming for one team. He's a six time All Star, with a career 2.78 ERA.

On the other hand, there's a 25-year-old former Rookie of the Year. He's notched 94 saves in four years, but is coming off of two sub-par years in which he's lost his closing duties. He sports a 2.88 career ERA.

Player one is Trevor Hoffman. The San Diego Padres and Hoffman have been negotiating on a contract for their old closer, but Buster Olney is reporting the Pads have pulled their offer and will not bring Hoffman back.

San Diego was offering Hoffman $4 million, plus incentives for the 2009 season. If the Mets match that, just for one year, I'd be willing to see how much he has left in the tank. I know he's not going to blow people away, but he has the mental mettle to pitch in the 9th inning. He's definitely worth at least a look.

Player two is Huston Street. As part of the Matt Holliday to Oakland trade, Huston is now the property of the Colorado Rockies. A hefty trade would be in order, but I've heard the Rockies linked to Aaron Heilman before, and maybe throwing in Nick Evans (since he had some great games against them) and another player would be enough to get it done.

He's much younger than Hoffman, but has struggled lately, with 16 and 18 saves the last two seasons. We know he can handle the pressure of closing, but something may be wrong with his mechanics. I haven't seen him throw enough to gauge what may be wrong, but with the coaching staff the Mets have in place, especially with Dan Warthen being used to teaching young players, I think the Mets should take a shot at bringing him over and locking him up for a few years.

Of all the holes the Mets need to fill in the bullpen, closer is their No. 1 priority. These are two very different players, as Hoffman would be more of a one-year stopgap, while Street, if traded for, could be a Met for years to come.