Surprise! Mets get Gary Matthews Jr.!

According to ESPN Los Angeles.com, the trade goes as following:
Gary Matthews Jr. to the Mets for Brian Stokes, and the Angels pay 21.5 million of 23 million left on his contract.

My first thought: "wait, what?"
My second thought: "what a deal!"
My third thought: "oh wait, Brian Stokes... isn't he the guy who had a decent year last year, and was one of the Mets better relievers?"
Ok, that last one wasn't the exact thought, but Stokes did have the 3rd best ERA in the bullpen last year, behind K-Rod and Feliciano.

Obviously this was Omar trying to find a replacement for Beltran to start the season. I completely support that, he is a very good fielder, but an average hitter. The only problem is that the Mets have him for two years, so what do they do with him once Beltran gets back from the DL? Bench him? Trade him? Platoon him with Francoeur in right?? Put him in right and trade Frenchy?

Well, if Jerry Manuel (if he's still the manager by then) benches him he will be more upset with the Mets than he was with the Angels, I guarantee that!

If Omar Minaya trades him, we get some value in return, maybe a pitcher or second baseman? His value could go up if he does well. But if Omar does trade him, he shouldn't trade him until after Interleague play, because that way the Mets would have Bay at DH and GMJ in left.
Platoon him with Frenchy? What purpose does that serve? You tell me.

Trade Francoeur? Why trade a guy who has become a leader of your team when there are no other outspoken leaders on the team?

This may seem like a bit of a head scratcher because there are still options on the free agent market, such as Rocco Baldelli, Ryan Freel, Reed Johnson, but there aren't such great options, are they?

This is a very interesting trade, it makes me wonder what else Omar has up his sleeve. Is there a Ben Sheets signing in the Mets future? How long is Beltran REALLY going to be out? What happens to Luis Castillo? Does David Wright bounce back from the power outage of last year?

All of those questions will be answered in due time.
One question has been answered: "Who is going to be in center field while Beltran is out?" The answer: Gary Matthews Jr.

2 extra bits about GMJ:
1. Matthews is being paid a half a million dollars for being traded.
2. Matthews played in 2 games for the Mets (1 at-bat) in 2002, before being traded to the Orioles on April 3rd of that year.