With Nady Dealt, Who Should Mets Pursue At Trading Deadline?

Like several Mets fans, I was hoping that Omar Minaya would be able to land Xavier Nady this year. With the news that the Yankees have acquired him for next to nothing, it appears that the Mets will have to go in a different direction at the trading deadline. Listed below are three options that I think would make sense for the 2008 Mets in left field. Casey Blake: I think that this is most likely the player Omar Minaya will reel in at the deadline. His name has already been connected to the Mets by Jon Heyman (Link), and his solid production during the 08 season may portend a strong return for Cleveland. There are some flaws with the idea of bringing in Blake; he's never played left field (238 career games in right field), and he'll turn 35 this year. However, he's got an OPS of .828 this year with modest pop (11 home runs), and a .313 average against lefties this season. I don't think any Mets fans would be opposed to seeing Casey Blake everyday in left field.Jason Bay: I think Xavier Nady's trade to the Yankees makes the idea of Jason Bay being dealt to the Mets slightly more likely. In his latest column, New York Post writer Joel Sherman listed Bay as a player the Mets were looking heavily at. Many say that the Mets weak farm system will prevent them from trading for Bay, but if the Pirates would accept such a weak package from the Yankees for Nady and Damaso Marte, why would a package of Jon Niese, Mike Carp and Nick Evans be insufficient? Jason Bay is an All-Star caliber player, and would be widely recognized as one of the game's best players if he played in a bigger market. If the Pirates would accept an offer similar to the one I mentioned above, I think Omar should pull the trigger and bring Bay back to the Mets organization. He won't exactly cost Steve Reed and Jason Middlebrook, but Bay is probably the Mets most talented option at this point.Mark Teahen: With the Kansas City Royals well out of contention this season (5th place in the AL Central division), you'd figure that very few players on their roster would be insusceptible to trades. Mark Teahen, turning 27 in September, can no longer be considered a prospect for Kansas City. Now a three year MLB veteran, he's had plenty of experience in the bigs. Although he's a lefty bat, I think trading for Teahen would be a good idea for many reasons. For one, he's had experience playing left field (20 big league games in left). He's also a solid hitter in the 2nd half of the season (.276 hitter in the 2nd half). Though he's had a dissapointing year to this point (.245 BA, .313 OBP), he's still in good position to turn his season around and finish with solid numbers. Very quietly, he's put up solid numbers in each of his last two seasons (.290 average in 2006, .285 average in 2007). The name I've heard in trade rumors is David DeJesus, but the Mets could be buying low on Teahen and receiving a solid everyday bat in their lineup. I suppose everyone has their idea as to who the Mets should acquire, and Teahen's mine. If any Metsmerized reader has an opinion on who could fill the left field slot for the Mets, leave it in the comments area. more...