The Mets are willing to absorb roughly $2MM of Bartolo Colon’s remaining salary in order to facilitate a trade, sources tell Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. Colon, who earns $9MM in 2014 and $11MM in 2015, has about $14.25MM remaining on his contract at this time.
However, Martino also reports that the growing sense is that if Colon is to be moved this month, it won’t happen until just before the deadline. Many teams consider him a fallback option if they are unable to acquire the likes of David Price, Ian Kennedy and Cliff Lee. The overall price tag on Colon will have dropped to about $13.95MM at that point, meaning that an interested club would have to take on about $11.95MM of salary for eight months of Colon’s pitching (not including any postseason innings, of course).
General manager Sandy Alderson isn’t desperate to move Colon, Martino notes, so if he doesn’t find an offer to his liking in the next week, he can simply hang onto Colon, as he did with Marlon Byrd last summer. (Byrd was eventually dealt to the Pirates in August.) The Mets are willing to wait until August, or even the offseason, to move the veteran right-hander, Martino writes. If the Mets really don’t feel any pressure to trade Colon at this time, it’s fair to wonder just how much Alderson would be willing to budge from that $2MM figure (one would assume, of course, that the Mets would be comfortable eating more salary if the other team paid a greater price in terms of prospects).
Colon’s ERA has spiked from 2.65 in 2013 to 4.03 in 2014, though some metrics — xFIP (3.72 in ’14, 3.95 in ’13) and SIERA (3.76 in ’14, 4.10 in ’13) — feel he’s actually been better than he was last season. That’s likely due to an uptick in his strikeout rate and a slight improvement in his already outstanding walk rate. Colon struggled through his first six weeks with the Mets but has turned in a 2.98 ERA with a 62-to-14 K/BB ratio over his past 84 2/3 innings (12 starts).
The way he’s pitched in Seattle for his career, it seems like a perfect fit. Of course… the common denominator is that he’s pitching against Seattle hitters. :/
You nailed it! Colon along with Rios would be perfect
That would be perfect! I wonder what it would take to get both of them
mets will definitely settle for a non-top prospect. i think they’d prefer to rid themselves of the salary completely.
Bring him back, Arte! “Glory days in the wink of a young girl’s eye, Glory days, glory days”
Wow, a whole 2 million….
The Mets are a small market team now this is big dollars for them…MASSIVE
The Mets play in NY, they are no where near a Small Market team, no matter the payroll.
It was a joke
Their owners have a self-imposed salary cap of 90 million in order to remain the owners.
Why should they have to give anything? It’s not like he’s got a terrible contract.
The Mets are willing to trade their competitive balance draft pick as well….errr wait I thought the Mets were small market for a second
i think the mets are are a bottom 6-7 payroll team
There you go Mariners! Grab your #4 starter
He would probably slot at #3, kicking Young to #4, with Elias/Walker/Paxton rotating through the #5 spot.
If he could be had for a mid-line prospect or a failed player (Justin Smoak? Please?), I would be willing to take a flyer on him for a playoff push. The M’s DO need another bat to be serious contenders, but a top 3 of Felix, Kuma & Colon would at least give the team a chance to win the close games.
Bartolo & David Wright (converted first basemen) to the Mariners for Ketel Marte, Paxton/Maurer, Abraham Almonte/Jabari Blash, Justin Smoak, Emilio Pagan, and a player to be named or international slot would be a good deal. What do you think about this trade proposal if a player or two is swapped out from the list w/ other players?
First of all, NO. Too many prospects for a guy nearing the end (Colon) and a huge contract (Wright) that would blow the budget & gut the farm for years. Erasmo Ramirez (5 years of control) & Smoak for Colon and cash, and it would have to be more than 2 million, or something along those lines.
Why would the Mets want Smoak?
Think Gabriel Guerrero, Austin Wilson, Ketel Marte or one of Seattle’s prospects in the top 8-12 range.
“Why would the Mets want Smoak?”
To reduce the amount of cash coming over with Colon. With his age and contract, I wouldn’t give up much. Especially without more than 2 million in salary relief. And none of the 3 you mentioned.
1) The Mets aren’t giving away Colon as a salary dump. He’s more valuable than that. A 3/4 starter for this season and next is worth a team’s top 15 prospect even if he is 41 and 300 lbs.
