Here's the latest from Citi Field…
- Bartolo Colon's two-year, $20MM deal with the Mets breaks down as $9MM in 2014 and $11MM in 2015, ESPN New York's Adam Rubin reports. Rubin estimates that the Mets' 2014 payroll currently sits at roughly $85.9MM.
- The Mets discussed Jerome Williams earlier this offseason, MLB.com's Anthony DiComo tweets, though his name hasn't come up since Colon signed. Williams is hoping to find a full-time rotation job and the Mets can't guarantee him a regular turn. At least eight to 10 teams checked in on Williams after he was non-tendered by the Angels, and he already received a few offers during the Winter Meetings, with most of the interest coming from the AL West and AL Central.
- Since the Mets don't project to be contenders in 2014, ESPN's Buster Olney opines (Insider subscription required) that signing Stephen Drew doesn't make sense for the team, barring the unlikely event that Drew agrees to a team-friendly one-year deal.
- In other Mets-related news from earlier today, the Mets signed Taylor Teagarden to a minor league deal and Brewers GM Doug Melvin said he was in "ongoing discussions" with Mets GM Sandy Alderson about a trade involving a first baseman (namely, Ike Davis) but nothing has materialized.
I mean if the Mets sign Drew, I think that could potentially make them contenders.
Don’t look at Drew’s 2013. It was somewhat fluky. He’s about a league average player, and one with an injury history to boot. Despite the temptation of reaching out and grabbing the small improvement he would bring, for a year or two, it’s not worth it.
While I agree that Drew would probably not be a worthwhile acquisition for the Met’s, his 2013 is not exactly a fluke season. It’s quite on par with previous healthy seasons, and its not even his best one at that
Stephen Drew is literally bad. He’s so far from an impact player. He has zero value for the Mets right now.
Contenders? You can’t be serious. They still have work to do even if they get Drew. An impact bat in the OF (Chris Young won’t cut it!), a veteran late inning reliever, a 2nd baseman (although I’d like Flores to man 2B & Murph at 1B if Davis gets traded), and a couple of starters for depth purposes. Knowing our history of guys going down during the season, that’s imperative.
I needed a good laugh today.
Drew would be future trade bait
Williams didn’t light the house on fire, but he was worth the 3.9 mil in my opinion, even with the additions of Santiago/Skaggs, and non-tendering him was a fail. He could have been included in a trade at the worst.
hes worth a 2 year deal, just not 2yrs at 12-14 mil per like hes looking for. he would already be a met if he was into getting 2 for 20mil
if he wanted 2 for 20 he would’ve just taken the qualifying offer.
It’s silly to rule out the Mets as contenders in an extremely weak NL East. With the Phillies and the Marlins being two of the worst teams in baseball, and with the high performance deviation of young players that should occupy the Mets roster, calling the Mets certain non-contenders is foolish.
For instance, if Syndergaard has a Harvey like impact upon reaching the majors, d’Arnaud develops into his prospect potential, Wheeler sharpens his command, and Montero and deGrom become useful pieces, the Mets being contenders in 2014 is not far fetched.
The problem is you have 5 “if’s” in there. The chances of all 5 of those things happening, especially all of them happening this year with their youth, is extremely unlikely. For one, you want Syndergaard to have a Harvey-like impact. That’s a lot to ask of a guy, even as highly regarded as Syndergaard. Wheeler has had command issues his entire career–those aren’t likely to go away, though they may improve some. Montero and deGrom both becoming useful major league pieces this year is unlikely. And d’Arnaud has extreme injury issues.
It’s theoretically feasible the Mets are contenders,if a WHOLE LOT of things go right. But realistically, they stand a better chance a year or two down the road.
I love the optimism from the original reply, but you hit the nail on the head. Theres just too many “if’s”, same thing was going thru people’s heads last year. Theres a chance, but when it’s like not even a single percent you’re not going to get people calling you contenders. 5 prospects having breakout years all at once, has that ever happened before? Even just saying 3 prospects having a breakout year is beyond exceptional, not to mention a lot of people don’t put a lot of stock in Montero or deGrom.
