From everything I have heard we have about $127.5 already committed in 2011.  So with 23 mil more to spend, we don’t have many options.  I think this is a year where we need to avoid long term contracts and put our remaining resources into low risk, high reward type guys. The core of this team is talented, we just need to put the pieces in place around it.

SP

We have Pelfrey, Niese and Dickey pretty much locked into starting roles along with Santana when he returns.   To fill out the rest of the rotation we already have Gee and Mejia but any productivity out of them would be slightly surprising.  So were going to need some cheap help from the FA pool. Brandon Webb would probably sign for a two year deal with around 2million guaranteed with the possibility of more through incentives. Justin Duchscherer and Chris Capuano would also likely come cheaply.

Brandon Webb 2 years $4mil per plus incentives

Chris Capuano 1 year $1mil plus incentives

Bullpen

The bullpen is our biggest weak spot for the 2011 season.  But there a decent amount of serviceable relievers on the market.  Some of the more intriguing names are Grant Balfour, JC Romero, Jon Rauch, Jesse Crain, Hideki Okajima, Jason Frasor, Matt Guerrier, Dan Wheeler and Octavio Dotel.  As of now its looking like the only major league quality relievers currently on our roster are Rodriguez and Parnell.

Grant Balfour 2 years $3mil per

Hideki Okajima 1 year $2mil

Jason Frasor 1 year $2mil

Matt Guerrier 1 year $2mil

JC Romero 1 year $1mil

Bench

With Evans, Castillo and Duda/Turner already on the roster, that leaves two bench spots to fill.  Obviously were going to need a backup catcher. Russell Martin would be the ideal option if he doesn’t ask for too much.  I doubt a catcher with no power and just a combined 2.7 WAR over the last two years could demand much more than 2 mil a year.  To fill the other spot Bill Hall shouldn’t cost too much and can play almost anywhere which could be very valuable given this team’s recent injury history.

Russell Martin 1 year $2mil

Bill Hall 1 year $2mil

C Josh Thole

Lineup

1B Ike Davis

2B Daniel Murphy

3B David Wright

SS Jose Reyes

LF Jason Bay

CF Angel Pagan

RF Carlos Beltran

Bench

Russell Martin

Luis Castillo

Lucas Duda

Nick Evans

Bill Hall

Rotation

Mike Pelfrey

RA Dickey

Jon Niese

Brandon Webb

Chris Capuano

Bullpen

Jason Frasor

JC Romero

Hideki Okajima

Bobby Parnell

Matt Guerrier

Grant Balfour

Francisco Rodriguez

Injury Returns/Replacements

IF Justin Turner

RP Ryota Igarashi

RP Mike O'Connor

SP Johan Santana

IF Ruben Tejada

P Oliver Perez

This puts us at $146M for a total payroll next year.  And with all the money coming off the books after the season that puts us in a great position to be a force in 2012.