The New York Mets have had a very different offseason this year. They are used to going after top free agents but due to their limited money available, they were forced to let the big name players go elsewhere.
It must have been tough for Sandy Alderson coming to the Mets. It was his first offseason with the team and he had limited resources to work with. But he made the most out of it.
Alderson is a great baseball mind and he also has great people working with him. J.P. Ricciardi, Paul Depodesta and John Ricco are Sandy Alderson's assistants. All of those guys are just as smart as Alderson when it comes to baseball. The Mets have assembled a fantastic front office.
The Mets made no big splashes this offseason but that doesn't mean that they didn't make any great moves. You can never call an acquisition great until you see how that certain player performs. But Sandy Alderson did make plenty of impressive low-risk, high-reward acquisitions.
Players like Ronny Paulino, D.J. Carrasco, Chris Capuano, Chin Lung-Hu and Chris Young are all guys who have loads of potential. No one player headlined the Mets offseason and it is hard to say which acquisition was the best.
Although all of these players are low-risk, high-reward signings, some players have a greater reward than others. Some guys even have a chance to make the Opening Day roster and have an immediate impact on the New York Mets.
The Mets are in need of a back-up catcher and Ronny Paulino will most likely fill that void. The Mets also need a pitcher to occupy their fourth and fifth starter spots. Here's where a new acquisition can have a huge impact on the Mets.
Both Chris Young and Chris Capuano have legitimate shots at making the Mets' starting rotation. Many people believe that Chris Young will win the No. 4 spot and that Chris Capuano will compete with Dillon Gee for the No. 5 spot.
It's near impossible to predict what players will win out the spots, and it's also near impossible to predict how a certain player will perform. I'm positive that no one picked R.A. Dickey to be the Mets' best acquisition last year over Jason Bay.
With that said, it can't hurt to analyze the Mets' offseason acquisitions and see what one player has the most potential to be the best acquisition. Chris Capuano won 18 games back in 2005 but he has had two Tommy John Surgeries in his career and people are questioning whether he can stay healthy and revert back to his 2005 form.
If Capuano does that then he has a big chance to be called the Mets' best acquisition this offseason. One of the best things about Capuano is that he is versatile. Capuano can contribute in the starting rotation and also the bullpen. He is also a lefty and that will give the Mets' rotation a slight advantage over having another righty. Three right handed pitchers and two left handed pitchers is a great rotation, and Capuano can give the Mets that.
If he impresses in spring training then he will most likely win out the fifth starter job. I feel that he and Chris Young were great signings but the one thing that makes them different is that Capuano can do more things to help the team. If Capuano doesn't win out the fifth starter job then he can still be a great player in the Mets' bullpen.
Capuano is a lefty and he has great career numbers against left handed batters, holding them to an average under .250. Capuano can do a lot to help this team and he isn't even costing the team a lot.
Capuano has a strong chance to be considered the Mets' best offseason acquisition. Only time will tell, but there's no denying that an acquisition will step up in 2011 for the Mets, it's just a matter of who.
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