Jon Heyman of SI.com talked with Mike Francesa and Chris Russo and reported that the Mets are still in the race for SP Johan Santana. The team remains hopeful that they can make one final effort to find a trade, but will not include SS Jose Reyes in any deal.

Update 1:44PM - Heyman suggests the Mets should take a shot on Santana with Kevin Mulvey, Mike Pelfrey and one of Fernando Martinez or Carlos Gomez.

Over at SI.com, Jon Heyman gives the latest update on Erik Bedard. He goes on to say, “The Mets and Dodgers are at the forefront of talks involving Orioles ace lefty Erik Bedard, but Baltimore president/GM Andy MacPhail is expected to take his time.”

Heyman also says the Mets package appears to include Carlos Gomez, Aaron Heilman and Phil Humber, but they would consider alternating it if need be.

I am all for the Mets going after Bedard but this seems like a pretty steep price. If this is what it will take to get a top starter then the Mets should no doubt go for it, but it does leave a fairly large hole in the bullpen, which I believe was the Mets biggest problem last season. Say what you want about Heilman, but besides Wagner he has been the Mets most consistent reliever the past few seasons. Maybe Omar can sneek Chad Bradford into this deal who has also been rumored to be on the block.

According to industry sources of the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles rejected a trade offer by the Mets for Erik Bedard which included d 21-year-old outfield prospect Carlos Gomez, reliever Aaron Heilman, 29, and a third player, believed to be right-handed starter Philip Humber, 24.

Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports that the Mets most recent offer made for SP Dan Haren was considered more suitable for SP Joe Blanton.

Ken also notes that the A’s are no longer as interested in Mets OF Lastings Milledge and RHP Aaron Heilman as they were when they tried to acquire them for LHP Barry Zito in 2006. The A’s have found solutions for starters in the corner outfield spots and are looking for a long-term answer in centerfield. The A’s consider Milledge more of a corner outfielder. Carlos Gomez seems to be the more attractive option.

Milledge appeared in 14 games in centerfield last season in relief of Beltran who was injured, committing just one error and two assists in 120 innings.

The following is an unconfirmed rumor:

According to WFAN, the Mets are set to make an offer of OF Carlos Gomez, SP Deolis Guerra, and SP Kevin Mulvey for Athletics SP Dan Haren and RP Kiko Calero.

Haren, 27, started 34 games for the A’s in 2007 and went 15-9 with a 3.07 ERA. Calero, 32, went 1-5 for the A’s last season with a 5.75 ERA in 40.2 innings pitched.

Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports that the New York Mets made a strong run at Orioles LHP Erik Bedard at the general managers’ meetings earlier this month. However, at the time, Orioles representative Andy MacPhail was not ready to make a move. The Los Angeles Dodgers also inquired about Bedard, but got the a similar response.

Bedard, 28, went 13-5 on the season for the Orioles, ranked 3rd best in the league in strikeouts with 221 and 4th in the league with a 3.16 ERA in 28 games.

Rosenthal believes a package of prospects headed by OF Carlos Gomez could be “enticing”. The Dodgers would likely have to send a package of prospects headed by OF Matt Kemp.

Lastly, Ken also notes that the Twins would be better off dumping closer Joe Nathan for prospects if the team does decide to use 2008 as a rebuilding period.

The 33-year old Nathan is due $6 million this upcoming year, which is a great bargain for a closer of his caliber. In 68 games, Nathan went 4-2 while converting 37 of 41 saves and a 1.88 ERA for the Twins in 2007.

Adam Rubin on his blog for the New York Daily News writes that Carlos Gomez reportedly was hit in the head with a pitch in the Dominican Republic and was removed from the game as a precaution.

Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune takes a closer look at what the Twins could get for Johan Santana from the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Angels and Red Sox. Christensen lists a dream trade for the Twins, the reality of why it can’t happen, and then a more realistic offer.

For the Mets, here are his deals…

Dream trade: Twins get SS Jose Reyes and OF Fernando Martinez.

