For Mets, another winter of hope; for Marlins, quite the opposite

Thanksgiving, and the New York Mets are working hard on the stuffing part of the week while the Florida Marlins are -- all together now -- the 16-pound turkey.

Gobble, gobble.

Carlos Delgado's brief stay in Florida doesn't have a happy ending. (AP)

Ax-wielding Florida tried its very best to move Carlos Delgado out of the division, someplace where the Marlins will not have to face the angry slugger 18 times a season. The Marlins tried to peddle him to Baltimore. They worked hard to interest the Los Angeles Angels. They spoke with the Dodgers.

In the end, the best deal they could make was with the hard-charging Mets for two pretty good prospects -- first baseman Mike Jacobs and pitcher Yusmeiro Petit.

And now, the balance of an NL East division in which everyone played .500 or better last year -- and in which, coincidentally enough, the Mets and Marlins tied for third with identical 83-79 records -- is shifting dramatically.

The Mets have not necessarily guaranteed themselves an invitation to October, but GM Omar Minaya is working on it. Delgado now tentatively is in the house, free-agent closer Billy Wagner appears close and a big-time free agent catcher -- Ramon Hernandez or Bengie Molina -- might not be far behind.

Hey Omar: A little cranberry sauce with all of that?

The Marlins, in dealing away Delgado, ace Josh Beckett and third baseman Mike Lowell just since Monday, have quickly transformed from contender to a club staring at 90 losses in 2006.

And with catcher Paul LoDuca, center fielder Juan Pierre and second baseman Luis Castillo stacking up on the runway like departing rush hour aircraft, the white-flag Marlins easily could move past 100-loss range.

Rarely is the contrast between hope and despair cut so sharply.

The Mets are simply inhaling from the horn 'o plenty right now, threatening to gorge their way past George Steinbrenner on the New York tabloids' back pages.

Their biggest trouble last season was scoring runs -- though they finished third in the NL in pitching, they ranked seventh in runs scored. That discrepancy is a big part of the reason the Mets finished six games behind Houston in the NL wild-card race.

In Delgado, they have as close as you can get to a sure thing in the middle of their lineup. The first baseman has slugged 30 or more homers for nine consecutive seasons. He had little trouble adjusting from the AL to the NL in 2005, posting top-shelf numbers across the board: .301 batting average, 33 homers, 115 RBI, .399 on-base percentage, .582 slugging percentage.