Starters

Johan Santana
Mike Pelfrey (headcase)
Joel Pineiro/Ben Sheets
John Maine (Rick Reed)
Oliver Perez (batshit insane)
 
Relief Pitchers

Jon Niese  (L)
Pat Misch (L)
Fernando Nieve (R)
Nelson Figueroa (R)
Brian Stokes (R)
Sean Green (R)
Elmer Dessens (R)
Tobi Stoner (R)

Setup Men

Kelvim Escobar (R)
Royta Igarashi (R)
Pedro Feliciano (L)
Bobby Parnell (R)

Closers

Francisco Rodriguez (R)

SS Jose Reyes
2B Orlando Hudson
CF Carlos Beltran
3B David Wright
LF Jason Bay
1B Carlos Delgado
RF Jeff Francoeur
C Bengie Molina

Andre Dawson was the only player who received the necessary 75% to be elected into the HOF this year.  Congratulations to "The Hawk!"  Unfortunately, Bert Blyleven missed by 5 votes and Roberto Alomar missed by 8 votes.  Here's to hoping they get in next year!

2010 HOF Voting Results
------------------------------------
Andre Dawson 420 (77.9%)
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(Retains eligibility)
Bert Blyleven 400 (74.2%)
Roberto Alomar 397 (73.7%)
Jack Morris 282 (52.3%)
Barry Larkin 278 (51.6%)
Lee Smith 255 (47.3%)
Edgar Martinez 195 (36.2%)
Tim Raines 164 (30.4%)
Mark McGwire 128 (23.7%)
Alan Trammell 121 (22.4%)
Fred McGriff 116 (21.5%)
Don Mattingly 87 (16.1%)
Dave Parker 82 (15.2%)
Dale Murphy 63 (11.7%)
Harold Baines 33 (6.1%)
---------------------------------
(Does not retain eligibility)
Andres Galarraga 22 (4.1%)
Robin Ventura 7 (1.3%)
Ellis Burks 2 (0.4%)
Eric Karros 2 (0.4%)
Kevin Appier 1 (0.2%)
Pat Hentgen 1 (0.2%)
David Segui 1 (0.2%)
Mike Jackson 0
Ray Lankford 0
Shane Reynolds 0
Todd Zeile 0

And looking ahead....

Players who will be eligible for the first time in 2011: Wilson Alvarez, Carlos Baerga, Jeff Bagwell, Bret Boone, Kevin Brown, Cal Eldred, John Franco, Juan González, Marquis Grissom, Bobby Higginson, Charles Johnson, Al Leiter, Tino Martinez, Raúl Mondesí, José Offerman, John Olerud, Rafael Palmeiro, Paul Quantrill, Steve Reed, Kirk Rueter, Rey Sánchez, Benito Santiago, B. J. Surhoff, Ugueth Urbina, Ismael Valdez, Larry Walker, and Dan Wilson.

For the third consecutive year in a row, I've successfully predicted which player the Mets were "really" after at the Winter Meetings.

Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman is reporting that the Mets have offered Jason Bay a 4 year contract worth $65 million. 

I called this one a long time ago...

In recent years it seems the Mets have taken to a strategy of putting out false information in the weeks prior to the winter meetings:

2007 - "We're not really going after any big name starting pitchers."
2008 - "We won't be bidding on any of the top closers this year."
2009 - "We only have $20 million to spend this winter."

Really?  This is New York City we're talking about.  The capital of the universe.  And you don't have any money?  That seemed to me like the biggest fish tale I had ever heard.  And the "financial crisis" nature of the rumor tipped off alarms to me, a clear indication that the Mets indeed did have money, and were coming to spend it.

Next if you understand Omar's strategy that has been openly displayed in previous seasons, things begin to add up a bit.  He is only ever really interested in players who are the #1 guy in all of baseball at their respective positions.  And these players who are usually coming off of career years directly at or slightly past their peak age at the time. 

2004 - Pedro Martinez - Wins World Series breaks Boston's curse
2004 - Carlos Beltran - Hits record 8 post-season HR
2005 - Billy Wagner - Career best 1.51 ERA
2007 - Johan Santana - 2 Cy Young awards in 4 years
2008 - Francisco Rodriguez - Sets single-season saves record

The only question this time around was, who did Omar consider to be that type of #1 caliber player?  A quick look at this years board shows that the man who led all of baseball in RBIs at the All-Star break in 2009 is available.  If it were me, I'd want Jason Bay.  And it appears they did too.

It is almost a smart move for the Mets to get involved at this point in negotiations.  After turning down an initial $60 million offer from the Red Sox, the Mets are essentially the first non-incumbent team to bid on Jason as a free agent.  If Bay wants to get this done quickly, things could move fast.  If the bidding gets too high later on, the Mets can always choose to go another direction.  But as the opening bidder, the hope would be that if Bay gets another offer, he might come back to check in with the Mets one last time before accepting another deal.  And that essentially puts the Mets in the drivers seat against all of the other teams.  Right where they want to be.

Minaya, Bay, and the Mets also have a history together.  Minaya was General Manager in Montreal in 2002, shortly after Bay was drafted.  It was Minaya who as a GM traded Bay to the Mets in 2002 for Lou Collier.  The Mets then traded bay to San Diego, who sent Bay along with Oliver Perez and Cory Stewart to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Brian Giles.  Pittsburgh then moved Bay to Boston in a three-team deal with the Dodgers.

I'm beginning to think that Omar used to play a good bit of fantasy baseball back in his day.  He thinks like a fantasy manager would, investing in super-stud long-term keepers, hoarding relief pitchers and catchers, and buying low/selling high (when you can) as in the case of Ryan Church -> Jeff Francoeur.

Well Omar, let's get this one signed, sealed, and delivered.  Please be sure to do everything you can to make Mr. Bay happy.  I watched him play in Pittsburgh for years and have seen what a great ballplayer and exciting personality he is.  Jason, glad that you are entertaining offers from the Metropolitans!  Hope to see you in the Big Apple next season!  JAY BAY!!!  JAY BAY!!!  JAY BAY!!!