The Mets may or may not be able to trade for Roy Oswalt, but one pitcher who might be available that they should look into is righty Chad Gaudin who was recently released from the Oakland Athletics.

Gaudin has struggled this season putting up an 8.83 ERA in just 12 games, but there are reasons to believe he could turn it around playing for the Mets. Some of his peripheral stats are pretty good. He’s struck out 20 batters and walked just five in 17.1 innings this year, and he was strong in 42 innings for the Yankees last season.

The biggest part of his struggles have been due to the long ball. He allowed five all ready this year, and was designated for assignment after two particularly bad appearances in which he gave up four homers in just 4.1 innings. That seems a little fluky, and Citi Field would also contribute to lowering that number as well.

This is not a move that is going to change the face of the Mets franchise, but at the league minimum he could make a big difference with his versatility. The Mets bullpen has been strong this season so far, but it really is only a matter of time before manager Jerry Manuel burns through some of those guys that he is leaning on pretty heavily. Gaudin could also fill in the rotation that has been in flux for the past couple of weeks.

This is exactly the type of low-risk maneuver that goes a long way to getting those extra wins that the Mets are desperately going to need if they are to compete for the wild card this season.

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