I think the Mets are probably doing a good thing by standing pat in the Johan Santana sweepstakes. If much more time elapses, Santana is likely to put his no-trade clause back in place and wait it out for free agency, which would screw the Twins big time. The Yankees and Red Sox are the other two contenders, which means the Mets don't really lose if they take a pass -- it's not like he'll go to Atlanta or something.

I read in Jon Heyman's Sports Illustrated column that besides Santana, the Mets might be fishing for either Kyle Lohse or Livan Hernandez, neither of whom has a contract. This is a tough call. Lohse has the most upside -- his stats aren't as good, but he's pitched in hitter-friendly parks (Minnesota, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia). He's also younger, and has a good strikeout/walk ratio of 2.01.

Hernandez, on the other hand, has thrown 200 or more innings each of the last 10 seasons (anyone who objects to my counting in 1999, where he clocked in at 199-2/3, sit down and shut up). He'd also be reunited with his brother, Orlando (El Duque). But he's four years older, has thrown over 200 innings in each of the last 10 seasons, and his strikeout/walk ratio last year was 1.14. He also averaged less than four strikeouts per nine innings pitched last year, which is often a bad sign. And, unlike Lohse, he's primarily pitched in pitcher's parks (Florida, San Francisco, Washington).

On balance, I think I'd take Lohse. The thing is, the Mets have a little less to panic about this year, as John Maine and Oliver Perez have established themselves as starters (last year they were major question marks), and Pedro will be back. Orlando Hernandez isn't established, but they'll probably get 150 innings or so out of him. That leaves Humber (if he's not traded to Minnesota, which solves this whole problem) and Pelfrey, who did not impress much last year but still has time. And I would still like to know why Aaron Heilman isn't given a chance to make the rotation. I liked that the Mets put him into middle relief when he wasn't a great starter three years ago, but I don't like the argument that he's too valuable now to move from that role. Middle relief is a great way to get a pitcher's feet wet in the bigs when they've established they've mastered the minors. The Orioles used to do this all the time in the 1970s (Mike Flanagan and Wayne Garland being the two examples); I see no reason why the Mets couldn't do the same. It saves lots of wear and tear on young arms and keeps salaries down.

The other problem I have is every time I look up the Mets on Baseball America's page, I see Scott Kazmir's name all over. Oy. What might have been.