The San Francisco Chronice is reporting the Mets and OF Moises Alou are in the final stages of completing a deal. The contract is expected to be either a 1 or 2-year deal. One of the sources told the paper, “I think its going to happen”.

If the Mets sign Alou before December 1st, the Giants will recieve two high compensatory draft picks since he is a Type A free agent.

The 41-year old Alou hit .301 with 22 home runs and 74 RBIs in 345 at bats last season.

Bye bye Lastings. We hardly knew ye.

UPDATE 6:05 PM
SI.com is reporting the deal could be announced next week.

Update 8:22 PM
SI.com is now reporting that Alou turned down 2-year deals from the Indians and Rangers to take a 1-year deal plus a option with the Mets. Newsday is reporting Alou will sign a 2-year deal.

Update 6:07 AM
The AP is reporting its a one-year deal worth $8 to $9 million

Ken Rosenthal is at it again. He is reporting that the Mets and OF Moises Alou are discussing a 2-year deal, not the one-year, $8 million deal reported earlier this morning.

Rosenthal notes that this would also mean that if Alou signs with the Mets, OF Lastings Milledge is all but gone by Opening Day 2007.

I've made up my mind and I think I'd rather have the platoon. We have enough offense and we need some defense in the outfield. Alou can't run anything down and Shawn Green can't field anything hit away from him while Milledge and Endy Chavez are both good outfielders (I know what you are thinking, but he had a bad series aganist Boston).

Now, about the 2-year deal. I get it on only one condition. They let Green walk after this season and they start either Milledge or Carlos Gomez in 2008. If thats not the case, then its a bad move signing him to the second season.

Dominican newspaper Listin Diario is reporting that a friend of OF Moises Alou told the paper that he is close to signing a 1-year deal worth $8 million with the M.E.T.S. New York Mets of New York Town.

Here is a translation of the article (note, the translator is off on some words, but you get the picture):

“The Mets of new York are just about to sign al Dominican Moses Alou
by a total reckoned in eight million dollars for the season of the
2007, according to it expressed a close source al gardener.

The
agreement is almost sure that be concluded this weekend and the
assembly will proceed to the confirmation and presentation of the
veteran, who will become a Hispanic one more than passes to form rows
of the subways.

Last night was reported that the player was outside of the Capital city, but people close to were echoed him of the movement.

The
virtual firm of Moses with the Mets would become the gardener the left
of that assembly, being joining with Carlos Beltrán and Shawn Green.
Cliff Floyd, who has performed that position in the last three years,
is an agent free and do not it is expected that the club sign it again.

To be specified the pact with Moses, would join with José Kings,
Pedro Martínez, July Franco, Guillermo Dot, Duaner Sánchez and Anderson
Hernández, as the Dominican ballplayers that act for the assembly that
has as general manager al native Omar Minaya.

Alou would
fortify exceedingly the house to be able of the Metro, that already
counts on Beltrán, the own Green, as well as Carlos Thin and David
Wright.”

I don't have a clue if I like this signing or not. The guy can hit the cover off the ball, but he is just about as injury-plaiged as OF Cliff Floyd. Our defense is sure to be horrible though. I'm sure a platoon of Lastings Milledge and Endy Chavez would be just as good, but I guess Omar Minaya likes Endy coming off the bench more.

Its a one-year deal, so I assume they would let him walk and play OF Carlos Gomez in 2008.

The folks at Newsday have learned that the Mets organization is souring on OF Lastings Milledge by the day and it seems more and more likely he will be traded this winter. Besides his lackluster play, his attitude has also turned off some members of the organization.

Also on the Milledge front, it appears that the Mets have had internal discussions about trading Milledge and P Aaron Heilman to Toronto in exchange for OF Vernon Wells. If the Mets are to acquire Wells, he would be moved to right field while Shawn Green would move to left.

Milledge has also been brought up in discussions involving White Sox Pitchers Javier Vazquez and Freddy Garcia, Marlins P Dontrelle Willis and Padres P Jake Peavy.

Gotham Baseball brings us this update from the GM meetings taking place in Naples, Florida…

Buster Olney suggest the Mets build their staff this offseason as if Pedro is not even returning next year, he writes on his ESPN blog…

If Pedro comes back in July and is ready to make an impact, he could
be, in effect, the best acquisition any team makes before the deadline.
But very few pitchers come back quickly from the type of surgery
Martinez had, and his brother, Ramon — who threw with the same kind of high-torque motion as Pedro — never came back.

Around this past trade deadline, I heard rumblings from the worldwide leader and Ken Rosenthal that the Devil Rays are looking to trade Carl Crawford for some young pitching. This got me thinking. What if we traded Lastings Milledge and Phil Humber to the Devil Rays for Crawford? It would be a perfect trade for both teams. The Mets get a proven player who also happens to be a Jose Reyes clone to fill the void in left field and possibly anchor the top of the lineup with Reyes, giving the Mets, without a doubt, the best 1-2 punch at the top of the order in baseball. As for the Devil Rays, they get a great young outfielder they can replace Crawford with in Milledge and let him develop in their system along with Delmon Young, Elijah Dukes and the rest of Tampa’s young stud position players. Humber not only fills the Rays’ request for a young pitcher, but a quality one who can establish himself as one of the better pitchers in the American League.

Then again, the Mets did trade the Rays Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano, so maybe they owe them a Crawford for Brian Bannister trade?

Thoughts?

Lastings Milledge told
reporters to move away from his locker before Saturday's game, a
move which drew a rebuke from 23-year veteran Julio Franco `You
don't want to be on their bad side,'' Franco said. “Compromise
with them.''

The Journal News reports…

Left fielder Cliff Floyd returned to New York
yesterday for a cortisone injection in his left ankle to treat his
lingering sore Achilles' tendon.

Because the injection usually
needs 48 hours to take effect, manager Willie Randolph said Floyd
probably would not play until tomorrow night.

He is expected to rejoin the team today in Washington.

“We're hoping he'll be fine,” Randolph said. “He'll be on the (playoff) roster.”

Randolph
did not say how he would break down the playoff roster, but Floyd's
status could open the way for Lastings Milledge to be taken as a
precaution.