Adam Rubin provides a nice roundup of the issues facing the Mets at the Winter Meetings in this morning’s Daily News.

It’s a reasonable assessment of the Mets’ needs and what Omar Minaya is and should be doing. One sentence gave me pause, though:

While the Mets dither, Chone Figgins (not a power threat, but a left field candidate) is headed to Seattle. And Marlon Byrd soon will be off the board, too.

“Dithering,” as detailed by Dave Tomar in this Perpetual Post piece from not too long ago, became a popular word recently among critics of Barack Obama — most notably Dick Cheney — to describe his inaction in Afghanistan.

Rubin’s use of the verb could have been coincidental or tongue-in-cheek, but, given his very public history with Minaya, it’s certainly curious. “Dithering,” after all, connotes timid indecisiveness, and there’s no prior evidence presented in Rubin’s news article to suggest the team lacks a plan or is sitting around wondering what to while players like Figgins and Byrd fly off the board.

That could very well be the case, of course, but the Mets should absolutely not be criticized for allowing Figgins (at four years and $36 million) and Byrd get away. Neither is a perfect fit for the team — neither even really addresses the needs Rubin states in the feature — so the Mets were appropriately inactive.

Beyond that, there’s really no negative fallout from “dithering” at this point in the offseason. The Mets have until March to put together the best roster possible. And patience could be a good thing.