Joel Sherman in The New York Post quotes an AL executive regarding Erik Bedard.

“Bedard is closer in talent to Santana than Haren is to Bedard. In fact, it is not impossible to believe that in a year, we will all think Bedard is better than Santana.” An AL executive said, “Here is what impresses me about Bedard, he pitches in the AL East against the Yankees and Red Sox. So, to me, he can pitch anywhere and excel.”

Bedard was 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA, allowing 17 hits in 34 2/3 innings while walking 10 and striking out 34 in five starts against the Yankees and Red Sox. Sherman adds that the Tigers and Phillies now have interest in Bedard as well.

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The Baltimore Sun reports that the Phillies, Cardinals, Yankees, Mets, Mariners, Angels, Dodgers, and D’Backs all have expressed interest in Erik Bedard. Bedard’s return is expected to rival that of Johan Santana, so the Mets will have to be creative if they expect to be a player.

Personally, I don’t see how they can get it done. We have been hearing a deal that includes Ryan Church, Carlos Gomez, Mike Pelfrey, Aaron Heilman and Joe Smith, which to me is a lot but I would do it because the biggest loss there for me is Gomez. Bedard is a big upgrade from Pelfrey, who may never come close to Bedard’s production. Heilman and Smith are middle relievers. Church will have to be replaced by someone, but outfielders are a lot easier to find than a pitcher of Bedard’s ability. The question is, will that deal be enough?

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Matthew Cerrone is reporting on Mets Blog that theres discussion of a deal that would net them Erik Bedard by taking on Miguel Tejada’s contract.

Mike Silva reported on the Gotham Nation podcast this evening that he heard Sweeni Murti on WFAN say “There is news floating around that the Mets are close on Erik Bedard.”

I didn’t see that one coming. Keep an eye on Mets Blog to see how that one develops.

UPDATE 8:45PM EST : Cerrone reports now that he doesn’t believe the Tejada news anymore, but he does think that the Mets are working on Bedard.

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New York Daily News Mets beat reporter Adam Rubin spoke with SNY’s Matt Yallof on the floor of the Winter Meetings just moments ago.

Adam said Johan Santana is down to Yankees and Red Sox and its not realistic to think the Mets are in it for Santana. Asked if Omar needs to pull off something signifigant, he does not think Mets fans will be content if he simply brings back Livan Hernandez or Carlos Silva, in light of what the Yankees have done this offseason.

Regarding Erik Bedard, he spoke with a Baltimore Sun reporter and he repeated that the deal that included Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber and Aaron Heilman was rejected. He said its possible that swapping Carlos Gomez with Fernando Martinez might make the deal more attractive, along with including Mike Pelfrey over Philip Humber.

Jim Duquette, in studio with Kevin Burkhardt and Ed Coleman, said that the Dodgers would likely trump any offer the Mets could make for Bedard. He went on to say given his contract, Bedard could be seen as an even more attractive option than Johan Santana.

Adam also said that some of the Mets prospects may have been ‘exposed’ because they didn’t make a huge impact when they had their chance to shine at the major league level.

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Peter Gammons of ESPN has reported that the Mets don’t currently have the trading chips to acquire one of the Athletics pitchers, Dan Haren or Joe Blanton. They were also denied a trade for Erik Bedard late last week. With that said, it may be time for the Mets to look elsewhere. Here is a list of potential targets and what they are valued at.

LHP Dontrelle Willis (Florida Marlins) - The Marlins have stated that they are willing to listen to offers for Willis, though they are expected to retain him for the 2008 season, or at least until the July 31st trading deadline. Willis is coming off his worst season of his career, going 10-15 with a 5.17 ERA. Throughout the past three seasons, Willis’ strikeout to walk ratio has decreased each season. In 2005, Willis struck out 170 while walking 55. The following season in 2006, he notched 160 strike outs while walking 83. Finally, last season, he struck out 146 and walked 86.