2) Smoak serves no purpose for the Mets whatsoever. He would be a waste of a roster spot and the Mets would rather fork over cash than take him in return.
I threw in Smoak’s name because I am so done with him, so forget that idea. Frankly it was more of a plea than an offer.
Since the only reason to take a flyer on Colon in the first place is his history of success at Safeco, combined with his age, physical condition & contract, he isn’t worth a top 15 prospect. Clearly it is a salary dump, or the Mets wouldn’t be offering any cash in the deal. So if it’s just Colon and the 2 mil. they get a warm body or no dice.
“Why would the Mets want Smoak?”
To reduce the amount of cash coming over with Colon. With his age and contract, I wouldn’t give up much. Especially without more than 2 million in salary relief. And none of the 3 you mentioned.
I’m curious to see what the Mets would want in return for him.
Knowing them they’ll ask for a Taijuan Walker type player. They’ll try and hope that a team is as desperate as the Giants were when they traded Zack Wheeler for Beltran. Though obviously the Mets won’t get that lucky again.
How do you know? The Mets got pretty lucky subsequent to the Beltran deal. The Dickey deal and even last year’s Byrd deal (Vic Black and Herrera, who’s tearing it up, for less than two months of Byrd). Wouldn’t be surprised at all for the Mets to get a good haul for Colon.
it came out today that the mets are willing to eat 2M of his contract. however, i think they’d prefer to keep that money and take a lesser prospect. Stupid, but that’s my take.
If all the mets are willing to give up is 2 m in salary relief, the best they can hope for is a player to be named later from the low minors. No one is giving up an A, B, or C prospect plus taking on most of his salary at the same time. The Mets dropped the ball on that one.
he has been useful, just no longer needed. i think the mets would be happy to trade him for nothing more than salary relief and a C level prospect.
I read an article the other day on this and it said that the return would be approximately a top 10 prospect on an average farm. You would scale that up or down according to the farm in question then. Mariners and Cardinals prospects would be more like a Top 15ish player then.
The point is, the Mets aren’t looking for a steal here and the player they get probably will never amount to much anyway. They really are looking for a lottery ticket, a roster spot for Syndergaard, and the salary relief. Colon served his purpose in NY and it’s time to go now.
well said.
Chris Taylor. I would hope they would kick in more the $2 million if this were possible, to get it done.
Nick Franklin isn’t good enough at SS-and they already have Murphy, Flores, and Herrera at 2B. (And frankly, Matt Reynolds as well).
Would a nick franklin be enough?
Like it
his stock is down some, but the mets would likely jump at that. I don’t think the mariners would do it, though with Chris Taylor coming on, who knows.
What about erasmo Ramirez?
I would so do that. Ramirez has been awful.
Doubt it. Flores is essentially a Nick Franklin and the Mets don’t seem inclined to play him
that’s a good point. we can have only so many 2b prospects trying to play SS.
done deal for both sides. next…
It would be too much, unless they added more cash.
How about Bartolo Colon and Daniel Murphy to the Mets for Carl Crawford, Matt Kemp, and a lot of cash to cover a large chunk of their contracts. If the Dodgers cover everything but $5MM per year of Crawford’s contract and $10MM per year of Kemp’s contract, that should work for both teams. The Mets could turn around and trade Kemp and Ruben Santana to the Red Sox for Stephen Drew, Felix Doubrount, Brock Holt, and Jackie Bradley Jr..
Who is Ruben Santana?
Guessing maybe Ruben Tejada, but who knows…
That’s my guess too, but the first step in putting together a trade proposal is having the player’s names right.
Yes, I meant Ruben Tejada.
Rafael’s kid?
Bartolo Colon and Daniel Murphy packaged together and traded to the Orioles? What would the cost be?
The Mets would ask for Dylan Bundy and keep insisting on him.
Bundy I think would be a must. At this point if any of the young Oriole pitchers are included in any deals I think Bundy is the one that could/should be traded. Colon would be a good addition to the rotation and Murphy would solve the second base situation. Mets kick in some cash and I think its a no brainer. Orioles look for bargains this time of year and rarely go for the top trade targets. This would add two solid players that both fill needs while giving the mets some salary relief, gaining a good young controllable arm, and free up second base.
Did any player still active make his debut before Colon did? Jeter, maybe? There’s not many guys who were playing during the Clinton administration still going.
juilo franco ???
say thanks to bud selig for letting it happen.