Bring Me Kenny Lofton

The corner outfielder discussion is heating up and now it appears that the Mets are focused on a "significant" corner outfielder like Matt Holliday or Jason Bay. Well, I guess it's good news that they're not focused on insignificant outfielders.

The problem is the Mets aren't going to give up Fernando Martinez or Jon Niese which is what will be required for either of the outfielders mentioned above. As I mentioned in a previous post the Mets should focus on pitching and not worry about a big name bat.

Instead, I say bring me Kenny Lofton. As long as the guy is in decent shape, he's a great asset to have on the team. I was shocked my Matt Cerrone's comments on Metsblog.com this morning when he said this about the Mets bench, "Right now, Marlon Anderson, Nick Evans and Robinson Cancel are acceptable."

No Matt. They're not.

Anderson is pitiful. Evans is in over his head. And Cancel is a refrigerator. The Mets need some bench help, but if you think sticking Fernando Tatis on the bench will help, I think you're mistaken. Tatis is on a role and as soon as you sit him down he's going to start to lose the rythmn he has going. As long as he's performing you keep him in the lineup.

Now if you bring in Kenny Lofton you have a better hitting outfield option than you currently have with Endy Chavez. You get a guy who can give you spot starts or play on a regular basis if Ryan Church remains injured. On top of that Lofton is an experience playoff contender. He's not afraid of the spotlight and is possibly one of the best defensive replacements for the outfield that you can have late in a game.

Let's save our money and prospects to get a big time player in the offseason or use them to enhance our pitching because if you think Pedro Martinez/Scott Schoenweiss/Carlos Muniz/Duaner Sanchez are going to be key assets to this team down the stretch, you need to get your head examined.