David Lennon at Newday reports that Yorvit Torrealba is considering legal action against the Mets, claiming fraud after the deal between the two fell apart in its late stages. His agent claims Yorvit is healthy, placing the blame on the broken deal on NY.

Troy E. Renck and Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post are reporting that C Yorvit Torrealba and pitcher Matt Herges returned to Denver today to take physicals for the team and that they have signed with the team. Both deals could be announced as early as tomorrow.

The report states that Torrealba’s deal is likely for 2 years and worth $7 million with an option for 2010. Despite previous rumors, he did not fail a physical for the New York Mets.

The Rockies also remain interested in re-signing setup man LaTroy Hawkwins.

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.

SNY.tv reports that a person familiar with the Mets’ pursuit of Yorvit Torrealba indicated on Saturday night that the condition of Torrealba’s right shoulder might have been the cause of the agreement being abandoned.

The information was second hand, and he was unsure if the 29-year-old catcher had undergone a physical.

Another person indicated the reason wasn’t related to the results of any tests other than a routine physical.

Torrealba’s shoulder issues started in February 2006. It was later discovered he injured the arm from excessive weight training.

According to a Newsday.com article, Yorvit Torrealba will not be wearing orange and blue next season. David Lennon and Ken Davidoff report :

“The two sides already had agreed on a three-year contract worth $14.4-million and it appeared that the only remaining holdup to an official announcement was a physical. But a person familiar with the situation said Saturday that the Torrealba deal was dead and the team confirmed it.”

Mets spokesman Jay Horowitz did confirmed the story, stating “The Mets did not reach an agreement with Yorvit Torrealba, and there are no current negotiations.” Torrealba’s agent had no comment.

Interesting. Lo Duca is going to be able to rob the Mets blind now, because I can’t really see any other option but him.

Thanks to Rob Harding for the tipoff!

There seems to be a growing idea that the Mets catching situation will be a platoon, but my guess is if they wanted Ramon Castro to play more they would have kept Paul Lo Duca.

Yorvit Torrealba is younger, and will need less time off, and I happen to think Castro will play less, not more than he did when Lo Duca was here.

I could be wrong, but thats my analysis.

I’d be curious what you guys think. I set the over/under at 40% of the at bats, and i’m going with the under for Castro.

Trey Coppola gives her take on CoppolaSisters.com

I asked some of the other Hot Foot writers, and here’s what they thought :

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According to Andrew Marchand of ESPN.com, free agent C Yorvit Torrealba will agree to a three-year contract with the New York Mets on Thursday, according to Torrealba’s agent, Melvin Roman.

Roman told 1050 ESPN New York that he expects to formalize the agreement with the Mets this afternoon. Roman declined to reveal how much the contract would be worth. GM Omar Minaya did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Here’s whats brewing on the Hot Stove this Thursday morning…

• Yorvit Torrealba’s agent told the Denver Post that he expects his client to make a decision regarding the Mets contract offer today. Tracy Ringolsby in the Rocky Mountain News reports that the Mets have offered Torrealba a two-year deal worth $9 million. The Denver Post is reporting it to be a three-year, $15 million deal.
• Omar Minaya tells Ben Shpigel of the New York Times he has an idea of how much money it will take to sign his desired free-agent targets and knows which prospects and how many he would have to surrender to upgrade the Mets pitching staff.“Ideally, you’d always like a guy with 200-plus innings, you know what I’m saying?” Minaya said. “If for whatever reason Glavine does not come back, we have to look for a starting pitcher.”
• Speaking of Tom Glavine, Mets.com reports that Tom is getting some advice on his future from the most famous Tom in Mets history, Mr. Tom Seaver.
• Dan Graziano at the Star Ledger reports that the Yankees plan on continuing to pursue Mike Lowell even if they re-sign Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees plan on putting Lowell at first base.
• Jon Heyman on SI.com reports that the Yankees and Rodriguez are discussing a 10 year, $280 million contract.
• Buster Olney said on ESPN last night that he believes that Alex Rodriguez is taking a deeply discounted offer from the Yankees, 10-years for $220 million. I’ll believe this when I see it.
• The San Diego Union Tribune reports that the Padres expect Geoff Blum to sign with the Astros, and will likely let Milton Bradley walk as well. The Padres are looking at Geoff Jenkins and Andruw Jones as their top free agent targets.
• The St Louis Post Dispatch reports that Scott Rolen seems all but gone from St. Louis. The third baseman was reportedly unhappy with the letter he received from Tony La Russa that was an attempt to reconcile with Rolen.
• The St Louis Post Dispatch also reports that the Cardinals have interest in Carlos Silva and Kyle Lohse.
• 7Sports, a local Boston news television station, is reporting that the Braves, Angels, Cardinals and Yankees have all offered Mike Lowell four-year contracts worth between $55 million and $60 million.

Matthew Cerrone at Mets Blog interviewed Rockies beat writer Troy E. Renck on Torrealba earlier today. Renck discussed how Torrealba overtrained before the 2006 season leading his defensive skills to decline. He also speaks highly of Torrealba’s passion and leadership qualities.

Head over to Mets Blog for the full interview and be sure to check out Matt’s comments on Torrealba as well.

As far as my opinion on Torrealba, I won’t pretend to say I know all that much about him, and was enlightened by Matt’s interview with the beat writer.

The options via free agency are Jason Kendall, Michael Barrett, Jason Kendall, Paul Lo Duca, and Ramon Castro. The Mets are better off avoiding trading anyone for a catcher and save them to upgrade pitching instead.

While Lo Duca regressed offensively and didn’t throw runners at a solid clip, he’s the best of this free agent bunch, in my opinion. If I was the Mets I would attempt to sign Lo Duca to a one-year deal with a option for a second year.

Judging by the way the Mets have dealt with the situation so far, it doesn’t seem like they want to bring Lo Duca back regardless of his standing among these available players.

The Mets are not making the correct decision here in my opinion, but I will be far more disappointed if they do not upgrade the bullpen and the starting rotation. Going the cheap route with Torrealba is not as major a concern, in my opinion.

I really like Lo Duca and what he brings to the team, I feel like he takes losing personally, which is the mentality the Mets need to add to the team, not subtract. Lo Duca embodies everything that the Mets lacked last season, and that is urgency, passion and the desire to win by any means necessary.