ESPN’s Buster Olney opines that the Mets should not commit to Yoenis Cespedes, as they’d be better served holding onto the remaining resources they have in order to see what needs might arise during the season (ESPN Insider subscription required). Barring a sudden increase in payroll from ownership, he says, rashly pursuing Cespedes could prevent the team from addressing a more significant area this coming summer. But public pressure is growing for New York to make a play for the team’s 2015 trade-deadline star, he notes.
More on the market …
- John Harper of the New York Daily News feels that the Justin Upton signing further adds to the pressure on the Mets, though he also adds that the $132.75MM guarantee probably indicates that Upton had significant interest from multiple teams. If that’s the case, some of those clubs could very well turn their attention to Cespedes. If Cespedes lands a comparable or greater deal, Harper points out, it will explain why the Mets failed to bring him back into the fold. However, if he signs for three or four years elsewhere, Harper believes it’ll be hard for the Mets to justify their lack of spending. As we’ve discussed often here at MLBTR, though, short-term or even mid-range scenarios such as Harper describes continue to appear unlikely for Cespedes, who — like Upton — still figures to find a large and lengthy guarantee despite his extended wait on the market.
- When evaluating baseball contracts, the concept of deferred money is both rightly referenced and often misunderstood. Dave Cameron of Fangraphs provides good perspective on the recent Chris Davis deal, explaining that the total value of his contract can’t just be discounted all the way to one, lump-sum present value — at least, that is, unless we treat every other contract the same way. (Point being: we typically add up future payouts in multi-year deals without discounting their value, even though the same rationale applies to all money owed in the future, whether or not “deferred.”) Cameron attempts to put the Davis deal on roughly the same footing as a more typically structured deal that pays out annual salaries in the year they are earned, concluding that the $161MM guarantee is probably best thought of as a $148MM pact.
- Veteran reliever Joe Nathan is getting bites from around ten teams, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. Nathan is looking to come back from Tommy John surgery at 41 years of age. While he’s not likely to be signed with any grand expectations, and struggled in his most recent run with the Tigers, it’s easy to see why teams would be willing to give him a shot given that he remained productive well in his late thirties.
- Free agency is typically the most straightforward way to address a need, and Anthony Castrovince of Sports on Earth looks at what teams have done to address the biggest problem areas around the league from the 2015 season.
Over the years, it’s been increasingly clear to me that American League owners are either “Richer”…..or “More willing to spend their money on bats” than NL owners. This year’s FA situation is no different. Sure, the D-Backs did sign Greinke to a huge deal. And the Giants inked Cueto to a $100 mil+++ deal……..but when it comes to bats, the AL seems to win every Off-Season……smh.
If it is primarily because of the DH (and I can see that viewpoint)……then the NL needs to move towards adding the DH at a quickened pace than what’s being discussed right now.
However……if it’s because the NL does a better job of recruiting, a better job of building a farm system…….so they don’t necessarily need to sign those expensive FA’s……then I support them (and applaud them) in their frugality.
NL has been lacking Parity for a while at least not to the degree the AL has, you can not really eliminate any AL team at this point from contending, you can eliminate about 5-6 NL teams from any chance of contending at this moment, that is 5-6 teams alone not even trying.
But even the teams that are going to contend seem to be trying to do it without making a big splash. Most of my frustration is centered around the fact that I am in 2 Fantasy Baseball Leagues that are NL-only Keeper Leagues…..and every year it seems like we lose more of the big bats to the AL.
This winter, I have Cespedes, Upton, and Bruce on my roster (I’ve already lost Castro….but that’s not a big deal)….I did get lucky with Heyward though. It just seems like those AL clubs are more willing to spend.
We gotta get the DH over here!!!
I would tend to agree with that, if the NL had the DH, Cespedes would have been signed to the Mets months ago.
Could you imagine what Daniel Murphy’s market would have been with an NL DH?
His gold glove showing in LF isn’t enough to convince them? DH has nothing to do with that. Cespy is an exceptional corner OF with good speed, steady hands, and a rocket arm.
