Lennon's Baseball Insider: Mets a little off in the offseason

The Mets have grown accustomed to fielding criticism from every direction in recent years. But even they were surprised when Darryl Strawberry, asked this past week about the Mets' quiet offseason, replied that it "could have been better."

Straw's honesty prompted one exasperated team official to sigh, "When it rains, it snows."

It didn't help that the week produced another bumper crop of signings, many of which the Mets could have used at some point in their rebuilding process, including Orlando Hudson and Yorvit Torrealba.

This late in the game, however, the Mets are content to pack up the truck for spring training and re-evaluate their roster in Port St. Lucie. As Strawberry said, it has been a perplexing offseason for the Mets, one in which they whiffed on a handful of players they actually wanted: John Lackey, Bengie Molina and Joel Piñeiro, to name a few at the top of the list.

But here's how the Mets prefer to look at it: Jason Bay became more important than Lackey once Carlos Beltran chose to have knee surgery. Team officials also are very encouraged by the progress of Jose Reyes, as well as intrigued by what could develop at first base.

The Mets had every intention of signing Carlos Delgado, but they were not able to see enough from him defensively in the Puerto Rican winter league. Instead, team officials are rallying behind Daniel Murphy, who is expected to work with 11-time Gold Glover Keith Hernandez when the SNY analyst is not in the booth.

But even at his best, Murphy is only a stopgap solution at first base, with some inside the organization believing that prospect Ike Davis could push for the job sooner rather than later this season. Davis, 22, is one of 11 players who have been invited to major-league camp. But their other trouble spot - catcher - has no such silver lining.

Judging by what one team official has said about this offseason, the Mets feel a little bit used in the free-agent market after watching Molina and Piñeiro bolt for other teams in what they believed were the closing stages of negotiations. That's not unusual. The two New York teams often are exploited to drive up the price of free agents.

But this year, more than most, the Mets have refused to spend in a mediocre market and insist they will save their money for another player or two before the July 31 non-waivers trade deadline. Of course, the Mets need to stay in contention to do that.

Less is Mo for Rivera

Don't panic in the coming weeks if you see Mariano Rivera lagging behind the rest of the Yankees' pitching staff during spring training. Rivera, who turned 40 in November, is all about saving his bullets at this stage of his career - especially as he enters the walk year of his contract.

Last month, Rivera accepted his fifth Rolaids Relief Man of the Year trophy at the 87th annual awards dinner of the New York Chapter of the BBWAA and suggested that he will be taking it easy again in Tampa. Last year, coming off surgery on the AC joint of his right shoulder, Rivera didn't pitch until March 17 and made only seven appearances. Look for a similar scaled-back schedule this year.

Rivera revealed last month that he labored through that rehab, but it didn't show during spring training. He struck out 11 without a walk and allowed only two hits in seven innings. It took him a while to hit his stride during the regular season, but he still had 44 saves and a 1.76 ERA in 66 games.

It may not sound possible, but Rivera, who says his shoulder feels better than ever, talked excitedly last month about adding to his resume - with no mention of retirement anytime soon.

No Cliff hanger

Leave it to Cliff Floyd, one of the most likable players in baseball, to pile on his former team during Super Bowl week. Floyd told WFAN that the Mets are "missing chemistry" and it's "not a good locker room." Floyd, now retired, last played for the Mets in 2006.