While he obviously wasn’t able to suit up for the Mets in their Wild Card loss the other night, veteran third baseman David Wright says he’s “really positive and really confident that this neck surgery’s going to hold up.” As Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports, though Wright hasn’t done anything beyond walking yet in terms of physical activity, it seems he’s already regained quite a bit of strength. The biggest tests from a baseball perspective are yet to come, of course. He’s hoping to be cleared for baseball activity in December.
Here’s more from New York:
- There’s no reason the Mets can’t bring back star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes yet again, David Lennon of Newsday suggests. In fact, the club is more confident now than it was last year that a reunion would be possible, with Lennon suggesting that the team believes it has approximately even odds of landing him in free agency. Still, New York isn’t interested in participating in a major bidding war and likely won’t compete past a certain point, he indicates.
- Shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera is getting checked out for the possibility of knee surgery, as Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com tweeted, but no determination has been reported. The balky knee slowed Cabrera at times, but it didn’t stop him from finishing the regular season with a highly productive .280/.336/.474 batting line and 23 home runs. His two-year contract looks to be a bargain, and it’s worth noting that the Mets have an option for 2018 as well.
- It’s worth wondering what the Mets might do in free agency, especially if they don’t land Cespedes, and Joel Sherman of the New York Post has some ideas on the matter. He thinks the time is right for the team to pursue fireballing lefty Aroldis Chapman, and also suggests that a push for slugger Edwin Encarnacion would make sense. It’s an interesting thought, though the same basic reasoning could lead numerous other teams to make lofty bids for these two players — who’ll likely be among the most expensive to sign this winter.
I wouldn’t call signing arguably the two best available free agents an interesting idea, I’d call it a cheap pipe dream. Particularly when you’re talking about a fairly thrifty team that already has players at those two guys’ positions that are among their best.
Sign an aging slugger, coming off a superstar season, who can only play an average glove at 1B. Why does that sound EXACTLY like something the Mets would do?
Look, I love EE, but that’s not the fit. He’s vastly better off signing with Boston or Toronto. If the Mets had money to sign EE they’d get it to Cespedes anyway.
An exorbitantly expensive pipe dream.
I am guessing the Astro’s push hard for Encarnacion. I think the would like to platoon him at DH with Gattis and let him play some 1st base also.
Astros have virtually no shot at signing Encarnacion. Red Sox will easily trump Astros’ best offer, and if all the offers are in similar range, EE will go back to the Jays. He has spoken numerous times how much he likes Toronto.
Toronto fans and players are low lives
Wow. So a little 8 year kid is a low life? You are one classy person!
I think pushing for Desmond (along with declining Bruce’s option) would be their best move. Going to have to great creative at first base….
Declining Bruce’s option… you want them to decline a 13 million dollar option on a 30 homer 100 RBI guy… The Mets front ownership is terrible but this is NEVER happening.
Yes- I want them to decline an option on a guy who is streaky, overrated, a product of Great American and doesn’t want to play in NYC.
For 13 million it’s a bargain for that kind of streaky player. 13 mil these days doesn’t get u that much more than an average player let alone a 30 hr player
Joel Sherman is a clown
I think Cespedes is a goner. Have a feeling he will go to either the Rangers, Mariners, Indians or Yankees. Unless one of this teams end up trading for. Braun or McCutchen
how about going after pedro alvarez. put him back at 3rd base. if he’s a failure that’s your 30hr 95rbi 1st baseman. duda is over hyped,let him walk & tailor made for an AL team. loney is a keeper as alvarez’s backup
No one is giving Alvarez a shot at 3rd. He’s strictly a DH, and a 1B in emergencies. He should never hold a glove again.
bring Pedro alvarez in to play 3rd base, if it doesn’t work he’s your everyday 1st baseman, 30hr 95rbi at good ol citifield. duda walks: he’s an overhyped AL slugger on an NL team. loney is a keeper.
The fact that you’d rather have Alvarez and Loney over Duda shows that you don’t belong here. Go back to ESPN.com
Agree
non tender Duda, sign EE, if that fails, get Conforto playing 1B regularly in spring and let him compete for the job if his glove isn’t awful. Re-sign Walker, re-sign Colon, re-sign Blevins, maybe even re-sign Salas depending on his price tag. Somehow acquire a solid lefty for the pen, and keep Bruce. Accept the loss of Cespedes and spread that money around more evenly. Get the injured back (hopefully) and you’re ready to rock.
I think you let Walker walk. The Mets will get a compensation pick for him, and they have Reyes, Flores and TJ Rivera. Rivera can play, but I think he will need to play regularly.
That to me is that added cash that the Mets could use towards resigning Cespedes. They get Reyes for the league minimum, can platoon Flores at 1st with Reyes playing 2nd if Wright can go. Rivera can play 2nd or 3rd as well and frankly the Mets problem is not power, it’s defense, getting on base, and an overtaxed pen at times.
Albeit, I don’t know where the right handed pop will come from in the Mets lineup which tells you the Mets should resign Cespedes. My only worry about the Mets ability to resign Cespedes is that he “loves to play in NY”, has proven he can play in NY (which is big), and there’s this other NY team that will be freeing up boat loads of cash…
Duda’s option is what the Mets have to DeAza give or take. For a guy that has hit 30/100 for the Mets, this should be a no-brainer.
Same thing as Jay Bruce. Bruce can hit, and I believe he can hit in NY because he did hit almost .500 the last week in a Mets uniform; he’s just streaky. I like a guy though that his power plays at Yellowstone. Besides, there’s NO protection for Cespedes as is but if you let Cespedes walk, do you really want Jay Bruce, Lucas Duda or Granderson to be that guy without any protection!?
Bolstering the bullpen would be a great idea, but I think that is 2018 talk. How do you walk into 2017 knowing DeGrom, Harvey, Matz and Wheeler are all coming back off of surgery and assume they’ll be as effective?
I think you could sign a guy like Chapman (who wouldn’t want an elite closer) but given Cespedes’s value to the Mets, I’d sure that up first.
I think that the Braves will be going after some bats this winter along with the Phillies. Cespedes will get a lot of attention from other teams who are willing to spend a lot of money for him. I think a player like Cespedes and McCann would make the Braves a contender with the middle of the line-up of Freeman, Cespedes, Kemp, and McCann.
We don’t need Cespedes. Let him sign elsewhere & take the draft pick compensation. It’s time for Conforto to play LF full time. Either trade Bruce for top shelf bullpen help or let him play out his option & leave as a free agent along with Granderson both after 17 season. Don’t resign Walker, take the draft pick compensation. We have Matt Reynolds to play 2B. Mets could have their own 1st round pick plus 1st round picks for Cespedes & Walker. 17 season outfield will be Conforto LF, Granderson / Lagaures CF, Bruce / Nimmo RF. 18 season outfield Conforto, Lagaures, Nimmo. Next offseason Mets get draft picks for letting Cabrera & Bruce leave as FA’s. That would mean 6 first round draft picks in 17 & 18 combined while having a competitive playoff team.