Mets Shopping For A Second Baseman?

According to Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune, the Mets are shopping for a second baseman with Jose Valentin expected to be out two months with a partially torn ACL.  Valentin would like to return in four or five weeks for the sake of his contract incentives.  However, Rick Wilton of Baseball Injury Report notes that the ligament can’t heal in six weeks and Valentin will likely play at less than 100% for the rest of the season. Who might be on the radar if the Mets are looking for more certainty?

With the Mets sporting at least a top-three NL offense (boy the NL East can really hit) Omar Minaya probably doesn’t need to make a major move here.  He could try to pluck a struggling Tadahito Iguchi from the White Sox.  Iguchi will reach free agency after this season and is sitting at .241/.351/.380.  His power stroke should come around.

You may recall the Mets’ strong attraction to Luis Castillo.  Should the Twins deem Alexi Casilla ready for full-time duty, they could shop Castillo in hopes of bringing in a good prospect before the veteran walks after this season.  Additionally, the Mets considered signing Mark Grudzielanek in the winter of 2005-06.  There’s no good reason for the Royals to hang onto him.

Baseball Prospectus’s John Perrotto lends another name to the discussion – he considers the Pirates’ Jose Castillo a possibility for Omar Minay.  Perrotto would know; he’s the team’s beat writer for the Beaver County Times.