Reality: Reyes and Martinez are untouchable, as is 3B David Wright.

More obtainable: OF Carlos Gomez or OF Lastings Milledge and RHP Kevin Mulvey.

I can’t see just Gomez or Milledge plus Mulvey gets it done, if it does I will drive Gomez and Mulvey to the airport myself.

Here is a recap of some Mets Hot Stove rumors from Jon Heyman’s latest article on SI.com:

At his blog minorleagueball.com, John Sickels has posted his 2008 edition of the New York Mets Prospects. Fernando Martinez ranks in at #1 followed by in order Deolis Guerra, Carlos Gomez, and Kevn Mulvey. John ranks Philip Humber at #7.

I am a big fan of Jon Niese’s but I dont feel he should be ranked ahead then Humber. Other then that, for the most part though, I agree with his list.

Overall our system has some talented pitchers with some good potential such as Scott Moviel, Brant Rustich, Eddie Kunz, & Nathan Vineyard who could possibly make an impact at the big league level this year, but when you look at the hitters all you see is Fernando, Gomez, and possibly Mike Carp becoming successful major league players. Unfortunately this shows how weak the Mets really are offensivley in the system.

Nick Evans and Brahiam Maldonado are two guys that definatley get overlooked in the Mets farm system and I am very excited to see what they both do in 2008.

John Sickels at his blog minorleagueball.com, feels the Mets are rushing their prospects Fernando Martinez, Deolis Guerra, and especially Carlos Gomez through the system too fast.

One comment he writes about Gomez is:

He’s a remarkable athlete with plus speed, a great glove, and offensive potential. But his bat is unrefined. His plate discipline is poor, his power is undeveloped, and he needs regular playing time get his swing in gear and work these issues out. Regular playing time in Double-A and Triple-A, not in the majors. Sticking him in the regular lineup in ‘08, like the Mets are talking about, is a huge risk for his long-term development, and an unnecessary one.

I could see his point about Fernando or Deolis but last year the Mets were dropping like flies in the outfield and Gomez was pretty much the only option to go with inside the system wise. With the re-signing of Moises Alou for LF, Carlos Beltran in CF, and Lastings Milledge in RF and Endy Chavez as our 4th outfielder I don’t see any room for Gomez. I highly doubt well see much of Gomez in 2008 unless theres some more injuries similar to last year’s situation.

Theres also the chance of the Mets trading Milledge during this off season but if that happens I feel the Mets will definitely try and do anything to keep Gomez in AAA for most of 2008 because of how he performed last year doesn’t make it seem he would be ready this year to be a regular in 2008 lineup.

Buster Olney on his ESPN blog writes of the matters that could complicate the trading of Johan Santana.

Among them is his no-trade clause, which he could use as leverage to block any deal where he doesn’t feel he will get his best return on a new deal.

On top of that, a team would need to part with a number of their best prospects, a proposition that could present another roadblock due to the fact that the Yankees are reluctant to give up Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, and Phillip Hughes, and the Red Sox may be unwilling to trade Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester, and Jacoby Ellsbury on top of a $150 million contract extension.

The Mets seem more willing to deal their prospects, as Omar Minaya has stated that ‘nobody’s untouchable’ and he intends to upgrade his rotation this off season.

A package could include either Carlos Gomez, Fernando Martinez, or more likely Lastings Milledge, who has the most major league experience of the three, as the Twins want players who are major league ready in return, along with and pitchers Mike Pelfrey, Phil Humber and Joe Smith.

Hot Foot reported earlier this week that Jim Callis of Baseball America doesn’t believe the Mets could put a package together that the Twins would be willing to accept for Santana. Callis believes the Mets should set their sights on Dan Haren instead. Ken Davidoff seems to agree, and writes of a Haren deal with the Mets on Newsday.

