I came across this report from Joel Sherman while doing my hourly scouring of MLB Trade Rumors.
The report outlines how the Mets can still save their offseason, but it slips in there word of the team's failed attempts to re-engage in trade talks with the Diamondbacks about catcher Chris Snyder because, according to Sherman, "The Mets obviously know they are best served with Santos and Josh Thole at Triple-A for depth."
Now, really? They're better served with Omir Santos being in Triple-A rather than the team's everyday catcher... to offer the team depth? Now, certainly nobody has been waltzing around claiming that Met fans won't miss the days of Mike Piazza soon thanks to Henry Blanco and Chris Coste. Pretty much everyone knows that the Mets need catching help. They had their eyes set on Bengie Molina, presumably to improve upon Santos' .290 career OBP, but he presumably didn't want to give up his status as a middle-of-the-order hitter, so he returned to San Francisco.
But frankly, Santos better serves the team by being in AAA simply because that means that he's presumably very far away from the big league team. At least with Thole there's a chance that he gives you a decent on-base percentage. I don't really agree with Sherman's assertion that they sign Rod Barajas to fix the catching situation, because for all of the solid defense and power that he brings to the table, there's a guy who's pretty much shown that he won't be an upgrade on the Santos/Blanco duo at the plate.
It's this kind of situation that makes you wonder why they didn't go harder after, say, Gregg Zaun, if they were so uncomfortable with Santos being the everyday starter in the first place. Ah, the bonanza that has been Minaya and company's offseason.