Potential Suitors: Mets, Reds, Mariners, and Diamondbacks

Cost: Two young players

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Bartolo Colon (Free Agent) - Colon could definitely be a high-reward/high-risk signing for any team that picks him up. He has played only 28 starts due to his battle with shoulder and elbow problems since the beginning of the 2006 season. Omar once traded prospects Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee and Brandon Phillips in a deal for Colon when he was general manager for the Expos.

Potential Suitors: Mets, Padres, Rangers, Diamondbacks, Phillies, Mariners, Nationals

Cost: One-year, $9 million deal or two-year, $16 million

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Carlos Silva (Free Agent) - The 28-year old Silva currently leads a very thin market of starting pitchers. He went 13-14 with a 4.19 ERA for the Twins last season and figures to cash in at around $10 million a season with another team. Plenty of teams remain interested in him, though most of them plan to use him as a fall back option and prefer to look to the trade market before committing a large contract to him.

Potential Suitors: Mets, Royals, Cardinals, Tigers, Phillies

Cost: 4-Years, $40 million

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Livan Hernandez (Free Agent) - Hernandez is an innings eater. He has not pitched less than 200 innings in any season since 1999. He went 11-11 with a 4.93 ERA for the Diamondbacks last season. The Mets lost a 200 inning pitcher in Glavine to the Braves via free agency and they need to find a way to fill those lost innings. The team have made it known that Livan is more likely a Plan C or D. The fact that his half-brother El Duque is on this team and his history with Omar in Montreal makes him a strong candidate to be a Met in 2008.

Potential Suitors: Mets, Astros, Cardinals

Cost: Three-years, $21 million

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Hiroki Kuroda (Free Agent) - The 33-year old right hander went 12-8 in 26 starts with a 3.56 ERA for the Hiroshima Carp last season in Japan. Scouts project him to become a middle of the rotation starter in the MLB. Conflicting reports have come out recently that the Mariners have have offered him a contract. One report says that it was for three-years, $30 million. The other states that they offered him four-year, $44 million.

Potential Suitors: Mets, Mariners, Dodgers, Royals, Phillies, Cubs, Rangers

Cost: Four-year deal, $45 million

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Jon Heyman of SI.com provide some news from Nashville, site of this years MLB Winter Meetings where he is on location.

Heyman believes Johan Santana is “more likely than not” to get traded at the Meetings, and possibly today. 

Heyman says the Mets feel they still have a chance at landing Erik Bedard, despite the fact the Orioles have already refused their initial offer. The Dodgers, Mariners, and loser of Santana will be in on Bedard as well.

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Jayson Stark on ESPN reports that the Orioles asking price for Erik Bedard is higher than that than the Twins want for Johan Santana. The Orioles are seeking four top young players in return.  Stark’s source thinks ultimately, the Orioles will hang onto Bedard, but the Washington Post reported last night indicated he will not sign an extension.

Bedard is drawing interest from the Yankees, Mets, Mariners, Angels, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks.

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Here’s a rundown of Hot Stove news this morning…

First, Ken Rosenthal has the latest information up from the hot stove. To lead off the report, Rosenthal has a bit on Omar Minaya, whose job security coming off an epic pennant race collapse is not as safe as it was a year ago. The value of the Mets prospects aren’t currently as enticing as other teams and this could make for a hard time for Omar if he cannot find a trade for a top pitcher.The San Diego Padres may sign C Mike Piazza if Michael Barrett rejects their offer of arbitration. Barrett is drawing interest from the Marlins, Rays and Orioles.

The Washington Nationals have asked the Milwaukee Brewers for 2B Rickie Weeks in return for closer Chad Cordero due to their pressing need for a closer. The Brewers have made Weeks close to untouchable.

Both the Mets and Yankees are showing interest in free-agent reliever Octavio Dotel.

