The Mets aren’t yet prioritizing a contract extension for National League Cy Young Award-winning right-hander Jacob deGrom, COO Jeff Wilpon informed Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News and other reporters Friday. However, the two sides could begin discussions on a new deal next month. “We’ll talk with the new agent here at some point in the near future, probably see him at the Winter Meetings,” Wilpon said. DeGrom’s situation is particularly interesting because his previous agent, Brodie Van Wagenen, became New York’s general manager last month. But deGrom stayed with the same agency, CAA Baseball, where former Van Wagenen partner Jeff Berry is now representing the soon-to-be 31-year-old hurler. If deGrom, who has two years of arbitration control remaining, does strike a long-term pact with the Mets, it’ll come without Van Wagnen’s direct involvement. While the GM would have to approve an extension, he’ll abstain from contract talks with deGrom in order to avoid a conflict of interest.
- Van Wagenen also used to represent deGrom’s teammate and co-ace, Noah Syndergaard, who has been popular in the rumor mill this week. Should New York make Syndergaard and his three years of control available, most of the league would likely inquire, though the team understandably seems content to go forward with him. Wilpon didn’t rule out a Syndergaard trade, but he said Friday (via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com) that a deal involving the flamethrowing 26-year-old “would have to be pretty lopsided” in the Mets’ favor.
- New York already has upward of $138MM going toward next year’s roster, which won’t give the club much room to spend if it plans on staying in the vicinity of last season’s $150MM-plus Opening Day total. A payroll increase would clearly benefit Van Wagenen in his first offseason on the job, though Wilpon wasn’t willing to reveal whether that’s in the Mets’ plans. “Brodie knows what the parameters of what the payroll is and what we’re planning to do,” said Wilpon (per DiComo).
- The Mets recently parted ways with J.P. Ricciardi, who was a key member of their previous front office. Assistant GM John Ricco was also integral in the Mets’ prior power structure, but his future is now up in the air. Ricco remains in the front office for the time being, according to Wilpon, who stated (via Ackert) he’s “working” and “has a contract,” adding that “[Ricco] and Brodie will have that conversation when they get to it.” It’s worth noting that Ricciardi also had a contract with the Mets, but the deal didn’t prevent his exit. With that in mind, Ricco may not be a lock to stay in the fold.
Owenership needs to do the Mets fans a favor: SELL!!!! So they can keep those arms and just build around them…
I don’t want the Mets to be good but yeah, for the sake of the franchises, I agree.
Boycott and force their hands.
DO NOT buy tickets nor watch SNY next season.
You really think boycotting them will stop them? They are egomaniacs who love control. Only chance the fans had was with Madoff and MLB forcing a sale, who would have been nearly impossible
I really thought that the mlb would force a sale there
If you and every other casual fan didn’t buy a single ticket the Mets would still have $330 million in revenue.
And for those loyalists who act cranky when I suggest boycott, just realize that you are helping these selfish egomaniacs by purchasing tickets and watching SNY.
Embarrass them with empty seats and force SNY with third tier sponsors and they will wither.
Plus Mutt is getting on in years…he is easy to set off.
Oh I’m all for protesting.
I’m just wondering, while crying poor all the time, do the Wilpons eat with food stamps?
If you can’t afford to put a team on the field all while pulling in hundreds of millions per year from the SNY network and a stadium that was CITY FUNDED, you shouldn’t own a team.
There is owning a team for yourself, and then owning a team with fans that want to be made happy.
If they just want to own a team for themselves, there are tons of free fantasy sports teams on ESPN for them to play.
Everytime a story mentions Jeff “Fredo” Wilpon..you almost don’t need to read any farther.. you know it’s going to describe some sort of dysfunctional aspect of the team’s Management / ownership.
Jeff’s wig is now attached to his scalp with Crazy Glue. Have you ever heard of an owner describing a potential player trade as needing to be “pretty lopsided” to make.
What a dope. The Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Mutt and Jeff together have the baseball IQ of a 4 year old baseball fan that has never been to a game.
Keep those arms? The arms are all they have worth anything to trade.
Are you familiar with Conforto, Nimmo, and Alonso, just for starters?
AA Alonso and .243 Conforto? OK. Sure. If you say so.
Alonso who hit .285BAA with 36HR and 119 RBIs at AA Binghamton and AAA Las Vegas. He is arguably one of the top 3 first base prospects in baseball.
Conforto isn’t exactly a slouch even with his reduced production coming off of injuries in ’16 that went into ’17. His shoulder injury clearly affected him swing and production, but he looks a lot better now He needs to get his average up, but through 4 seasons he’s batter .250 and has a .825 OPS, which is good for 125 OPS+..
There are PLENTY of positions where the Mets should be taken to task and questioned about poor production, but Conforto in the outfield is not one of them.
