The Mets were reportedly unwilling to trade outfielder Juan Lagares as of November, but teams are continuing to show interest in the soon-to-be 28-year-old, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post (Twitter link). It’s unclear whether New York is now open to moving Lagares, who’s far and away the most qualified center field candidate on a team loaded with corner outfielders. Dealing the defensively adept Lagares and getting rid of his $4.5MM for 2017 would perhaps give the Mets the financial freedom to address their bullpen, though, as Puma notes. Lagares, who’s fresh off back-to-back underwhelming offensive seasons, has four years and either $20.5MM or $29.5MM left on his contract – depending on what happens with his 2020 club option.
More from the market:
- Free agent reliever Sergio Romo has spent his entire career with the San Francisco organization since it took him in the 28th round of the 2005 draft, but the 34-year-old could head to the archrival Dodgers. Romo’s currently choosing between Los Angeles and an unidentified club, reports FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). The Dodgers are also in talks with other relievers, including free agent Joe Blanton – who was among their top bullpen options last season.
- If a long-anticipated reunion between the Rangers and free agent first baseman/designated hitter Mike Napoli is going to happen this offseason, Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) could be a date to watch, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. As Grant explains, the Rangers will no longer have to carry the retired Prince Fielder or the ailing Jake Diekman on their 40-man roster that day, which is when pitchers and catchers begin reporting to spring training. By waiting until then to ink Napoli, the Rangers would afford themselves some roster flexibility and wouldn’t have to expose any of their pitching depth to waivers.
- “Several teams” remain in contention for free agent catcher Matt Wieters, tweets the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin, who relays that “there’s no good read” on whether he’ll sign with the Rays. Along with the Rays, the Orioles (Wieters’ only MLB employer to date), Angels, Rockies, Reds, Nationals and Astros have drawn recent connections to the 30-year-old.
- Before re-signing with the Rockies on a minor league deal Wednesday, first baseman Mark Reynolds turned down $3MM to play in Korea, per FanRag’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Accepting that offer would’ve easily made Reynolds the highest-paid player in Korea, topping former major league right-hander Dustin Nippert’s $2.1MM, notes Jeeho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency (Twitter link). It’s likely that the powerful Reynolds also would’ve had his way in the hitter’s paradise known as the Korea Baseball Organization, but neither that nor the payday could entice the 33-year-old to leave the States.
I hope the Rangers sign Mike so that they can live Napoli ever after
Hahaha
Nice
W
Would you rather have an aging Napoli who granted is said to be a great clubhouse guy but not sure of what production you might get; or a younger Chris Carter who is gonna hit .220 but slug you 40 HRs and leave guys on base with 180 K’s? Chris Carter could hit a lot of HRs in Arlington!!!
Napoli
Napoli
Gallo full time
Lol
Who cares if he leaves guys on base? Everyone on this site seems to think RBIs are passe`.
I don’t understand the 40 man rules on Prince. Can’t they outright him off the roster? It’s not like anyone will claim him. Or does he have to be on the roster to recover their insurance claim on him?
If the Rangers release him, then they are on the hook for his entire contract, but if Fielder retires, he forfeits the money.
Yeah, we know that. but half of his contract is covered by insurance so the Rangers are gonna be saving about 9 mil a year on that. We can’t release him yet tho or lose out on that
He retired because he’s unable to be cleared medically to continue playing. He’ll get paid the remainder of what the contract pays out no matter what they do with him on the roster.
Technically he didn’t retire otherwise he wouldn’t be a part of the roster or payroll.
That was the case with Albert Belle and the Orioles. Gum up the roster all off-season just to get that sweet insurance check.
Fielder is going to kill the Rangers for the the rest of his contract.
Yep to get the insurance he had to be on the DL which the Rangers csnt put him on until 14th (when the 60 day DL doesn’t count towards the 40) it’s such a weird limbo act really for the Rangers, like what if they wanted to take a rule 5 next year but prince was holding up a spot and on the flip side they couldn’t protect a certain player….Unfortunate for Prince and the Rangers overall
They have to keep him on the roster for insurance purposes I think
Romo is a perfect fit for the dodgers, but if its between him and blanton they should get blanton
If LAD sign either Romo or Blanton, whose spot would they likely take on the 40 man roster? I don’t think they have an open spot right now.