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The Providence Journal is reporting that Johan Santana has told the Twins that he is willing to waive his no-trade clause only for the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees. He has made it clear that he also will not accept an in-season trade. The report also states that yesterday, indications surfaced that the Sox have also had discussions with the Milwaukee Brewers regarding Ben Sheets. The Sox also see Dan Haren as an alternative if they fail to trade for Johan Santana.

The Washington Post reports that Orioles LHP Erik Bedard has informed the team that he has no interest in signing an extension to stay in Baltimore beyond 2009. The Mets and Dodgers have engaged in serious discussions with the 28-year old ace. Last week, the Mets offer of Lastings Milledge, Aaron Heilman and Philip Humber was rejected. The Orioles will likely require Matt Kemp from the Dodgers if they make any run at Bedard.

Despite a previous report, the Pittsburgh Pirates have denied that they have considered non-tendering Xavier Nady if they cannot trade him.

After trading starting catcher Brian Schneider to the Mets on Friday, the Washington Nationals failed to name Jesus Flores as the starting catcher. In fact, he may start the season in Triple-A. The Nationals are currently in the market for a starting catcher, likely for a one-year deal. They seem to expect Flores to become their full-time starting catcher by the 2009 season.

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The two top targets the Mets will likely be zeroing in on at the Winter Meetings starting today are Erik Bedard and Dan Haren.

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

However, Roger Rubin at the New York Daily News reports that the Mets offered Lastings Milledge at that time, not Carlos Gomez. Including Gomez or Ryan Church, along with Mike Pelfrey instead of Philip Humber might be seen as a more competitive offer.

The one thing the Mets do have going for them is that its unlikely the Orioles will want to trade Bedard within their division to the Yankees or Red Sox, if one or both of them were to lose out on Johan Santana.

The A’s would likely look for even more in return for Dan Haren because of his very attractive contract. Haren is signed through 2009 with a club option for 2010. He receives $4 million in 2008, $5.5 million in 2009, and his club option is $6.75

A more realistic option might be Joe Blanton along with signing either Carlos Silva or Livan Hernandez. Blanton had a 3.95 ERA last year with a 1.22 WHIP. He was 6th in Rookie Of The Year voting in 2005 when he had a 3.53 ERA and 1.22 WHIP.

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I want to introduce myself to the Hot Foot audience. My name is Mike Silva and I am the host of Gotham Baseball Live. Anthony has been kind enough to allow me to blog on Hot Foot weekly and share some thoughts on the Mets. Although my show involves all of NY Baseball, I would like to share Mets and general baseball content with the site from time to time.

Today I published at my blog this article, that discussed a comparison between Dan Haran, Erik Bedard, and Johan Santana. Take a read on those stats and tell me you don’t get excited about Erik Bedard? I understand that Santana is the best pitcher in baseball, but from a return perspective you might even be able to solve your catching (Ramon Hernandez) and relief pitching (Chad Bradford) needs in one deal. Some food for thought here on a Thursday morning. What are your thoughts?

Also in case you guys are interested Matt Cerrone of Metsblog and Marc Malusis of WFAN will be on my winter meetings preview show. I will be announcing this tomorrow on my blog. The show will be Sunday at 7pm on Blog Talk Radio. All next week my colleagues Mark Healey and Paul Greco will be in Nashville doing multiple show updates every day. I will keep you posted on any updates.

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At Yahoo, Tim Brown writes a thorough article discussing potential trade opportunities coming up at the winter meetings.

For each player, he lists the player’s contract, realistic trade partners, upside and downside to the player, the cost to get him and who he predicts as the favorite to land the player.

Brown writes that the Mets would make sense as trade partners for Johan Santana, Dan Haren, Dontrelle Willis, Erik Bedard and Joe Blanton.

He lists the Mets as the favorites for Haren, Willis and Blanton. Brown lists the Yankees as the favorite for Bedard and the Diamondbacks as the favorite for Bedard.

Well, its nice to hear that we are favorites for getting Haren, Blanton and Willis, especially Haren. He’d really be great at the top of the rotation for years to come, not that Blanton and Willis wouldn’t be good fits.