Yuck. I’ll be so disappointed if the NL adopts the DH. I know it’ll never happen, but I’d rather see the AL drop the DH before the seeing the NL add it.
5 teams not trying is not that bad. You’re always going to have some teams that try to tank, that’s just the nature of sports. Plus, I think the cyclical nature of the league benefits small market teams, which helps balance the advantage of having more money to spend
It is a really, really dumb commitment to Cespedes, when Carlos Gomez and/or Colby Rasmus are going to be available at the deadline for a mid (Gomez) or lower level (Rasmus) prospect. Why waste the money on Cespedes when both corner OF spots are filled?
Well, in his walk year, Cespedes cost Michael Fullmer, who is a top prospect. So I’m not sure what makes you think Gomez could be gotten for a mid-to-lower-level prospect, especially when the Astros will probably be in contention, and would be obliged to let him walk and take the pick if they can’t get the return they want.
The Mets have obviously graduated a good chunk of talent, and used some of their system to make their deadline acquisitions last year. They really aren’t in an ideal position to deal from their system again. Cespedes costs only money, and while both corner outfield spots are filled, they’re taken by a 35-year old Curtis Granderson, who could easily regress from one of his best seasons in his career, and Michael Conforto, who still only has 194 regular season plate appearances under his belt.
If the Mets were to bring back Cespedes on, say, a four-year deal. He only has to play center for two of them. And with Lagares as your fourth OF, he can easily be used as a defensive replacement late like they did in the playoffs, removing Granderson or Conforto depending on how the lineup shakes out.
What guarantees one or both of them will be on the market? I can see one of them being on as a way for the Astros to relieve cap and get some value back for guys who are most likely walking at the end of the year, but both of them being available would only happen if the Astros are out of the race by the deadline. Even if they aren’t out, keeping them might not be a bad idea if both are playing well and the team is in contention.
Zero guarantee’s that either Gomez or Rasmus would be available at the deadline. Also no guarantee’s the Mets aren’t 10+ games back in the division at the deadline. Signing a productive player for his market value who just helped carry you to a World Series isn’t exactly what I’d call a “waste of money.”
All that matters is if the upgrade is worth the cost. If it is, you make the improvement. For next year, cespedes is a better option than any of the 3 outfielders the mets have. The question just comes down to the cost in proportion to the impact of the upgrade
First my Red Sox trade Cespedes for Porcello, which I always hated, and the White Sox are refusing to pay him. Live in Chicago and so badly want them to be good since I’ve loved them since they bounced us in 05 but the fact they play this we’re contending but we’re okay with this team act is ridiculous. Jerry and Ken you owe it to your fans to play like a large market team. No one wants to go to a game when the expectation is they will lose so the fact attendance is your excuse is horrible. Stop paying up for the likes of LaRoche, Danks, or Dunn and maybe you wouldn’t be so weary of the price to grab Cespedes. This 3 year plan is a joke and the Sox are quickly becoming more of a joke to Chicago than the Bears are.
Especially with what is going on around them within their own division it is ridiculous the White Sox aren’t pursuing Cespedes more aggressively. They have a lot of money coming off the books over the next few years & they need a productive bat in the OF. They could structure a deal back loading most of the $ into later years as contracts like LaRoche & Danks come off. You have one of if not the best pitcher in baseball controllable & on the cheap for the next few years. Now is the time to get aggressive but instead they do what they always do, they play tight with the cash while trading away talent for 1 year fliers hoping to strike magic. They sell this BS to their fan base year after year & typically get away with it, because their fanbase allows them to.
Gallardo is a sample when numbers can be wrong while his k/9 declined he is really transitioning into a pitcher, I actually see him on the rise, You do not see many pitchers execute on locations in the way he did in his first game against the blue jays, most pitchers get by on pure stuff being able to locate is just a bonus, this goes beyond control and commanding the strikezone and where the umpire views it, he owned down and away against the great line up the blue jays had another off season of work and he could be primed to do great things.