The Mets are nearing a five-year extension with left-hander Jonathon Niese. Here’s an update on the contract talks and some more notes on New York’s National League team…
- The Mets’ proposal to Niese includes two option years, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (Twitter links). This is to be expected, since the deals for Derek Holland, Trevor Cahill and Clay Buchholz all included two team option years as well.
- A Mets official suggested the team may platoon Jason Bay in left field if he's struggling six or seven weeks into the season, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports. Team executives aren't discussing the idea yet and say it's too early to worry seriously about Bay, who has $32MM remaining on his contract with the Mets.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post wonders how much speed the Mets will have without Jose Reyes and Angel Pagan.
Locking up Niese is a good sign that Sandys purse strings may be lightening a bit
It’s also a good sign that Sandy may be able to do some long-term planning and payroll structuring, now that the Mets have more certainty w/r/t their financial obligations over the next few years.
Enough about speed. Where did Reyes 50 SBs get us?
He hasn’t even had 50 since 2008. He had 30 in 2010 and 39 in 2011. Reyes as much as I like him as a player has not been using his speed nearly as much in recent years.
stolen bases are not part of the moneyball equation, so this is a non-issue
– Niese is a good, young pitcher who is often overlooked because he plays on the Mets. Signing him to an extension would be a good move.
– Bay will be fine. Moving the fences in at Citi Field could give him more confidence. It could also boost his numbers up a bit. His replacement probably would not be as good as him.
– Where’s the speed? Andres Torres, Ruben Tejada, David Wright (if healthy), Jason Bay. My predictions for them (respectively): 25 SB, 12, 21, 14.
I don’t know…I think Theo got it right with Bay. I love the guy, but 32MM still left on the contract? That’s maniacal.
They should have just moved home plate closer to the outfield. It would have been a lot cheaper.
Pitching, pitching, and more pitching. That’s what the Mets need to focus on. They need to develop a closer, possibly Mejia or Familia, and Harvey and Wheelerlook as though they will be staples of the rotation for years to come.
Between Parnell, Familia, and Mejia in the bullpen and Wheeler, Harvey, and Niese in the rotation the Mets have some good young arms that could dominate the league for a while.
As much as I like Harvey, Wheeler, and all the other young pitchers, I’m not trusting them to be staples of the rotation until they have some major league success. Lastings Milledge, Fernando Martinez, and Carlos Gomez was supposed to be our starting OF for 10-15 years, and none made an impact for the Mets. So I love prospects, and I love a deep farm system, but until these guys produce at Citi Field, I’m not calling them staples of anything.
He should had did some long term planning and traded Reyes at his valued peek. the only long term planning was selling Reyes jerseys until he left without a contract offer.
The Mets are just posturing with Bay. They do not want his option to vest so they will try to shave as many ABs off as possible without inciting a Player’s Association grievance.