"What looked implausible in June but practically guaranteed in September happened Friday, when the Mets exercised their $12 million option on Carlos Delgado.

Given that the Mets were already committed to giving him a $4 million buyout if they had not picked up his option, paying Delgado an extra $8 million could be a bargain if he can come close to duplicating his second-half surge.

"Carlos is a key part of our plans for 2009 and we wanted to let him know as quickly as allowed that we wanted him back," General Manager Omar Minaya said in a statement.

"Yesterday - the day following the conclusion of the World Series - was the first day that we could pick up the option per the contract. It was our full intent to promptly close our deal with Carlos, and that's what we did."

Delgado, 36, rebounded from a miserable first three months - he was batting .228 through the end of June - to hit .271 with a team-high 38 home runs and 115 runs batted in, his best statistical season of his three with the team. After July 1, he batted .313 with 24 homers, 70 R.B.I. and a .617 slugging percentage. Only two players in each of the last three categories had higher marks than Delgado over that span.

Delgado's defense, never an asset, also seemed to improve as his production increased.
Good move by the Mets to re-sign Delgado. If the Mets want any chance next year they needed Delgado and they got him. It's going to take more than just Carlos to get the Mets to where they want to be though. SI has predicted the Mets to sign 4 of the top 50 FA agents this off-season. The list consist of:
9. Oliver Perez (Mets) - Regressed a bit from '07 to '08 (ERA and WHIP jumped and K-rate dropped), but riches await lefthanded strikeout artists of this age. Mets could do worse than bring him back, particularly if they save by passing on K-Rod.

14. Bobby Abreu (Yankees) - Not the player he once was, particularly in rightfield, but has six consecutive 100+ RBI, 22+ SB seasons and hasn't slowed too much. Could move to left for the Mets and stop the revolving door they had there in '08, when 11 players combined to hit just ten home runs.

18. Juan Cruz (Diamondbacks) - A fire-baller who struck out 71 batters in 51.2 IP this season, his strikeout rate of 12.37 per nine innings trailed only Grant Balfours among pitchers who threw at least 40 frames. Could become a closer and save 100 games over the course of a three-year contract.

19. Orlando Hudson (Diamomdbacks) - High-character leader and stalwart defender with .800+ OPS in each of last three seasons. Teams should not be scared off by time missed with injuries that were more freak than insidious. Even though Omar Minaya inexplicably gave Luis Castillo a four-year deal last summer, CitiField revenues will help them correct that mistake with the O-Dog.

The only other Met on the list is Pedro, he is projected to go to Washington

44. Pedro Martinez (Mets) - Many thought the Mets would get two good years out of his four-year deal; they got one, his first. His next contract could yield fewer than that, and as such will likely be largely incentive-based. Jim Bowden's Nats always willing to gamble, even if success rate is low.
From CC Sabathia to Jason Varitek, the game's top 50 free agents - Ben Reiter - SI.com