Patience Is No Virtue for Mets Now

A week ago, Mets fans were in an uproar. There was lots of action on the Hot Stove, none of it emanating from Queens.

At the time, the Mets fans were overreacting. One Monday later, it is time to grumble.

All we hear out of the Mets camp is that they don't want to be bidding against themselves. Well, the fact of the matter is, the Mets might just have to bid against themselves.

Because they may no longer be a premium destination in baseball.

Let's back up a week.

The archrival Phillies traded for Roy Halladay, and the Red Sox plucked the next-best available pitcher, free agent John Lackey, off the market.

The Mets, meanwhile, had yet to fill one of their many holes: left field, catcher, first base, middle of the rotation.

But while New York sports-talk radio was filled with sky-is-falling wailing, it wasn't as bad a day for the Mets as the fans thought. Their team had no shot at Halladay, and while the Phillies improved themselves with the deal, it wasn't like they added Halladay to Cliff Lee; they replaced the latter with the former.

As for Lackey, he shouldn't have been the Mets' priority. Not only is five years a risk on a pitcher with such mileage, but their dollars would be better spent on offense and a lower-rung pitcher than a No. 1 or 2 type.

And once everything shook out from last Monday, it looked to be the Mets' turn to make a move.

They had made an offer to Jason Bay -- their first choice in left field -- before leaving the Winter Meetings, and it seemed to be the time to strike on him. With Boston signing Lackey and Mike Cameron and Seattle adding Lee's contract and, later in the week, a hitter in Milton Bradley, the field seemed to be narrowing.

But ... nothing.

The Mets say they are at a standoff with outfielder Jason Bay and catcher Bengie Molina over length of contract.

Molina wants a three-year deal, but has been offered only one plus an option, while the Mets' four-year offer to Bay apparently isn't high enough.

"At the Winter Meetings," one source said, "the Mets seemed to have some positive momentum on free agents such as Jason Bay and Bengie Molina. But that appears to be gone.

"After missing on Lackey, the Mets are spending too much time trying to figure out who else is bidding on Bay and [Matt] Holliday rather than being aggressive to improve their team."

The Mets believe they are still an attractive team to free agents. But they may have to reconsider and evaluate whether they have become one of those teams that has to overpay to get their man.

The luster of a new park wore off quickly last season as injuries mounted and the team fell apart. The clubhouse has a reputation within the game as a collection of self-entities rather than a close group. The organizational disarray, and uncertainty about the future of the manager and front office, is no secret.

And the Mets are not just clearly behind the Phillies in the NL East, it's also not hard to argue they trail the Braves and Marlins as well.

Perhaps the Mets see a lack of media reports on competition for Bay and/or Holliday and figure they need to let the players come to them. But that would be a miscalculation.

Besides the Cardinals, who figure to be the favorite for Holliday, a number of contenders need offense. The Giants were thought to have interest in Bay when the offseason began. The Red Sox and Mariners have been so aggressive this winter that it wouldn't be out of the question that they jump back in the chase for a left fielder.

And if the Angels trade outfielder Juan Rivera for pitching or the Braves trade Derek Lowe and don't get an outfielder back, those teams will join in.

All those teams can make a stronger case than the Mets that they are playoff contenders.

So the urgency is there, even if the Mets don't sense it.

And that's just left field. The Mets also need a catcher and perhaps a first baseman. If they decide to stick with Daniel Murphy at first, it just makes it more important to get extra power out of the left fielder.

On the pitching front, there are still plenty of mid-rotation types available, so the Mets feel they can wait out the market. It makes sense, but those guys will start to come off the board -- Jason Marquis did Monday -- so the Mets can't miss their chance when it comes.

The Mets are coming off a 92-loss season in which they hit 95 home runs, second-fewest by an NL team since the shortened 1995 season. The team has plenty of revenue, including its own cable network, and since Citi Field is no longer enough of a novelty to sell tickets, the Mets need to do something to excite their fans.

Consider the Brewers. They needed a pitcher, and they preferred lefty Randy Wolf, but they knew to get a West Coast guy to come to Milwaukee, they would have to blow everyone else out of the water.

Thus, a three-year offer for nearly $10 million a season. And Wolf was on his way to Milwaukee.

Since the Mets are trying to catch the Phillies, it's also worth looking at Philadelphia's approach.

Philly came off the past two seasons with one clear need: left field after 2008 and third base after 2009.

Both times, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. identified his top target -- Raul Ibanez and Placido Polanco, respectively -- and struck fast to lock up the player, without waiting to see how the market turned out.

By contrast, Mets general manager Omar Minaya last week preached the virtue of patience.

"We still have time to go on this, and I do feel comfortable that when we get to Opening Day, we're going to have a good team on the field and we're going to be a team that will compete for our division and compete for the pennant."

The good news for the Mets and their fans is that the players they need are still available.

As Minaya said, there's still time to go. But time may not be the Mets' friend.