In the final trade left undiscussed from Winter Meeting Sunday, the Mets sent Rey Ordonez to Tampa for two players to be named later. Once the Rule 5 draft was completed, the players to be named later were announced as Russ Johnson and 1B-L Josh Pressley.

Ordonez was the player New York most wanted to move this off-season, as he has a poor contract and was their worst regular. While the Mets will still pay $4.25M of his $6.25M salary for 2003, they've unloaded a couple million, removed the drain on the offense, and picked up a couple of potentially useful players.

While Ordonez's plate discipline appeared to show promise in 1999, he's reverted to his old habits, which can't even support an OBP above .300. He has no power and at 31 his limited speed is a thing of the past. His key to a starting job has always been his defense and even that has slipped in recent years, though he's still considered an excellent defender. Unfortunately, the organization feels the need to put a greater emphasis on defense, so they released last year's starting shortstop, Chris Gomez, who displayed considerably more offensive potential while not performing poorly defensively Now GM Chuck Lamar is even discussing an extension for Ordonez.

Tampa drafted Pressley out of Westminster Academy in the fourth round of the 1998 draft. Pressley returned to AA Orlando in the Southern League for most of 2002 after receiving a little over 100 AB at the level in 2001. This season he hit .304 with a .380 OBP and .395 SLG on 104 H, 19 2B, and 4 HR with a 42:47 BB:K and 5/11 SB%. I like the improvement in the 22-year-old's plate discipline, but as of yet he's shown little of the power or speed he needs to earn a major league position as a first baseman. However if he can maintain his strike zone judgment and develops some power as he ages, the young man could deserve a big league roster spot in a couple years. I don't expect his future lies with the Mets, considering Piazza will almost certainly move to first before Pressley is ready for the majors and there isn't a DH position available, so his value to New York will likely be as trade bait in a year or two.

I'm not certain that the Big Apple is the best place for Johnson, who suffered from debilitating anxiety and depression last season. However, the Mets are probably an upgrade over the Devil Rays, as despite the less genial city environment, as his new club should have a more successful atmosphere.

The 29-year-old has spent the last half-dozen seasons as a AAAA utilityman. He's capable of covering the entire infield and has shown considerable offensive upside in the past. However since joining the Tampa organization, his plate discipline has deteriorated, weakening his overall production capabilities.

At the moment, the Mets do not have an established shortstop or third baseman. Prospect Jose Reyes will be given a long look in Spring Training, but despite his tremendous upside, he's only 19 and has only had a little over 1000 minor league at-bats with only 275 of those as high as AA. I believe the optimal path for his development would be to give him another half season of AA and at least a half season of AAA before handing him the starting job. Otherwise, he's likely to struggle when he reaches the majors and take significantly longer to reach his full potential.

Kevin Czerwinski of MLB.com quoted Mets' GM Steve Phillips as saying, "We brought Edgardo Alfonzo to the big leagues from Double-A. Reyes had a part of the season at Double-A and he's played a lot of Winter ball in his career." Although Alfonzo was surprisingly successful in his rookie year, he didn't really hit his stride until two years later, and Alfonzo was almost two years older for his rookie season than Reyes will be when the Mets break camp. Additionally, had the Mets kept Alfonzo in the minors a year longer, he wouldn't yet be a free agent. There's no reason for them to rush Reyes and start his arbitration and free agency clocks ticking when waiting allows them to harvest more of his potential.

Hopefully the team will at least send him to AAA to begin the season and only call him up after he's had success at that level. I expect the Mets to sign at least one established player to cover either short or third, most likely Jose Hernandez. Consequently, Johnson will probably find himself competing with Marco Scutaro and Brady Clark for two roster spots. Clark could beat out Raul Gonzalez for a reserve job and earn a spot that way, but I think Gonzalez has the position going into Spring Training. Likewise, Ty Wigginton will probably be nominally in the competition, though I believe he also has a roster spot secured.

Joe McEwing will return as one utilityman after signing a one-year $600,000 contract. I've always liked McEwing and held out hope that he'd rediscover some of the offensive promise he displayed in the minors. However, now that he's 30, I have my doubts. With Johnson's flexibility in the infield and capable reserve outfielders, McEwing isn't essential to the Mets. Nevertheless, I find it unlikely he'll lose his job in Spring Training.

Meanwhile, the Mets have signed a pair of free agents from outside the organization, considerably more notable than McEwing. Cliff Floyd signed a four-year, $26M contract with New York on Friday. The 30-year-old undoubtedly provides them with another nice bat, but I question the wisdom of the signing.

Floyd's acquisition further pressures the Mets to find a new home for either Jeromy Burnitz or Roger Cedeno, as they want to unload payroll and create room for Timo Perez, who has shown he's capable of handling more than a reserve role. Coincidentally, Alfonzo also signed a four-year, $26M deal. I suspect that in a year or two when Floyd is really showing his age, the Mets will wish they could trade with the Giants and it may not take that long.

The other big free agent signing for the Mets was recent Yankee Mike Stanton. Stanton signed a three-year, $9M contract, making him the primary lefty in the Mets' pen. I always have trouble with spending a lot of money on left-handed relief, and New York should have more than one candidate to take Stanton's place before the end of this deal. Nevertheless while his strikeouts dipped in 2002, Stanton remains a quality pitcher and should pitch well for the Mets in 2003.

From a marketing standpoint, I think the Mets were wise to capitalize on the opportunity to snatch someone the Yankees let go this off-season. This acquisition seems to imply that the Mets don't hold out much confidence that John Franco will mount a successful comeback. Jaime Cerda should serve as their second lefty.