Without Lowe, Mets May Have Lost NL East

Today, the Atlanta Braves signed star pitcher Derek Lowe for a 4-year, 60 million dollar contract. The Mets were desperately trying to get Lowe, and with him going to the Braves the Mets have their work cut out for them.

Now let's get this out of the way: I'm a Mets fan. However, since the Mets were unable to sign Lowe, unless they sign a good pitcher, the Mets are going to come in third in the NL East. From how I see it, the Mets are worse off then before the off-season. Sure they signed K-Rod and got Putz, but they lost Martinez and Perez. Sure they signed Redding, but let's not fool ourselves, he's barely a fifth starter. The Mets missed the boat with Lowe and they need a second baseman, left fielder, lefty reliever, and starting pitcher.

So what do the Mets need to do? First things first: sign Orlando Hudson! He's an excellent all around player who's younger (and probably faster) than Luis Castillo. Second: sign a starting pitcher. Preferably Randy Wolf, Oliver Perez, or Ben Sheets. Even better, sign two of them and put Redding in the bullpen. Third: get a left fielder. I don't know who, I don't know how, but get one. Forth: get a lefty reliever who can pitch more than a third of an inning or at least someone who can compliment Pedro Feliciano. Maybe Dennys Reyes, who had a 2.33 ERA last year, or Brian Shouse who had an ERA of 2.81 last year.

All the options I've given are free agents who the Mets can easily obtain though Free Agency. The only thing keeping them back is ambition and their pocket book. But then again, if the Mets sign no one else and end up in third place, they won't have ambition and they may lose their pocket book.