The Damon news is tought to take, but I think Rosenthal is overstating things a bit. Red Sox season crumbling? Hardly. Yes, there's now a big hole in CF, but not one that is impossible to fill. Just as a starting point, here are the 2005 EqA's of Damon and some possible replacements:

Damon .291
Coco Crisp .290
Jason Michaels .285
Jeremy Reed .249

Actually, the best option probably would've been Mike Cameron (.284 last year + superior D), but the Mets have already traded him. Not like there's anyone on the Sox that the Mets were interested in.

All that said, the Yanks' lineup is looking pretty stacked. I'm still not sold on the rotation. The Unit has to show his age one of these years. Pavano is a big question mark. And I'm not sold on Wang or Chacon.

I like the idea of the Mets signing Dotel, but most pitchers aren't so great their first year back from Tommy John, so it's not exactly a slam-dunk signing for the Yankees.

The Mets would be even dumber if they sign Julian Tavarez to a rumored three-year deal. This guy is a total chump. I'd be down with getting Octavio "Please" Dotel. the yanks are in the hunt for him too.

look at this chump:

the cards are dumb. 3 years $13.5 mil for boo-per? (I was saying boo).

I'm not sure I understand the Lo Duca deal. If the Mets are both counting on increased revenue from SportsNet NY and looking for marquee stars to push ratings why not just bring back Piazza if you are not going to upgrade the catcher position? Lo Duca bottoms out towards the end of every season, he's only 3 years (or so) younger than Piazza with stats that don't exactly dazzle.
So if you're not going to upgrade the position or get younger, why not keep the best offensive player in Mets history and one of the most popular players they've ever had?

How have I never heard of this player?