If yimi garcia, chris taylor or josh raven have options then they would remove one of them. If not I would say dfa yimi since he just had tommy john
Having options has nothing to do with “removing” someone from the 40 man roster. The only way to remove someone is by DFAing them or outrighting them which puts said player on waivers immediately.
Your right. For some reason i thought you can take players off without placing them on waivers. What they did with culberson made me think so since he wasnt DFAed or placed on waivers
So Yimi isn’t going to be DFAd or out righted he’ll be placed on the DL on Feb 17th. That’ll clear a roster spot. Just look for them to actually not make the contract official until that date.
@dodgerfan711 They out righted Culberson.
I do not want Romo but if they sign him, I wouldn’t be surprised if the DFA player is Enrique Hernandez
Kikè is not going to be DFAd. He had a terrible season fine we can all agree to that, but he is a pre arb player. Add onto that his dad’s cancer issues and his injury last year, and it’s just not happening.
They will wait to put Garcia on the 60. Ruff, Hatch, and Avi are out of options so they will be roster or bust. Segedin is probably a good candidate seeing as the try to sell him overseas. But I can guarantee you his versatility extends him another year. What happens after that is dependent upon his adjustments and performance.
Baez……please be Baez!
Romo is aging garbage and I surely hope he doesn’t sign with the Dodgers.
Dodgerfan, you say Romo would be Perfect. Does that mean that Blanton is better than Perfect (than you should look up the definition)? Or do you wish for the Dodgers to chose the inferior player?
I’d be really interested to see what Wieters demands have been and how much (if any) they have decreased as the off season has gone on.
I’d be shocked if he gets more than a one year deal with option(s) at this point.
He is almost out of the “demanding” stage—-he doesn’t have a place to report in 10 days when pitchers and catchers report. He might be sitting at home for a good part of spring training until a catcher gets hurt and only then might get a call!
i’m not sure that’s realistic.He’s not good by any stretch, but he’s a 1.5-2 win catcher who can bat from both sides. He’s obviously not gonna get the kind of money he was rumored to want, but he’s shouldn’t have trouble finding a job if he becomes more reasonable with his demands. lots of teams could use a catcher.
Would love to see Romo in LA, if nothing more than to tick off Giant fans.
It won’t tick is off that much.
Yes, all those left-handed hitters the Giants have will be so bummed…
Giant fans would love to see Romo in LA – they would be licking their chops each time he heads to the mound – the Dodgers just saw Howell leave, so I guess Romo is a candidate for the “I can’t get anybody out when it matters” spot in the bullpen. Going way back to Tom Neidenfuer it seems like each year LA has a reliever that throws gas on every fire.
The question with Lagares is what teams are actually offering for him. I can’t imagine it’s much given his mediocre offense, injury problems and backloaded contract.
It’s not just that. He’s also the only true CF the Mets have at AAA or higher. If Nimmo could definitively play there, the conversation would be different because the latter projects to outhit Lagares by a decent margin.
I loved Nap in Cleveland and would have loved to have him back.
The EE signing is unfortunately better.
On paper.
Of course on paper. Any team that signs a free agent is signing them because it looks good on paper.
The Fielder/Napoli thing seems like hogwash to me. They can reach agreement with Napoli and just put off the official part until ST starts. There’s often weeks between the two anyway, often for the exact reason that there’s no room on the roster.
Maybe that has already happened.
That’s the hardest damned Pictionary clue I’ve ever heard of.
Don’t trade lagaers he is still young and controllable and believe me if he is dealt you will miss him once bruce and granderson are off the books next yr. Even if he is a fourth outfielder next yr. Because Conforto untouchable unless the mets get a Kershaw type of ace to replace the soon to be gone harvey in 18 and you can count the mets will have a bona fide CF next yr and Conforto will be the starting RF and to my point lagers will be the 4 outfielder on a ok contract