If you’re like me, you’ve seen that commerical for “Blitz : The League” enough many times, L.T.’s mantra of “there’s only one rule : WIN, AT ANY COST” is pretty much the words you live by. That said, such excuses will carry little weight in a court of law when you explain to the judge that serving your houseguest a cocktail of Gatorade and anti-freeze seemed like the best possible way to win “Blitz : The League”.

I don’t expect a cautious, rational person like Buster Olney to understand any of this. Omar Minaya, however, is my kind of guy. Win at any cost. Mortgate the future ’cause The World Could End Tomorrow. Jack the payroll up to the stratosphere because fans will pay $95 to sit in quaint, historic Fenway…uh, Shea Stadium.

I bet Buster Olney had a savings account when he was 7.

From ESPN.com.

If, in fact, the Mets part with their top pitching prospect to get Delgado, while absorbing all of Delgado’s financial obligations, they are insane. They could offer a bag of balls at this point and Florida will take a deal, so long as the Mets are taking the contract. Again, there is no question that the Mets are going to have the best offseason, on paper, of any team in the majors: They’re probably going to sign Billy Wagner, they could get Delgado very soon, and they’re going to get a good catcher.

But the trademark of Omar Minaya’s dealings so far is that he overpays for everything. He can get Delgado, and that’s great. But why overpay for him? Why not tell the Marlins, Look, you don’t have teams beating down your door to take his contract. We’ll do you a favor and take his contract, and you’ll take one Grade B-minus prospect from this list of three, along with this backup Class A catcher, and you’ll be thrilled with that.

Landing Pedro, Beltran, Wagner, Delgado, all good. But at some point, the bill is going to come due, and the Mets at least have to try to pay market value, rather than spending above and beyond that in each and every deal.

Matthew Cerrone of Metsblog isn’t nearly so quick to call for the straitjacket.

1B Carlos Delgado will hit 30 home runs, and with 2B Jose Reyes and OF Carlos Beltran batting ahead of him, and either 3B David Wright or another bat behind him, he’ll likely drive in 100 runs, as well. This scenario is worth a mysterious pitching prospect, in RHP Yusmeiro Petit, and a semi-proven, young first baseman, 1B Mike Jacobs.

The jury is still out on Petit. Though they praise his talent, scouts and experts continue to question how his ability will translate in the big leagues. 1B Mike Jacobs, on the hand, has proven he can hit Major League pitching. However, whether he can do so over the course of a full season has yet to be determined.

At best, Jacobs will put up the same numbers as Delgado, but it will take him a season or two to get there. The thing is, Delgado will put up the same numbers as Delgado now.