The identity of the Met prospect was not immediately known — but it's hard to envision it being Lastings Milledge, the jewel of their minor-league system.

Getting Lo Duca would give the Mets a starting catcher and continue their extremely aggressive offseason so far. They have already added star free-agent closer Billy Wagner and slugging first baseman Carlos Delgado, the latter coming in a trade with the fire sale Marlins two weeks ago.

Lo Duca batted .283 with six homers and 57 RBIs this past season and threw out 21 percent of runners trying to steal. The backstop, 34 in April, is owed $12.5M over the next two years.

The Mets have looked at various catching options this offseason as they tried to find a successor to Mike Piazza. In addition to talking about Lo Duca, they put out offers to free agents Ramon Hernandez and Bengie Molina and also had discussions with the Devil Rays about Toby Hall. Yesterday, multiple sources said the Mets are one of several teams interested in Atlanta's Johnny Estrada, who is expected to be traded during the winter meetings. All these scenarios could, of course, be revisited by the Mets if they do not end up getting Lo Duca.

Meanwhile, the Mets' division rivals continue to weaken. Not only have the Phillies lost Wagner and the Marlins lost Delgado (as well as Josh Beckett and Luis Castillo) but now reportedly the Braves have lost shortstop and leadoff hitter Rafael Furcal. According a report late last night, Furcal was nearing a three-year deal with the Dodgers for $39 million.

The Mets had interest in Furcal to play second base earlier in the offseason but apparently went away from him recently. As for other second-base possibilities for the Mets, they have had discussions with the Devil Rays about Julio Lugo, and one industry source said Friday that free agent Mark Grudzielanek appears to be the player they now want at second. They've also shown interest in both Tony Graffanino and D'Angelo Jimenez, who could potentially factor in as utility players or perhaps at second.

Southpaw reliever Ricardo Rincon's agent, Dave Stewart, said yesterday afternoon that he and Met GM Omar Minaya "played phone tag" yesterday and noted that he was closer to getting a deal done with other clubs than with the Mets.