Omar Minaya is set to meet with free agent Carlos Delgado today. Delgado will get together with the Marlins and Rangers later this week, but according to Dayn Perry, it behooves the Mets to ink the Puerto Rican slugger. Perry delineates a recipe for Met success in a recent column for Fox. Ever the Yankee fan, here’s the bit that struck me:

Minaya’s work this off-season in tandem with the Yankees’ largely clueless additions have positioned the Mets to be the New York team for seasons to come.

The signings of Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright, Tony Womack and even Ruben Sierra have been heavily criticized this winter. Some have argued that the Yankees would have been better off with Carlos Beltran and Javier Vazquez than Randy Johnson and Pavano (and Bernie Williams).

Just how close are the Yankees to falling off their perch as Kings of New York? There has been talk every year for the past four or five seasons that this will finally the year that the Bombers dip. They are too old, their farm system is barren. Personally, I expect that they’ll eventually fall off. It just seems like the natural order of things, despite of the team’s imposing payroll. Whether it is this year, 2007 or beyond, I can’t say. They are still team stacked with talent. I don’t know if their off-season has been a bust, but it’s discouraging that other teams seem to be smarter than the Yankees these days. What do you think? Are the Yankees one serious-injury-to-Jorge Posada-away from missing the playoffs? Would Carlos Delgado make the Mets serious contenders? Which one of these?