I’ve posted less and less on my beloved team this last year and a half, Harvey going down really ruined the chances this year; I’ll personally just be very happy to see 1 or 2 prospects breaking out, possibly giving us the foundation for the future. Quick fixes and luck are not what I want to rely on as a franchise.
I agree. After all, it is the Mets. Rather than 5 prospects breaking out, the more likely scenario is one of the 5 starters gets hurt and misses at least half a season. If Mejia makes the team, he may be good for 140 innings. Wheeler won 7 games in 100 innings last year. I’ll be optimistic and double that. Closer is uncertain at this point. #1 or 2 starter is 40 years old. Plus there are still lots of questions about the position players. 1B, SS, C may improve a lot this year, but may not. I think a .500 record is more than acceptable in 2014.
What are you talking about. There’s no chance of the Mets in contention with the Braves being significantly better, the Nationals having much more talent and the NL Central teams controlling the wild card. You’re living in a dream if you legit believe they can be contenders. 2014 is a just going to be a year of having a winning record to propel them in a contending 2015 with Harvey returning.
Why would paying top dollar for Drew on a pillow contract make sense for the mets in a non-contending year when they have a cheap in house option in Tejeda? If anything he only makes sense on a multi-year deal so that he’s around when Harvey comes back and the mets can contend. Good SS’s are hard to come by and there’s no guarantee one will be around in the near future for the mets to sign.
yeah and I’m not even sure he’s all that great anyways. is he going to be less injury prone now that he’s 30??
Exactly. Have to shake my head sometimes. Also, they will never
compete if they don’t build somewhere. Drew eliminates a big hole at one
of the key positions in baseball. Top 10 SS don’t grow on trees, you
either develop them, and Tejeda has been a bust, or you sign them as
free agents, or you trade something of value for them. Drew costs a 3rd
round round pick and should be reasonably priced over 3 years before
he hits the steeper decline curve.. In a market as large as NY, even a shared one, the money will flow if the team shows fans a competitor.
Also,
if Tejeda ever does show signs of being ready in a platoon situation
for Drew, Drew will bring something of value in a trade.
Top 10 shortstops may not grow on trees, but three of them are available via free agency next off-season. Hardy, Escobar, Lowrie….all within the top 10 WAR last season at the position.
Tejada is terrible.
The Mets should sign Drew because their only shot at contention in the next 4-5 years is on the back of young pitching. They just can’t risk their development on a guy like Ruben Tejada. He seriously regressed in the field last season and offers no upside at all with the bat. A .350 OBP without any power or speed. Payroll has a lot of room to grow to be even close to league average. An offseason with Chris Young at $7m and Tejada at short is a bad offseason.
A .350 OBP is awesome from an SS, regardless of power or speed. If Tejeda could do that consistently he’d be a top 10 SS easy and the Mets wouldn’t need to consider Drew at all.
The Mets should get more production out of SS, C, 1B and CF this year (Lagares can easily improve and d’Arnaud can play up to his potential.)
I fail to see the logic of Drew making sense for the Mets only on a 1 yr deal for 2014, the year Olney claims they won’t contend. How about 3 years if it means they may contend in 2015 and/or 2016?
The Mets should play the young guys in 2014 and wait until 2015 to make significant moves. Their division could potentially be much easier in 2015 if the Phillies rebuild or get older and the Braves have to trade some of their arbitration eligible talent.
the mets should offer him basically the qualifying offer he rejected, give up that third round pick. then next season offer him arb and turn that 3rd into a comp pick and reconsider their options again. is anyone really offering him a better deal than that at this point?
the problem with that is that the qual offer amount for next year is def going to be $15 mil or higher. so if they sign him to a 1yr $14.1 mil deal and give him $15 mil next he is extremely overpaid at 2yrs $29mil. the mets have nothing of value that will be up in the next 2 years to play ss, so why not give him 2yrs $22-24 mil max? if the mets are so steadfast on going with a one year deal, then give him a one year with an easy attainable 2nd year option based on plate appearances.
Its hilarious how many comments on here are suggesting to take him and there’s no reason for it. Please read his stats before posting fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=4251&posit…