The Mets announced today that they’ve selected the contract of Bobby Abreu, who will join the club as a bench bat and part-time outfielder. New York signed the former Phillies/Yankees slugger to a minor league deal after Philadelphia released him near the end of Spring Training. Abreu slashed .395/.489/.579 with a homer, four doubles and a 7-to-5 K:BB ratio for the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate prior to his promotion. Here’s more on the Amazins…
- ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin writes that following the departure of Ike Davis in a trade to the Pirates, the Mets’ payroll now sits at an estimated $86.1MM. Rubin’s estimate is based on his discussions with a team official that estimate $4-4.5MM for paying players that are replacing those who are injured (e.g. Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Juan Lagares are both collecting an MLB paycheck at the moment). In a separate piece, Rubin also looks at the rarity of mid-April trades for the Mets and runs own the history of such transactions.
- With Davis out the door, Newsday’s David Lennon opines that Lucas Duda needs to become the cleanup hitter the Mets are looking for instead of being sheltered lower in the lineup. Curtis Granderson, signed for four years and $60MM to fill a run-producing role, was frank with Lennon in stating, “I haven’t given [the fans] much to cheer about.”
- Mike Puma of the New York Post reports that the Mets have not yet decided whether or not they will make a contract offer to free agent closer Joel Hanrahan (Twitter link). Hanrahan reportedly looked very impressive in a showcase last week, and the Mets were one of about 20 teams that had scouts on hand to watch him throw.
How are Bobby Abreu and Jose Dariel Abreu related?
It would be pretty cool if they got to play with each other.
Bobby seems to be an on base machine like in the good old days. Good fit for the Mets, but would be even better with a contender, coming off the bench.
They’re not related. Abreu is a very common surname in many parts of the world. They’re not even from the same country…
Thanks for clearing that out.
What do you think of Bobby Abreu as an addition to the Mets? I’d say there are several teams he would be a better fit, considering Mets aren’t going to any playoffs this year.
I think he’s a guy who’s going to fill a roster slot for awhile. He’s looked good in AAA, but Alex Gonzalez looked good on Opening Day for the Tigers too. He doesn’t belong on a contending team and we’ll see if he even belongs in the majors.
I know its early but Granderson has looked beyond horrible. If his swing slows down in the next 3 years, this contract will be comparable to Bay’s.
The Granderson signing doesn’t make any sense.
Mets are at least two years away from contending, and Granderson has limited value in a pitcher friendly ballpark.
Now, if he’d gone to Houston, Colorado, Chicago or Texas, that’d be a different issue. But Mets? Sorry, I don’t see it.
I was of course being figuratively speaking when I wrote “I don’t see it”.
I have seen that Granderson plays for the Mets.
he’s on track for the same number of strike outs as in 2012
problem is in 2012 he had 106 RBI’s. with the mets there is no one on base to hit a sacrifice fly for
Ok. Didn’t know that.
Great tip.
Also dont see him hitting 30+ homeruns in that park. I think he ends up in the low 20s.
Granderson has looked awful. So far the Mets appear to have made another fail signing. I know is early and things could change some, however Granderson track history points toward lots of strikes out and homeruns at friendly homerun parks which at this ball park will greatly decrease. As far as Bobby Abreu goes good luck.
If he’s still doing terrible in June then we have a problem… hopefully he picks it up before then though. To be honest I wanted the Mets to bite on Choo badly this offseason as I felt he would of made far more sense to sign even if it was for over $100 million.
Who’s first to 2 HR? Abreu or Granderson?