It’s still very early in the offseason, but there was a trio of deals yesterday — one bigger than the others. All appear to have at least some implications for the Mets’ offseason, so I figured I’d run through them quickly here.

The deal: Marlins trade Dan Uggla to the Braves for Omar Infante and Mike Dunn.

Why they did it: The Braves traded from strength to instantly upgrade their offense with Uggla, who’s good for 30 home runs a year and an OBP around .360. The Marlins save money — Uggla earned $7.8 million last year and is entering his last arbitration year coming off the best offensive season, while Infante stands to make only $2.5 million. They also add a promising, if wild, young reliever in Dunn.

Local flavor: It means a) the Braves appear set to be pretty damn good next year and b) the Mets will not get Dan Uggla to play second base in 2011. The first point is more troubling than the second; while Uggla would make the Mets a much better team in 2011, to keep him around beyond next year they’d need to give him a pretty hefty extension. Uggla already isn’t much of a fielder, and he’s only likely to get worse as he ages.

The deal: Marlins and catcher John Buck agree to a three-year, $18 million deal.

Why they did it: Ahh… Well, Buck had a nice season last year, though it certainly doesn’t seem sustainable. Buck walked only 16 times in 437 plate appearances — the lowest walk rate of his career — and enjoyed a batting average and batting average on balls in play that were about 40 points higher than his career norms. And the Marlins needed a catcher.

Local flavor: The Mets will need a catcher as well. Josh Thole played well enough in his first 90 Major League games to earn the chance to start out of the gate in 2011, but a contingency plan and backup is necessary. Seems to me they’d be best-served finding a guy healthy enough to hold up as a starter if Thole falters, rather than a career backup like fan favorites Ramon Castro or Henry Blanco (incidentally, Rod Barajas might not be a bad choice). It’s way too early in the offseason to say if Buck’s seemingly too-big contract reflects some weird shift in the catching market, though.

The deal: Cardinals sign Jake Westbrook to a two-year, $16.5 million contract.

Why they did it: A two-year deal for a 33-year-old pitcher who spent most of 2008 and all of 2009 on the disabled list might raise some eyebrows, but Westbrook stayed healthy in 2010 and pitched well for the Cardinals down the stretch, and it’s probably fair to just defer to Dave Duncan on assessing veteran innings-eaters at this point.

Local flavor: With Johan Santana out for who-knows-how-long, the Mets definitely need starting pitching this offseason. Cliff Lee is out of their price range, and both Ted Lilly and Westbrook were locked up by their teams. There are a few decent innings-eating options remaining but it doesn’t appear as though they’ll come cheap this offseason. And there have been conflicting reports on the Mets’ payroll flexibility. If they really only have $5 million to play with — which I tend to doubt, honestly — they’ll likely be priced out of all the reliable starters on the market, and forced to take risks on guys coming off injury or bad seasons.