METS: OFFSEASON GRADES

OK... with the offseason now officially over here are my grades for the Mets and Omar Minaya's offseason...

Please be aware that these are not grades on the overall team but grades on the offseason moves..

Starting Lineup: With the same lineup coming back from last year there is no improvement in this area. Relying on a platoon of Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis in LF and not finding a replacement for Luis Castillo were two areas of failure. But, picking up the option on Carlos Delgado was a good move in my mind however obvious at it may have seemed. Grade C

Bench: Here is where Omar has signed or acquired many players hoping to find a spark with a few of them. You have Ramon Castro and Marlon Anderson returning with Alex Cora as the new backup 2nd baseman as well as the sitting LF. The other two spots are a toss up between Jeremy Reed, Corry Sullivan, Angel Pagan, Nick Evans, Robinson Cancel, Rob Mackowiak, Bobby Kielty, Ramon Martinez and Andy Green. Take your pick. While Omar does have quantity, it is yet to be proven as quality and the bench still lacks a guy with power or that bats right handed. Grade B-

Starting Rotation: While signing Oly over Lowe might have been a mistake, signing so many back-end starters can and i think will be one of the better off-season moves that Omar has made. Every team goes through injuries and I think the Mets are well prepared. With the competition of Freddy Garcia, Tim Redding, Livan Hernandez, Nelson Figueroa, Casey Fossum, Tony Armas Jr, Jonathan Niese and Bobby Parnell, only one will be the fifth starter with one or two being added to the pen. Grade B

Bullpen: Obviously the area that needed the most improvement and boy did Omar come through. With an injured Billy Wagner out at least until mid-August, Omar signed and then traded for the top two closers on the market (FA and trading). K-Rod being the obvious one, but the trade for Putz was the better of the two in my mind. The Putz trade has to be one of the best trades Omar has ever pulled off. Giving up Heilman, a guy most NYers wanted out, Joe Smith, Endy and a bag of balls for Putz (replaces Heilman), Sean Green (replaces Smith) and Jeremy Reed( replaces Endy) really helps this bullpen out and makes it one of the best in baseball. Grade A+

Overall Grade: B+