The Mets face two contractual options after the season:
- Jose Reyes has an $11MM club option with a $500K buyout. Reyes may be off to a slow start, but it's difficult to see the Mets declining.
- Alex Cora's $2MM for 2011 vests with 80 starts. He probably won't get there, but sometimes there's still a club option if it does not vest.
The Mets could free up Cora's $2MM, plus another $8MM or so for other departing free agents. They aren't big names – only Pedro Feliciano and Kelvim Escobar are earning over $1MM in 2010.
On the other side of the ledger, the Mets' increases to players under contract total $16.5MM. Jason Bay leads with a $9.5MM bump, while David Wright has a $4MM increase.
Expect non-tenders in the arbitration bunch, but the Mets' projected first-time players include Mike Pelfrey, Fernando Nieve, and Manny Acosta. Sean Green goes for the second time, while Jeff Francoeur, John Maine, and Angel Pagan are third-timers.
It appears that the Mets will have to raise payroll by over $10MM in 2011 just to cover raises to their current players. They might need to get back to the $140 millions to have room in the budget for quality additions.
Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.
Does this include Bonilla’s money?
that starts next year! not sure if it counts towards their payroll/luxury tax calculations.
this list looks pretty complete, but i think you forgot to add in the contract they’ll sign next january to make the the team all-better in a hurry. that’s probably about $15-16 per annum.
if ike davis doesn’t smash at least 25 ding-dongs, this team has four years of carlos-pena-quick-fix written all over it.
dump cora and tatis now.
that 4M could be used to pay over slot in the draft
If Cora’s option doens’t vest I don’t see him back… Rather give the backup job to Rubin Tejada then have him start at 2B in 2012 when Castillo is gone… Id like Feliciano back, but Escobar hasnt been needed and the mets Pen so far has been great.
Maybe if Escobar comes back Meija can go down and get ready to start. THat way Maine can be non-tendered and Meija can start to save money.
Green is worthless, so should be gone but Nieve, Pelfrey, Francouer and Pagan will be either tendered contracts, or signed to a deal…(Nieve and Pagan i see going to arbitration where as F-Core and Pelf get 2-3year deals atleast…)
not a chance, you got to let tejada develop in the minors. The mets won’t bring him up to ride the bench or play 1-2 days a week. If there’s an injury they’ll call him up otherwise he’ll be up when rosters expand.
bye bye Green, Maine and Acosta. and as good as frenchy has been so far, he’s gonna cost 7-8 mill next year and if f-mart has a good year in AAA frenchy will be expendable.
Cora can stay on the team, but as the manager. Get rid of the rest. Several times I thought that Reyes had value before the season. I think he should be traded for prospects.
You’re never going to get back equal value if you deal Reyes – regardless of injury history. To put it simply, he has so many assets and is such a critical part of this team (+defense at SS with the glove and arm, leadoff hitter, speed, +plate production, team and clubhouse spark plug, more speed) that there’s no way you’re going to get enough coming back in a deal to make up for his loss.
Isn’t Manny Acosta a Brave?
If F-Mart can handle CF, u can have an OF of Bay-Fmart-Frenchy with Pagan as the 4th OF…Beltran at age 34 will go to an AL team…u can bank on that…Boras knows the Yanks and Sox can both use Beltran in CF for at least 2 more years…Mets are better off trading Beltran ( who is my fave Met ) to either the Yanks or Sox for pitching ( Hughes or Lester ).
the money they save can be used to pay Cliff Lee ( 20 mil x 4 years ). A rotation of Santana, Lee, Niese, Pelfrey, Ollie is not too shabby…I am starting to think that maybe they are grooming Mejia to seriously take over for K-Rod ( who’s contract is up next year ) and makes 12 mil a year.
Any rotation with Ollie in it IS “too shabby.”
Leaving Mejia in the pen would be a monumental mistake. This is a kid who scouts compare favorably to Ulbaldo Jimenez (++fastball (with crazy sink), +curve/slider, & +change). You don’t put a pitcher who has 3 +pitches in the pen; you give that guy every chance imaginable to make it as a starter.
Besides, even a mediocre starter (think 4.30-4.60 ERA) is 2-3 times more valuable than even a top-notch closer. The stat is called WAR. I recommend you get familiar with it because it can tell you a lot.
And you’re not going to get Epstein to give up Lester for Beltran. Maybe Casey Kelly or Westmoreland, but not Lester. Hughes would be realistic (with at least 1 more prospect), but I would think you could get more from someone else and not help the Yankees.
Lee would be a great guy to get though. (probably wishful thinking knowing the Wilpons)
Krod has a vesting option at 17.5 mil (wtF!!!!) if he closes out 100 games between this and next season. I don’t seem him leaving quite yet barring an injury.
In a dream world, they’d find a playmate for Castillo and Perez, but odds are they’re going to eat (just like ollie…see what i did there) a lot of that salary…eeerrr, all of it.
I’m with JM, Beltran might be one of my favorites of the past decade, but if he can come back by mid June and put up a HOT june/july and we can send him to an AL contender for a pitching prospect or two…it’s fun to actually watch some home grown talent for once as a met fan…
fyi – after next year, castillo ( replaced by havens/tejada )…k-rod ( replaced by mejia / maine )…perez ( replaced by gee )…and beltran ( replaced by pagan/f-mart ) become free agents…the mets will have 50.5 mil come off their books…more than enough to sign Pujols/Howard/Gonzalez/Fielder and an ace ( lee ? ) if Ike does not pan out….bringing up Ike now was the best move they could have done…it gives them a chance to evaluate his bat/glove for 2 years before the big guns become free-agents
o and fyi – cc sabathia can opt out of his contract after next year…so if the boo-birds start coming in the bronx and he wants to put his services on the market again…there is a small chance he becomes a free-agent again…
imagine a rotation of santana…lee…sabathia…pelfrey….mejia/gee
fyi – after next year, castillo ( replaced by havens/tejada )…k-rod ( replaced by mejia / maine )…perez ( replaced by gee )…and beltran ( replaced by pagan/f-mart ) become free agents…the mets will have 50.5 mil come off their books…more than enough to sign Pujols/Howard/Gonzalez/Fielder and an ace ( lee ? ) if Ike does not pan out….bringing up Ike now was the best move they could have done…it gives them a chance to evaluate his bat/glove for 2 years before the big guns become free-agents
o and fyi – cc sabathia can opt out of his contract after next year…so if the boo-birds start coming in the bronx and he wants to put his services on the market again…there is a small chance he becomes a free-agent again…
imagine a rotation of santana…lee…sabathia…pelfrey….mejia/gee
Now that Mets have Ike, what’s the chance of trading Murphy?