Moises Alou gives the Mets a proven right-handed hitter to play left field — and another aging regular.

The 40-year-old slugger finalized an $8.5 million, one-year contract yesterday with the NL East champions, who also declined their $14 million option on left-hander Tom Glavine, and swapped young pitchers with the Florida Marlins in a four-player trade.

Alou’s deal includes a $7.5 million club option for 2008 with a $1 million buyout. The six-time All-Star, who gets a $7.5 million salary next season, said he turned down two-year offers from other teams to join the Mets.

“The length of my contract doesn’t really matter at this point in my career,”Alou said.”I wanted to come here because this year — I wanted to win this year.”

The Mets reached Game 7 of the NL championship series this year before losing to the St. Louis Cardinals, who went on to win the World Series. Glavine was a big part of that success, going 15–7 with a 3.82 ERA during the season and 2–1 with a 1.59 ERA in three playoff starts.

But he will be 41 when next season begins and is deciding between staying in New York and trying to return home to Atlanta. Earlier this month, the twotime NL Cy Young Award winner declined his $7.5 million option to stay with the Mets, who would like to keep him for the right price.

“We hope to continue to speak with the agent, negotiate, and hopefully be able to bring Tommy back,” the Mets’ general manager, Omar Minaya, said. “We let them know ahead of time that we were going to make this move.”

Even if Glavine departs, the Mets will have plenty of veterans on the field next year. They recently re-signed 41-year-old pitcher Orlando Hernandez to a $12 million, two-year contract and retained 37-year-old second baseman Jose Valentin with a $3.8 million, oneyear deal.

They brought in 37-year-old backup infielder Damion Easley, adding him to a bench that already includes 48-year-old Julio Franco.

All-Star catcher Paul Lo Duca will turn 35 in April, and right fielder Shawn Green is 34. Two of the Mets’ best players, however, are 23: David Wright and Jose Reyes.

The Mets did add a pair of young pitchers yesterday, acquiring left-handers Jason Vargas and Adam Bostick from Florida for hard-throwing prospects Henry Owens and Matt Lindstrom.

Vargas and Bostick are both 23. Owens and Lindstrom are both righthanders.

Limited to 98 games last season because of ankle and back injuries, Alou hit .301 with 22 homers and 74 RBIs in 345 at-bats for San Francisco. He takes over in left field for popular veteran Cliff Floyd, hobbled by an Achilles’ tendon problem for much of the year.