Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports that the Chicago White Sox have signed right-hander Octavio Dotel to a two-year, $11 million contract.

Dotel, 34, went 2-1 with a 4.11 ERA and 11 saves in 33 appearances, splitting time between the Braves and Royals last season.

According to Mark Hale of the New York Post, the Mets seem to be focusing their attention on free agent pitchers. Omar Minaya met with the agent of RHP Livan Hernandez yesterday, and were set to meet with the agents of RHP Octavio Dotel and Shawn Chacon as well.

Hale also reports that the Mets, who made the second round of bidding for Japanese RHP Hiroki Kuroda, are not one of the finalists. The four teams remaining are the Mariners, Royals, Dodgers and Diamondbacks.

At this point, this is the right decision by Omar. Although we would all like to see a top of the rotation free agent starter acquired, the chances of this happened seem slim, thus Minaya now needs to go to plan B.

Steve Popper of the Bergen Record is reporting that Mets general manager Omar Minaya will meet with the agent’s for pitchers Octavio Dotel and Shawn Chacon tonight.

Dan Graziano of the Star Ledger reports that the Mets have asked about Dontrelle Willis, Ben Sheets, and Roy Oswalt and were told none of them are available. The Mets also have interest in Bartolo Colon and continue to view Livan Hernandez as a secondary pitcher after they try to land a front end starter. The Phillies, Cardinals, Nationals, and Astros have interest in Livan as well.

Omar Minaya is set to meet with Octavio Dotel and Shawn Chacon agents today.

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

Bugs and Cranks lists five deals that the Mets could, and should, make.

The first deal suggested is Fernando Martinez, John Maine and Jason Vargas to Oakland for Dan Haren.

While I think the Mets have a much better shot at getting Santana than Haren, and would get a better deal because Haren is signed to a very affordable contract through 2009, with a club option for 2010, I don’t know that the Mets need to give up Maine to get him. Perhaps the fact that Haren’s deal is so good that the A’s will require a bit more in return.

Haren was 15-9 with a 3.07 ERA in 222 2/3 IP last season. Santana went 15-13 with a 3.33 ERA in 219 IP.

The second deal suggested is Johnny Estrada, Joe Smith, Aaron Heilman and Kevin Mulvey to Baltimore for Ramon Hernandez and Erik Bedard

I would only make this deal unless the Mets made the next deal that is suggested, which is getting Octavio Dotel and Shawn Chacon. I would be perfectly happy if Mulvey was able to put up the numbers Bedard has, but you need to plug in the two gaping holes this deal leaves in your bullpen. Ramon Hernandez is also a very nice upgrade over Estrada.

The next deal is to sign Mike Cameron and Tony Clark.

I don’t see this realistically happening. I think Clark would be a nice addition to our bench, and would fit in nicely as a backup for Delgado at first base, but I don’t think you can reasonably have Cameron as another outfielder on this team, it simply does not fit. The right field position should belong to Lastings Milledge next year. Not to mention Cameron is set to serve a drug suspension that will have him missing time to begin with. Pass.

The last and least likely deal suggested is Lastings Milledge, Mike Pelfrey, B-level prospect and high draft pick for Scott Kazmir.

Dream on, Mets fans. Never gonna happen. Our best shot at ever getting Kazmir back is via free agency, when he’s way too expensive for the Rays to hold onto. The Mets will then have to prove they’re able to go head to head with the Yankees when he becomes available in 2010.

The Devil Rays might look to trade him to get something in return, but I don’t see that happening until he’s a year away at the most. He’s too valuable to them now, and it doesn’t make sense moving him yet, unless they’re absolutely blown away by what someone is offering in a trade. This deal probrobly wouldn’t even come close to getting it done.

I have to admit, I laugh at 99% of the deal people call into WFAN with, they always come up with deals that benefit the Mets and do nothing for the other team. The Haren deal in my opinion is the one the A’s are most likely to accept, and the best offer they’ve come up with here, in my opinion. I’m just not sure the Mets would be willing to deal Maine.

Mark Hale in the New York Post reports that the Mets are discussing the possibility of bringing over Octavio Dotel and Shawn Chacon to bolster their bullpen.

The Mets also are showing interest in two free-agent pitchers, Octavio Dotel and Shawn Chacon.

“Both these guys have interest in them,” agent Dan Horwits said, “and they have interest in both these guys.”

Dotel went 2-1 with a 4.11 ERA this past season with the Royals and Braves. Chacon went 5-4 with a 3.94 ERA for the Pirates this past season and can both relieve and start.

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.

The Atlanta Braves have declined their $5.5 million option on RHP Octavio Dotel for the 2008 Season, MLB.com reports.

Dotel went 2-1 with 11 saves in 2007 between time with the Braves and Royals. While with the Royals, he recorded a 3.91 ERA in 23.0 innings, however only pitched in 7.2 innings with the Braves while recording a 4.70 ERA.

Injury problems have been a concern over the years for the 33-year old Dotel as he has not pitched in more than 31 innings since the 2004 season. The Mets were reportedly interested in him before the trade deadline where he was sent from Kansas City to Atlanta.