Rockies Sign Embree, Talks for Street Continue

Now that the Mets have the closer role filled with K-Rod, they will move to looking for a set-up man. At the top of the list is former closer Huston Street.

Street is currently a member of the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies needed a left-handed relief pitcher and were interested in Pedro Feliciano as mentioned in an earlier post.

Well, Colorado has agreed to a two year deal with left hander Alan Embree. I assume they won't be needing Feliciano anymore, but that's alright because Omar Minaya didn't want to include him in the deal anyway.

So now Minaya will have to package Aaron Heilman with a prospect to get Street. Rumors suggest that Minaya wants to include someone like Mike Carp, but the Rockies prefer Nick Evans.

Mets Pursuing Huston Street

The Colorado Rockies acquired Huston Street from the A's earlier this offseason as part of a deal that sent Matt Holliday to Oakland. Now, Colorado is willing to deal Street elsewhere.

Mets' GM Omar Minaya has been actively talking to Rockies' GM Dan O'Dowd about a trade for Street. The Mets would like to use Street as their set-up man in 2009 and the former closer would be a nice fit.

The 25-year-old Texan will not be eligible to become a free agent until 2011 and sports a career 2.88 ERA and 1.07 WHIP.

The centerpiece of the deal on the Mets side is maligned reliever Aaron Heilman, whom the Rockies believe could be an effective starting pitcher. The Rockies are looking for a left-handed set-up man and are interested in Pedro Feliciano. However, Omar Minaya does not seem to want to include him in the deal, prefering to trade a prospect instead. The two sides continue to work on the deal as they tend to their other business at the Winter Meetings.

After struggling with injuries in 2008 and early 2009, Street lost his closer's job in Oakland to rookie Brad Ziegler. Nonetheless, Street finished strong with a 1.74 ERA in September.