How will Mets fill their final roster needs?

At this point in the offseason, it looks like the Mets roster is mostly filled out. They do have two more holes they need to fill though; sixth starting pitcher and a utility infielder for the bench. They are not huge glaring holes, but that are positions that are important to fill if the Mets want to be successful in 2012.

With the question of Johan Santana’s health, it’s very important that the Mets go out there and get a guy who can fill in for him, or any other starters, if they land on the DL. Right now the Mets have a lot of young starters in the minors, but I don’t think they are ready to come up just yet. Chris Schwindin would but the guy right now, but I think the Mets can find better options on the free agent market.

Names that jump out at me from the free agent list are, Zach Duke, Ross Ohlendorf, Armando Galarraga, Jeff Francis, and Chris Young.

All of these pitchers are relatively young, Young being the oldest at 33 (ironic?). You don’t think amazing when you hear any of these pitchers’ names, but they could all be solid fifth pitchers in the rotation if someone goes down with an injury. Young is probably the best pitcher on the list, he just needs to stay healthy, which is a major problem.

To be the sixth man in the rotation you need to be healthy and you need to throw innings. The quality of those aren’t necessarily so important. You’re job is to bridge two or three starts, until the injured player returns.  If you’re looking for innings, then Francis is the guy. If you’re looking for quality, Young is the guy. If you’re looking for potential, Duke and Galarraga would be the two. They both finished top five in Rookie of the Year voting’s in 2005 and 2008 respectively, but since then have struggled to live up to the hype. Ohlendorf sort of falls between all three of these categories.

It’s going to come down to which pitcher is most willing to take a minor league contract. Mets could even go after two of these guys if the market for them is poor enough. For me though, I’d give the spot to Jeff Francis. He’s a lefty, he’s young (he’ll turn 31 in a few weeks), and he eats innings.

Now onto the utility infielder spot. There are five spots on the bench, three of them are already taken in my opinion with Mike Nickeas, Justin Turner, and Josh Satin. The other spot will most likely go to one of the younger outfielders in the organization (Fernando Martinez?). So that leaves one more spot for the utility infielder.

Some of the free agents who could fill this spot are Jack Wilson, Ronny Cedeno, Craig Counsell, Aaron Miles and Ryan Theriot.

While I would love to have Theriot on the team, I think he’ll find a team that is willing to give him a starting role. Unless the Mets decided to make him the second baseman, and move Daniel Murphy to the bench, but that’s a story for another day.

For this spot I think it’s going to come down to who is the best defensive second baseman. It’ll go to someone who can sure up the infield late in games. Going by career UZR at second base, Miles is -12.4, Wilson is 2.1, Cedeno is 4.5, and Counsell is 19.5. Even going off just 2011 numbers, Counsell is still the best, slightly beating out Wilson. When you look at their ability to play shortstop, Wilson is by far the best, with a career 40.2 UZR. Wilson just started playing second base last season and until then played almost his entire career at short, and played it well. If you’re looking for flexibility, Cendeno has the most experience in the outfield with 44 career innings played there.

Offensive is important too, and in this field Miles would have the edge, though he never walks, so Sandy Alderson might hate that.

For me it comes down to Wilson or Counsell, and being that Wilson will be 34 and Counsell will be 41, I’d be inclined to take Wilson. But I wouldn’t be shocked if Alderson and Co. go after Counsell, especially with his great plate discipline.

So there you have it, Jeff Francis and Jack Wilson to fill the two spots for the Mets. Now all that is left to do is sit and wait…