No surprise here but it does give it more of an official feel. Free agent closer Brian Fuentes won’t be scooped up by another possible suitor before he meets with Omar Minaya and the Mets.

According to the Denver Post’s Troy E. Renck Fuentes agent told him that:

Rockies closer Brian Fuentes has scheduled a visit to the New York Mets as part of his free-agent decision-making process.

Renck also touches on the trade speculation that would send Aaron Heilman to Colorado for newly acquired Huston Street noting how the Mets are seeking a setup man as well as a closer.

Speaking of Heilman and I know there are many who would rather I didn’t but Always Amazin’ Matthew Artus points us towards a site called FanGraphs.com that gives an interesting breakdown of Heilman’s pitches. The main culprit for Heilman’s failures, they seem to conclude, is his increased use of his slider. I would guess most Mets fans would say his main culprit lies between his ears. I know Hot Foot’s own Rob Harding doesn’t want to hear it but the numbers are substantial.

Also, just in case you were all caught up with the NFL yesterday and missed this:

Newsday’s Ken Davidoff reported that “a person familiar with the situation said”:

Earlier this offseason, the Mets asked the Rangers about catcher Gerald Laird.

Obviously, Texas would be looking for pitching in return.

Lastly, The Daily News‘ Anthony McCarron expands on his “Where are they now?” piece on Mets great southpaw Jon Matlack. Matlack talks to McCarron about the night he took a line drive off his forehead at Shea:

“I got out of the hospital and went home and there was a film crew waiting there. They were really ticked because there was no sign of damage on me. They wanted to put me in a wheelchair to do an interview, Matlack recalled.

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

The Mets now look for other options at catcher with the Yorvit Torrealba talks terminated. Newsday reports that as of last night, the Mets had not changed their stance on Paul Lo Duca.

Willie Randolph said Thursday that Lo Duca is interested in a three- or four-year contract but Lo Duca’s agent, Andrew Mongelluzzi told Adam Rubin at the New York Daily News that there was not a lot of effort put into offering Lo Duca a job by the Mets, whether it was one year, two years, three years, four years.

Newsday reports that a person familiar with the Mets’ thinking still did not see Lo Duca as a possibility.

The Mets may look to the free agent market now, where Michael Barrett and Jason Kendall are the top remaining options. Barrett would cost the Mets a draft pick as a Type-A free agent. Kendall batted a dismal .242 for the A’s and Cubs last year.

On the trade front, which the Mets would like to avoid in the interest of using their chips for pitching instead, the Mets could look to Gerald Laird of the Rangers or Ramon Hernandez on the Orioles.

SNY’s Ted Berg suggests the Mets talk to Arizona about the availability of 24 year old, lefty-hitting catcher Miguel Montero.