The Mets are hoping to have some clarity on Yoenis Cespedes’ intentions by the end of the Winter Meetings next month, general manager Sandy Alderson told reporters at the GM Meetings today (via ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin). “I think realistically, from our standpoint this year, things will probably have to resolve themselves a lot sooner than they did last year,” said Alderson in reference to Cespedes, who didn’t re-sign with the Mets last winter until Jan. 26. “…[C]ertainly, from our standpoint, between now and the winter meetings, and through the end of the winter meetings, would be the right time to get some of these issues resolved.” Alderson added that he’s already met with Cespedes’ representatives once, though no contract offers or financial figures were exchanged. He’ll meet with Cespedes’ agent again at the GM Meetings this week, and notably, he also stated that he doesn’t have a cap on the number of guaranteed years he’d be willing to offer Cespedes.
More from the Mets’ GM and more on the team…
- One bat the Mets could turn to if Cespedes departs is apparently Jose Bautista. James Wagner of the New York Times tweets that the Mets have some degree of interest in Bautista and have already reached out to his representatives to set up a time to talk this week. That’s not the first time they’ve been connected to Bautista, either, as Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi listed the Mets as a possible landing spot for Bautista last week. While it’d certainly be a surprise to see Bautista, who is defensively challenged in right field at this stage of his career, land with an NL club, his bat would indeed balance out the lineup in the event of a Cespedes departure. Alderson mentioned (as noted in Rubin’s piece above) that the team would need to balance out the batting order should Cespedes leave, as the team is already too left-handed even with Cespedes in the fold.
- Interest in Bautista would seem counter-intuitive with a trio of corner outfielders already on board in Michael Conforto, Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce, and while it’s fair to speculate that one of them could be moved to first base (Bautista and Bruce are the worst outfield defenders of the bunch by a wide margin), that doesn’t seem likely. Alderson said today that first baseman Lucas Duda will be tendered a contract, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post, which seemingly eliminates the possibility of shifting one of those players around. Of course, it should also be stressed that at this juncture of the offseason, the interest in Bautista is likely preliminary and one of a couple dozen avenues which the Mets could theoretically pursue.
- Also via Sherman (Twitter links), Alderson said that the team was planning to target late-inning relief help even before domestic violence allegations were brought forth against closer Jeurys Familia, so it stands to reason that they’ll certainly be in that market now that a possible suspension could be given to Familia. However, he also added that the Mets were never inclined to play at the top of the market, so it doesn’t seem likely that names like Kenley Jansen or Aroldis Chapman will be on New York’s radar.
- Sticking with Sherman, the New York Post scribe also tweets that Alderson repeatedly talked about the team’s current rotation depth, prompting Sherman to suggest that re-signing the beloved Bartolo Colon might not be a front-burner issue for the Mets, if it’s even a consideration for the team at all. From my vantage point, the depth is nice, but bringing back Colon on a one-year deal to provide depth and perhaps step into a swingman role if all of New York’s young arms make full recoveries still seems like a worthwhile pursuit. Speaking speculatively, however, if an earnest run at re-signing Cespedes and adding an impact late-inning arm are both on the docket as well, then perhaps the Mets feel Colon is more of a luxury than a priority.
- Lastly, Sherman tweets that Alderson said the team has to figure out a way to make the catchers that are already in-house better, which does seem to indicate that Plan A, for the time being, is to stick with Travis d’Arnaud next year. Kevin Plawecki and Rene Rivera remain on the roster as backup candidates as well, though none of that trio hit especially well last season, and d’Arnaud has yet to shed the “injury-prone” label that has hung over him for most of his career. The free-agent market bears a few options in the form of Matt Wieters, Jason Castro and Nick Hundley (plus Wilson Ramos, although he’s recovering from a torn ACL and seems likely to be out for the first couple of months of the 2017 season), though each of that grouping comes with some question marks as well.
1. I would undoubtedly rather have Cespedes than Bautista, but 2013-15 Bautista wouldn’t be a bad replacement for Cespedes’s right handed production. I think he also brings the kind of swagger and attitude that Mets fans admire in Cespedes, though he’s more of a loose cannon. Signing Bautista doesn’t make sense if Bruce isn’t traded though.
2. I don’t think Conforto can be counted on enough at this point to alter the entire planning process of the offseason around him.
3. I’d rather see them build a deep bullpen as opposed to dumping a ton of money on a high priced closer. Bullpen depth was a problem in the 2015 playoffs, and it was this season.
4. Signing Bart is a luxury, but a potentially helpful one to a high degree. I think he likes the organization enough to give them the benefit of the doubt.
