The Mets have 7 free agents heading into this winter. This is how I would handle deciding who stays and goes from this bunch:

Jose Reyes: The Mets have a $11 million dollar option for 2011 on the 27-year old switch hitting shortstop Jose Reyes with a $500,000 buyout. Reyes played in 133 games for the Mets last season and he was 159 of 563 (.282 avg, .749 OPS) with 83 runs scored, 11 homers, 54 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. VERDICT: Reyes is one of the best players on the Mets, when healthy, so I would pick up his option.

Hisanori Takahashi: 35-year old lefty starter/reliever Hisanori Takahashi was pretty solid as a rookie for the Mets last season. He pitched in 53 games (12 starts) for the Mets and he was 10-6 with 8 saves, a 3.61 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. VERDICT: I would try to re-sign Takahashi before the exclusive negotiating window is over for the Mets. If he gets out on the free agent market he might be too expensive to bring back.

Elmer Dessens: 39-year old righty reliever Elmer Dessens just continues to pitch well for the Mets. He worked in 53 games (0 starts) for the Mets last season and he was 4-2 with a 2.30 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. VERDICT: I would offer Dessens a small raise and try to get him to come back for 2011.

Pedro Feliciano: 34-year old lefty reliever Pedro Feliciano is a true workhorse reliever. He pitched in 92 games (0 starts) for the Mets last season and he was 3-6 with a 3.30 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP. VERDICT: While the WHIP is a little bit scary, the Mets should still re-sign Feliciano.

Fernando Tatis: 35-year old righty swinging 1B/OF Fernando Tatis was dinged up and he wasn’t very productive when he was healthy. Tatis played in 41 games for the Mets last season and he was 12 for 65 (.185 avg, .592 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 2 homers and 6 RBIs. VERDICT: I would likely let Tatis go, but invite him to spring training in February if he hasn’t signed with anyone by then.

Henry Blanco: 39-year old righty swinging catcher Henry Blanco is near the end of his career. He played in 50 games for the Mets last season and he was 28 of 130 (.215 avg, .571 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 2 homers, 8 RBIs and 1 stolen base. VERDICT: I would let him walk.

Kelvim Escobar: 34-year old righty reliever Kelvim Escobar didn’t pitch at all for the Mets in 2010. He only pitched in 1 game (1 start) in 2009 for the Angels and he was 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. VERDICT: I would let him walk and let some other team take a chance on him in 2011.

Elmer Dessens

The Mets have signed Sandy Alderson to a 4-year deal to be the new general manager of the New York Mets. Alderson has previous experience with the A’s & Padres and those teams had pretty good success under him. The Mets won’t likely be big spenders in free agency (at least this winter) but Alderson’s first big challenge will be the evaluate what he already has on the big league roster and in the minor league system. I like this move for the Mets because Alderson is a winner.

The Mets have fired general manager Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel and they both deserved it. In Minaya’s six years running the Mets they have only made the playoffs 1 time despite always spending a lot of money on players. With Jason Bay & Oliver Perez tanking this year and the Mets finishing 79-83, 18 games behind the Phillies you had to know that Minaya was done. Jerry Manuel was 204-213 (48.9%) in his three years with the Mets as he proved to be overmatched quite a bit. Manuel has managed in the majors 9 years now and he is 704-684 (50.7%) during the regular season and he is 0-3 in the post-season.