“Trade Aaron Heilman, Lastings Milledge, Kevin Mulvey and a lower-level prospect to the A’s for Dan Haren.The beauty of a Haren trade is that the Mets would be acquiring an ace for the price of a back-of-the-rotation starter. They would retain the payroll flexibility to go out and get Santana on the free-agent market a year from now, if Santana is still available, or Erik Bedard in two years.”

Olney wonders if a package of Milledge, Humber and Pelfrey would be enough weighed against the backlash new Twins GM Billy Smith would receive from fans for trading Santana.

Smith, in his first year as Twins GM, will look to shape his legacy in his first season. He could find that he may endear himself better to fans, however unlikely, by holding onto Santana, hoping he leads the Twins back into the pennant race next season rather than hand him over to the Yankees or Red Sox.

Carlos Gomez, playing for Leones del Escogido in the Dominican winter league, batted .440 (11-for-25) with a homer, two RBIs and three stolen bases this week.

Mets Today points out that former Mets Richard Hidalgo and Edgardo Alfonzo are off to hot starts. They have combined to hit .462 (18-for-39) with five homers, 15 RBIs and 11 runs scored for Navegantes del Magallanes last week.

Hidalgo (.353) is fourth in the league in hitting.

Keep an eye on Jody Gerut, who leads the league with a .393 batting average, 46 hits, 33 runs scored, a .489 on-base percentage, a .607 slugging percentage and is fifth with 20 RBIs.

Anderson Hernandez is a Winter League legend, so remember to temper your expectations with these Winter League results.

The importance of middle relievers in baseball has increased in recent years, as the trend of starting pitchers failing to go deep into ballgames continues. The Hardball Times provides a graph of the decline in the number of innings pitched by starters over the past hundred years.

With this increased importance, comes a price. In the New York Times, Murray Chase points out that relievers had an average salary of $1,433,992 in 2006 up from $1,316,384 in 2005.

The Mets currently have Pedro Martinez, Oliver Perez, John Maine, and Mike Pelfrey tentatively penciled into their rotation for 2008, with a fifth pitcher likely to come from free agency or via trade this winter. The uncertainty of the Mets rotation makes the need a quality bullpen even greater. The inconsistency of the Mets rotation last season caused the Mets starters to fail to get deep into ballgames, and put a great degree of pressure on an overworked Mets bullpen.

The Mets enter 2008 with a bullpen consisting of Billy Wagner, Scott Schoeneweis, Duaner Sanchez, Jorge Sosa, Pedro Feliciano, Joe Smith, Juan Padilla and possibly Orlando Hernandez.

The Mets will likely use Aaron Heilman as a trading chip to acquire a front line starter.

As we scan the free agent landscape this off season, there are quite a few quality arms available to upgrade with. Two big name closers are on the market, Francisco Cordero and Eric Gange, but will want to close so would be of no use to the Mets.

Ron Mahay, Jeremy Affledt, David Riske, LaTroy Hawkins and Scott Linebrink, Octavio Dotel, and Byung-Hyun Kim are some of the other arms who might be worth a look as middle relievers. Chad Cordero is a longshot, as the Nationals have asked for Carlos Gomez in return and Cordero is also likely to perfer a closing role.

Mahay was 3-0 last year, with a 2.55 ERA and 1.33 WHIP over 67 innings for the Braves. He is considered the best of the middle relievers on the market and has attracted the Yankees interest.

David Riske was 1-4 with a 2.45 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP over 69.7 innings for the Royals. Riske hasn’t had an ERA over 4 since 2002.

Matthew Cerrone on Mets Blog relays information from Mike Pagliarulo who advises the Yankees, who Mark Feinsand of the Daily News said has interest, to steer clear of Linebrink, whose stats indicate a ‘structural decline.’

Octavio Dotel was traded to the Braves from Kansas City at the trade deadline and compiled a 4.11 ERA with a 1.33 WHIP. He spent time on the disabled list with a shoulder strain in August.

The Orioles could look to move Chad Bradford, who is signed to a three year, $10.5 million contract. He compiled a 3.34 ERA with a 1.43 WHIP.