5. To me, it makes sense to just hang with the status quo at catcher unless Ramos takes a discount. TDA and Plawecki are definitely on their way out as far as prospect status, but they still have enough upside (in my view) to warrant a bit more time. Offensive improvements elsewhere can mitigate the impact.
Fangraphs has the Mets WAR near the bottom at 15.4. This means they need upgrades with healthy younger players. d’Arnaud 1.8, Duda, 1.9,Cabrera,1.0, Reyes 0.9, Grandy 1.1 and Bruce 0.6. The Mets are weak at the position players with a lot of streaky players and injury prone players like Wright and Walker. This is a hard call, because the pitching if healthy, can carry this team like it has the last few years. I would look to trade some pitching like Lugo and Gesselman to get another good position player like Blackmon, Cargo, Reddick, Fowler, or Desmond. I think they would be better off with them than Cespedes.
I agree with some of what you say but it’s unreasonable to think that adding CarGo or Reddick or Fowler while losing 300 innings of above average pitching depth is somehow better than keeping Céspedes for just money while maintaining pitching depth. In what world is a Fowler, Reddick, or CarGo better than Céspedes, let alone Céspedes, a #3, and a #4 starter?
As a Jays fan, I really hope Toronto doesn’t resign Jose. Sure, he’s provided some great moments over the years but his attitude, at times, is down right embarrassing.
And, as a mets fan, I hope you do resign him, because I can’t root for a team with Jose Bautista on it.
Oh boy, basically this said that Alderson will do little to nothing.
When is MLB going do something about these terrible owners?
I mean, Alderson signed Cespedes, Asdrubal, Colon, Bastardo (oops), De Aza and Blevins last winter and traded for Neil Walker, too. Not sure why you’re hitting the panic button 18 hours into the offseason.
Because I’m a Mets fan, Steve. It’s all I know.
Throw in tendering Addison Reed a contract after a down year overall.
I hope you’re not a Mets fan. Because if you are, you should find another team to badmouth. The Mets you’re talking trash about won the pennant in 2015 and made the playiffs in 2016 despite losing several important players for long stretches of the season. Your comments suggest you missed 2012-2016.
Are you sure Rene Rivera is not a free agent? I saw on Spotrac that he was a free agent.
He finished the season with five years and 70 days of service time, putting him 102 short of qualifying for free agency. If he’s non-tendered or outrighted before Dec. 2, he’d still hit the open market.
I don’t think signing Bautista is smart for the mets, but if they did I’d have him play first, put Duda in the field and trade Bruce to Baltimore. Maybe Bruce plus a good prospect for bundy or givens, and they got their late inning arm.
You must be joking if you think the O’s would give up Bundy or Givens for Bruce and a prospect.
Agree. Bruce is baggage and a salary dump until he proves otherwise. Much less for a solid setup guy in Bundy that throws mid-high 90’s and is under team control another 5 seasons.
Mets could go a lot of ways if they would move 1 of those vaunted starters, they just won’t do it so are stuck with a pathetic offense.
Moving one.. As in any of the aces but perennially hurt Harvey for JBJ, Travis Shaw and Moncada would go a long way towards giving the mets some of the power and bat left by Cespedes and a far superior glove for the next 4 seasons.
JBJ, Travis Shaw AND Moncada for “perennially hurt Harvey’? Don’t stop believing’ 🙂
JBJ for Harvey would be more realistic.
Hahaha that’s some funny stuff , if they wouldn’t include Bradley or moncada in a sale deal from the white Sox then they defiantly wouldn’t do it for Harvey (who’s close to free agency and no sure thing to come back from that surgery)
Yah, that’s rich. I’d rather have those three than Syndergaard.
You can’t say no when you don’t know who the prospect is. What if it were a Urias level player I was thinking about?
The orioles need starting pitching themselves , why would they send their best for Bruce? Btw if you have a u er prospect he would have played for them last year
I think bundy might be good eventually, but you guys are acting like he was a top of the rotation pitcher. He had an ERA over 4 last year and a fip that was 4.70. He struggled mightily in the second half last year
The Mets biggest mistake this offseason would be signing Bautista. He is a liability in the field and they can’t DH him.
Bats is a silly idea. May be a pressure scheme on cespedes as if to say he is replaceable….any met fan saw for two years now that the Mets are nothing without his bat and energy. Grandy is coming off the books next year. You can trade Bruce for some bullpen help. That opens up a lot of money this year and next year alone.
Sign cespedes, sign a top reliever, sign colon possibly. If walker comes back, fine , if not then they have replacements.
“IF” healthy, a strong rotation, complimented by Reed, bullpen from Bruce, possibly familia, and then some pop with a full year of ces and Duda, I think the Mets are in good shape. Even if the rotation is short one of the fab five.