Opinions on today's happenings at the Winter Meetings

Today is day 1 of the baseball Winter Meetings held at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Let's run down the Mets rumors for the day and my quick thoughts on each:

1) "The Mets offered K-Rod a 2-year deal worth $12 million with a 3rd year vesting option"

I'll take K-Rod, Brian Fuentes, or dark-horse Kerry Wood (who was not offered arbitration wouldn't cost a draft pick) for a reasonable price. By reasonable I mean 3 years, $12 million or less per year. For whatever reason, Met fans seem to prefer K-Rod a heckuva lot more than Fuentes, but they're pretty much equal in actual value. Wood is a tier below these two and an injury risk.

2) "The Mets are desperate to trade Luis Castillo and sign Orlando Hudson"

I can't see any team taking Castillo in return for any worthwhile player (spare me this Jose Guillen stuff). Hudson is 31 years old and has had 2 seasons in a row end in injury. His career OPS+ is 99, and his vaunted defense might not be all it's cracked up to be (in 2008 he posted a -4 on the +/- scale, UZR of -6.1). Give Castillo another shot (shudder).

3) "The Mets have Jon Garland on their radar"

No. Just please no. Read here for more.

4) "The Red Sox are in trade discussions for Mets catcher Brian Schneider"

Whatever. The Mets could do a lot worse than Schneider and Ramon Castro at catcher. If they can get a solid prospect or 2 for Schneider, then fine, make the trade. I just don't think this should be a priority.

5) "Chad Cordero and his agent plan to meet with the Mets" and 4 other teams

Cordero is coming off a serious arm injury, which caused his fastball velocity to drop to 84 mph this season. I'd be OK with signing him, as long as it's not multi-year or too pricey. He may not even be ready for spring training. Omar Minaya loves his former Expos, so don't be surprised to see him sign with the Mets. Take a look at his medical records first, Omar.

6) "David Eckstein is drawing interest from 5 teams"

Good God, no. Luckily it doesn't specify that the Mets are one of the teams. However, for anyone who thinks Eckstein would be an upgrade over Castillo, look at the following:

Eckstein, career: .284/.351/.361
Castillo, career: .292/..367/.355

Bill James 2009 projection
Eckstein: .277/.346/.346
Castillo: .281/.362/.344

Their fielding skills are similar, and Eckstein has played 38 career games at 2B. There's no reason to get rid of Castillo only to replace him with Eckstein.

7) "Phillies enter Jake Peavy fray"

Say it ain't so. Peavy and Cole Hamels in the same rotation would be terrifying.