Mets on Upton, Kubel, Francisco, Pavano

There are several reports Monday that the Mets are talking to at least one team about a possible trade and have shown interest in a couple of free agents. And we all thought Sandy Alderson had crushed his cell phone.

Jon Heyman tweets that the Mets have spoken recently to the Diamondbacks about Justin Upton and Jason Kubel. Of course those talks went nowhere. The price for Upton is far higher than the Mets could pay and Kubel is “not perfect fit.” Well, yeah; Kubel bats lefty, and the Mets already have lefties Lucas Duda and Kirk Nieuwenhuis slated as starters in the outfield. Then again, Mike Baxter is a lefty, too, and he is apparently penciled in for left field.

Mark Hale of the New York Post tweets that the Mets have shown interest in free agent outfielder Ben Francisco. The Phillies had high hopes for Francisco when they acquired him along with Cliff Lee back in 2009, but he never really panned out. Last year he played for the Blue Jays, Astros and Rays and managed just four home runs and 15 RBIs in 192 at bats while batting .240. But hey, at least he’s a righty.

And the most disturbing tweet of the day is that the Mets have an interest in signing Carl Pavano for some reason. Yeah, this is a great idea; he pitched so well in New York after signing that big contract with the Yankees. Pavano is 37 years old — his best days, which weren’t even all that good, are behind him. I would much rather see Jenrry Mejia or Jeurys Familia on the mound every five days than Pavano.

In any case, it is nice to see the Mets are actually thinking about acquiring players. I just wish they were of higher quality.