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John Delcos on his blog for the Journal News, makes a very good case for passing on Johan Santana, assuming the Mets had a realistic chance at obtaining him.

Delcos cites several reasons why a smaller deal for Dan Haren or Erik Bedard makes more sense. He lists Santana’s average season last year and the need to eventually replace Pedro Martinez, Orlando Hernandez, Carlos Delgado and Moises Alou in the next year as reasons why giving up affordable prospects who could fill roles could be a bad decision.

Delcos also reminds you that a pitcher will only help you win every 5 days, while a position player has multiple chances everyday to help you win.

First off, I have to give props to John, who does a great job on his Journal News blog. Its a great resource for keeping a pulse on the team from someone who has insider access to the team. John tells it like it is and is usually pretty good at reading the tea leaves.

I, along with a lot of other fans get caught up in all this excitement surrounding a pitcher of Santana’s stature being available, and sometimes lose sight of the big picture. John makes a great point that while Santana is an amazing pitcher, he’s only going to help the team every five days. Sure that could be the difference between the post season or going home, which we saw very clearly this past September. One game could mean all the difference. However, a position player is going to contribute just about every day.

Going after Dan Haren might allow you to use one less prospect, and Erik Bedard might cost you even less. You then have one or more less positions to fill and fill them at a tremendous discount, allow you to spend more money to plug more holes.

This of course assumes you could get a Haren or a Bedard, which remains to be seen. The Mets are also facing stiff competition just to get Santana, so they’re going to be looking at many other options. John makes a good case for the alternatives.

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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.

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Considering the landscape of this free agent market, this year could be the biggest off-season of trades in quite some time.

Johan Santana, Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, Scott Rolen, and Miguel Tejada are among those who could be seeing a change in scenery this winter.

In terms of Santana, Jayson Stark on ESPN writes that the Mets might be the team most willing to give up the prospects needed to get him.

One NL executive says: Watch out for the Mets, given the pressure on GM Omar Minaya to win now.

“Omar seems determined to make a huge splash,” the exec says. “And I think that’s the guy they’ve had earmarked all along.”

The Dodgers, Angels, Yankees, and Mets would appear to be the top teams in the running for Santana.

The Yankees don’t appear willing to deal Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, or Phillip Hughes, which would likely put they out of the running for Santana.

The Dodgers would need to make a choice on who to use their prospects on, Cabrera or Santana. Buster Olney on ESPN cites a NL source who said that the Dodgers and Marlins are ‘pretty far apart’ on Cabrera. Olney writes that ‘there is growing expectation around the game is that the Angels will land Cabrera’.

However Rosenthal believes the Angels no longer are the front-runners for Cabrera.

Rosenthal cites major-league sources who say, if the Dodgers are willing to part with outfielder Matt Kemp along with third baseman Andy LaRoche and Class AA left-hander Clayton Kershaw, they would likely be able to land the Marlins All-Star third baseman.

If the Dodgers fail to land Cabrera, they are rumored to have interest in Scott Rolen as well.

Jayson Stark believes it will take two young players to get Dontrelle Willis. The Mets, Mariners and Diamondbacks are believed to have interest.

The Orioles want to get rid of the $26 million left on Miguel Tejada’s contract which does not leave many suitors. The Dodgers and Angels may use Tejada as plan B if they lose out on Cabrera. The O’s are also rumored to be shopping Erik Bedard.

The Reds may make Ryan Freel or Scott Hamilton available due to the emergence of minor league player of the year Jay Bruce.

The Pirates could offer 26-year old Ian Snell who has more quality starts (22) than Santana or Roy Oswalt and a better strikeout rate (7.66 per 9 innings) than Carlos Zambrano or Ben Sheets.

The Phillies are looking at Randy Wolf, Matt Clement, Kris Benson, Mike Wood, and Japanese free agent Hiroki Kuroda.

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