Ahead of the curve...

From the WoP on June 22:

There are four guys I am hoping the Mets will pursue - I doubt they’ll get them but I certainly hope they do. The players are: Sean Casey, Alfonso Soriano, Eric Milton and Mark Redman

I pride myself on being a forward thinker when it comes to baseball. It’s a month to the day when the local guys on the sports beat finally catch up to me:

From the July 22nd edition of Newsday:

Those extra arms, however, could help land another experienced bat, such as Alfonso Soriano or Sean Casey. Texas needs more starting pitching to stay in contention, and with an abundance of young power hitters, Soriano - never a favorite of manager Buck Showalter - may be expendable.

The Mets scuttled trades that would have sent Jose Reyes or Scott Kazmir to the Rangers for Soriano before last season, then later shipped Kazmir to Tampa Bay, anyway, for Victor Zambrano.

Soriano would be a natural fit at second base. Minaya didn't sign Kaz Matsui, who is a lost cause with another season left on his three-year, $20.1-million deal, and the new GM does not have a history of sitting on his hands at the deadline.

One person familiar with the situation said the Mets and Rangers already have talked about Soriano. His 23 homers this season make him more attractive than Casey (.304, four homers), but the Rangers are reluctant to deal the slugging second baseman, and a trade seems unlikely at this point.

Soriano avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $7.5-million salary for this season - a $2.1-million raise - and he'll get another bump for 2006. Casey is making $7.8 million, and the Reds already picked up his $8.5-million option for 2006.

The Mets could put together an attractive package for either team, with a major-leaguer such as Aaron Heilman combined with prospects such as righthander Yusmiero Petit or outfielders Victor Diaz and Lastings Milledge, though Milledge is regarded as a nearly untouchable talent.

Actually, I had already figured on the players in the package which could land either guy and the only name I could see going from those aforementioned was Victor Diaz. Soriano could be had for a starting pitcher (pick a name from the following: Ishi, Zambrano or Glavine - take your pick) and Kaz Matsui (who will never get a decent break here in New York and could do with the change of scenery). Casey should be part of a package along with Milton and could be had for Diaz and two of the following potchers - Dae Sung Koo, Royce Ring, Zambrano or Ishi). Marlon Anderson or Chris Woodward could also be included in this deal. Tune back in in a month to see if I was on the money. Lord knows, I appear to have gotten it wrong on the London Underground theory.

(bet you never noticed the intentional thing with the inits of the blog - sometimes you just got to rub people’s noses in things)