Heilman The Key To Street?

In a post for his Always Amazin' blog, Matthew Artus suggests that the Mets could obtain closer, Huston Street from the Colorado Rockies if they are willing to part with reliever Aaron Heilman. This deal would benefit both the Mets and Heilman in many ways, as the Mets are looking to revamp their bullpen, while Heilman has been itching to start for the past couple of seasons.

The question is how much would such a deal cost the Mets? A closer of Street's stature would surely cost more than Heilman (most likely a package of Heilman and someone along the lines of Dan Murphy or Nick Evans).

Street's stats show why he is such a hot comodity on the trade market. Despite having a down year last season, his career ERA is 2.88 along with 94 saves. On top of all that Street is only 25 years of age and has likely not hit his peak performance.

However, I am not personally sold on this idea for a number of reasons. Firstly, the Mets cannot afford to part with any more of their younger players, such as Murphy or Evans. Also, who is to say that Street could handle closing games out under the enormous pressure from both the New York media and the fans?

My advice to Omar Minaya and fellow Mets fans is to, although it is not ideal, sign Francisco Rodriguez to the large contract that he seeks, and then use Heilman as a trade chip to fill other voids on the team.