Would You Give Up Your Youth For. . .

In a totally hypothetical situation, yet possibly plausible, the Mets starting rotation next year could be Pedro Martinez, Dan Haren, Joe Blanton, Dontrelle Willis and Oliver Perez.

I know what you're thinking. The answer is no I'm not high. But this is a scenario worth considering. That hypothetical starting rotation consists of 4 pitchers with young arms and one solid veteran. It's a rotation that's pretty much set for the next 3 years with Pedro's longevity being the only question mark.

What will it take to get them? Ha, here's the kicker. The Mets would more than likely have to give up Fernando Martinez, John Maine, Lastings Milledge, Carlos Gomez, Ruben Gotay, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra. The A's would want Maine, Gotay, Mulvey & Gomez for Haren & Blanton. The Marlins would get Guerra, Milledge & Martinez for Dontrelle Willis.

So the Mets would give up basically their top 3 position prospects, their top 2 pitching prospects, and one solid starter for three young stud pitchers. Would you do it?

At first my knee jerk reaction is it's a crazy idea, don't do it. But after thinking about it the Mets would have 3 solid pitchers, 2 potential aces, on their staff that would be locked up for the next 3 seasons. What are they really giving up? They're giving up the potential for one of those young players to become an All Star, but there's not guarantee that they will.

John Maine is the guy that really makes this deal tough for me. I think Maine has the potential to be a #2 guy on a staff but I don't see him being a #1 starter into the future. I love John Maine and his performance on the second to last game of the season this year was legendary. If somehow this could be done without Maine it would make it so much easier to do.

As we have learned over the past two seasons, starting pitching is the key to a championship. If these deals could be made we'd still have the core of our lineup in tact, but we're potentially mortgaging the future for the present.

Still I think I'd do it.