Yesterday it was reported that the Mets aren't likely to go to three years on Stephen Drew and would need him to be a "steal" in order to get more serious in their pursuit. Here's the latest on the Scott Boras client as he faces a limited market…
- The Red Sox met with Scott Boras today to discuss Drew, tweets Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com.
- In addressing more than 100 reporters today, Boras said that he's received several multiyear offers for Drew, but some are contingent on those teams completing other moves first (Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald reporting on Twitter).
- Newsday's David Lennon speculates (on Twitter) that the Mets could be one of those teams, wondering if their preference is to move Ike Davis and possibly Daniel Murphy before acting.
- Lennon also tweets that Boras said he's spoken with Mets owner Jeff Wilpon.
- The Red Sox are still talking with Stephen Drew and want to retain him, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter).
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Mets should sign Drew at 3yrs/$33M. With that, then add some BP arms and maybe a trade of Davis or Duda… That would be a solid off-season for the Mets IMO.
Line-up: (not batting order)
Young (LF)
Lagares (CF)
Granderson (RF)
Wright (3B)
Drew (SS)
Murphy (2B)
Davis/Duda/Flores (1B)
D’Arnoud (C)
Young JR (Super Sub)
Rotation:
Colon
Wheeler
Niese
Gee
Montero/Mejia
(Syndagaard in waiting)
murphy batting second duda batting 5 wright batting 3. david wright wont leave the number 3 spot. and chris young would play right not left
Bud, he did say “not batting order” in his post.
well still he said young playing left which he would be playing right
I see the Twins signing him to a 4 year deal.
I don’t see the Twins giving up a pick, even though it is a 2nd round, to get him….then also pay him a high salary.
The years might convince Drew to go there for less money. But then again, Boras.
Good ahead and have Drew, we have Bogarts. I think we have the better option with us right now. Drew is a hot cold hitter, and good defender. Bogarts is once step up in every way.
It’s not so much boegarts but their trust in middlebrooks. Sign drew for another year or two and let Xander play third. Trade middlebrooks and lackey/dempster/peavy for an upgrade somewhere else
Dempster and Dubront are expendable. Middlebrooks is not. He has value and personally I think he’s too good to give up now. He did have a crap year, but I have faith in the guy. I just don’t see Drew as a good fit for the Red Sox.
Drew
Murphy
Wright
Granderson
C. Young
Ike/Duda
d’Arnaud
Lagares
Still need another bopper, unless they keep Ike and returns to 2010, first 6 weeks of 2011 and second half of 2012
Power is the least of that lineup’s problems. Wright and Murphy could potentially be the only guys in that lineup to hit better than .250.
Who is the Mets leadoff hitter? If they do this, either they need to get EY2 in there, or Drew is the leadoff hitter. That is NOT a good lineup; it’s Wright and a bunch of guys who are at best marginally above replacement level. Drew is probably the second best hitter in that lineup, and they don’t actually have him.
In what world is Drew a better hitter than Granderson? He’s not better than Murphy either, assuming he’s still a Met. And it’s a team built around pitching and defense.
Add in that d’Arnaud and Lagares are both young and you’re looking for improvement from them, it would be a decent lineup. Not amazing, but enough to be competitive.
Oh, and marginally better than a replacement level hitter? Seriously? I don’t think you realize what a replacement level hitter is.
Drew was better than Granderson (on a per game basis and overall) in 2013, 2010, and 2008 and about equally good in 2009. There’s no doubt that Granderson provides more power and his best years are better than Drew’s best years. But Granderson is a K machine who is clearly on his way down. Drew reliably walks a ton and has been pretty consistent with his overall numbers. I’ll grant you, it’s close between the two of them, but I expect Drew to have a better year.
Murphy’s overall numbers are close to as good as Drew’s, but were slightly worse (on a park adjusted basis) last season.
I’d be shocekd to see d’Arnaud hit next year. Lagares is the Mets best hope for some improvement.
I do know what a replacement level player is. It’s a borderline major leaguer. Look at the Mets players’s WAR (bbref). Wright’s is good. Lagares’s was good last year, so maybe he’l prove to be that good. Murphy is better than average. No other hitter returning to the Mets was even worth half a win.
So, yes, you’re right, if they win, it’ll be with defense and pitching, both areas where they might be strong. But their lineup is awful.
The only seasons Drew has had a better wRC+ than Granderson was last year when Granderson was hurt, and in 2010 (110 to 113 isn’t much of a difference though). Murphy was about an equal hitter to Drew but managed to post about the same WAR even with his bad defense compared to Drew’s very good defense. And the only reason no other returning hitter posted any respectable WAR is because that only leaves d’Arnaud and Davis. d’Arnaud had a little over a month where he struggled, like a lot of rookies do, and we all know what happened to Davis. I think everyone expects for d’Arnaud to improve, there’s a reason he was a top ten prospect in ALL of baseball. And as for Davis, who knows. Maybe Duda gets the playing time. But there will most definitely be improvement at tat position.
d’Arnaud will definitely get better. Even this season. But it’s unrealistic to expect a rookie catcher, with a big K problem and a history of being inconsistent to be a plus offensive player. Don’t forget, positional value is huge in prospect ratings, and d’Arnaud’s rating substantially reflects that he’s a plus defensive catcher.
Now, will the Mets be better offensively next year? Probably, since you could put out the same 8 guys and they’d probably be better next year than they were this year. But this is not a strong offensive team, which is why they’re rightly focused on pitching.
Murphy and Davis get traded.
Position Players: (not batting order)
Granderson (LF)
Lagares (CF)
Young (RF)
Wright (3B)
Drew (SS)
Flores (2B)
Duda/Saten (1B)
D’Arnoud (C)
Young JR (Super Sub)
Rotation:
Colon
Wheeler
Niese
Gee
Mejia
Montero/deGrom/Syndagaard (Call-ups)
I don’t love your spelling but I don’t disagree too much with your list. A couple of comments-
I don’t think Drew would like being platooned after signing the contract he will undoubtedly sign but the truth is that a Drew/Tejada platoon would be much better than Drew alone. Tejada is a much, much, much better hitter against lefties.
On the rotation, I don’t know if you have any specific order there, but it would likely be Colón, Niese, Gee, Wheeler, Mejía in that order if everyone stays healthy, and I’d be all for the Mets going to a 6 man because Colón’s 41, Niese was injured last year, Gee pitches with a partially torn labrum, Wheeler’s in his first full season, and I think Mejía’s never pitched more than 110 innings in a season. Montero would be #6.
The Mets could also go 6 man at AAA – Syndergaard, DeGrom, Mazzoni, Verrett, Gorski + another guy.
Overall, I’d rather see the Mets trade for an SS prospect.
“Boras said that he’s received several multiyear offers for Drew, but some are contingent on those teams completing other moves first”
RANGERS
Drew has 7.5 years of service time. He at minimum wants a 3 year deal to guarantee he reaches 10 years, which is full pension. I imagine he will end up taking less per year to get that 3rd or 4th year.