The closer free agent market is pretty limited to just K-Rod and Fuentes, but there are a good number of closers that can be acquired based on trade. Is that right way to go? My gut inclination right now is just screaming NO.
The Players we would acquire through trade would make us have to trade more of our young talent away, and I know that most of the time young stars don't pan out but there is something to be said about having young players on the team. Young stars, the stars that are not making the big bucks yet, play with a fire, with an intensity to stay in the big leagues. Dan Murphy energized this club this year. We need Veterans for the clubhouse, but we need young blood to make shockwaves in the lineup and rotation.
The other big reason for this is the Braves are on the verge of a ton of good, talented young players to spring up from their farm system and onto the field. The Marlins always seem to be doing this, and is why they are a good scrappy, hard nose team (apparently now Jacobs is now on the trading block to get more young players). If we don't trade our farm system, this could be us in a season or too, we could have our core players still, because they will still be signed through, and have exciting young players like Fmart, Murphy, Parnell, Niese, Bolt, and Flores. I'm not saying they all will make it, but I think its time to test the draftees of the Minaya effort.
The other case against trading for a closer is that Fuentes (because K-rod is a bit too expensive) is better than the closers on the market. And thats really the main thing, if we can buy the better part, and in the loing run, the money spent could be cheaper than the talent loss in a trade, then on an economic and on a team building level, signing Fuentes is the right move for the Mets organization to make.