While the new GM will recuse himself now, discussions regarding what it would take for a deGrom extension obiously came up during the interview process along with a likely moving forward payroll plan. Either he gets signed to an extension or he gets traded this off season as his return will likely never be higher.
That would be logical and sensical – the Wilpons would never let happen.
Jeff is very clear, “ I don’t see the need to extend Jacobs contract. We own him for the time being and expect him to pitch all out. Wagon Wheel knows it as well. No deals to your drinking buddies”.
@mikeyank55
Just stop with your deliberate Mets-hating distortions
Here are the facts.
The Mets are very clear they want Degrom long term and Degrom has made it clear he wants to stay long term. They will begin the discussions at the winter meetings.
Do you have multiple accounts with different versions of your name LTF, or were you forgetful with your password?
The Mets are always “very clear” with their talk however oftentimes come up short because they are unwilling to commit the proper resources to make it happen.
The proof will come out. Will Mutt and Jeff make the kind of offer that deGrom wants and will he and his new agent sign on the dotted line? History does not bode well for this being automatic and only a fool would be so optimistic.
My pun intended writing compliments the absurdity of the Met’s organization from top to bottom. how could I hate The Mets when they provide me with so much low hanging fruit to poke holes in their on going soap opera?
It would be PR suicide to trade the reigning Cy Young winner. Not even the Wilpon’s are that stupid.
They traded the last pitcher to win a Cy Young for them
Do you mean Tom Seaver?
or Nolan Ryan?
(I know he hadn’t won a Cy Young Award then…lol
Well they traded Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan (although he never won a CY with the Mets), RA Dickey coming off his CY Young, Matt Harvey who almost won in 2013… should I go on?
outside NY are the mets relevant? Best they can hope for now is a .500 team. Team needs to rebuild so why are the mets all over the sports page?
Inside NY, are the Mets relevant?
I hate that you are right….but as a Mets fan we are accustomed to disappointment and ridicule…both deserved.
Mets fans do enjoy their pain, don’t they? Personally I enjoy the beginning of each season when they pound their fists on their chests here and project out to their “recent” great seasons.
Like their start this year. What a JOKE. Train wreck waiting to happen. And guess what? They went into hiding around Memorial Day.
However make NO MISTAKE about it. The pain is not inflicted by Yankee fans or other posters here that speak straight baseball talk.
The true source of their pain Are the Wilpon’s; a/k/a The Coupon’s, Mutt and Jeff, Abbott & Costello, etc…..
These owners pretend to behave like business owners by investing in their asset to make it better and more relevant for its customers. Instead they wear bandits masks and spread whispers with $20 bills making believe that they will be competitive.
I’m against tanking, but the NLE is only going to get tougher and tougher. Every team will improve this offseason. The Phillies and Nats have money to spend, the Braves have a glut of prospects to give away, the Marlins young players will only mature more and more and Brian Anderson seems legit. Mets are in a tough spot. I feel for you Mets fans, things don’t look good for my team either.
The Mets are in need of a full blown tank badly. But it’s the Mets, and they probably think they can win the Works Series next year.
Good job bro, that first step is the toughest of the twelve.
Id say mets should really sign say eovaldi keep vargas as the long man that gives us 2 #1’s with noah and jacob. A tru #2 in wheeler a number #3 in eovaldi in the 4th and a #4 in the 5th spot in matz with vargas a spot starter and bullpen mop up/ long man. Trade frazier, sing ramos to catch and sign pollock for cf. Right off the bat were stronger up the middle ss rosario 2b McNeil cf pollock c ramos we need balance i feell ike were too left handed heavy and we struggle bs southpaws
I’d say they need some offense so deGrom doesn’t have to keep driving in all his own runs.
How is anyone supposed to understand what you wrote? What a bunch of dumb words scrapped together with no punctuation.
Hey bush-you have exposed a flaw in many Met’s fans’ computers. After being stripped by the Coupons with overpriced tickets for underperforming teams it appears that many purchased laptops from Northern Blvd. Texperts.
This local business offers special deals to Mets’ season ticket holders. A short walk from Chitifield, their “showroom” is an oasis in the middle of the slimy neighborhood that is dominated by chop shop auto repair garages.
You can tell a Textperts’ laptop because their processing capability lacks spell check.
All of those chop shops and stalled revitalization really builds character for Mets fans. Okay…not really.
It does for metsfan4ever.
So give up offense and sign more pitchers? So they can be the team that loses the most – but still had a great overall ERA?
Who is going to take Frazier? Unless he is the salary dump that allows some team to get Syndergaard for less, the Mets are stuck with him and his $9.5 million salary.
The Wilpon’s have never spent. They already have a $150+ million payroll for 2019 with no changes. What makes you think they will suddenly change and start spending big now?
Wheeler pitches well for half a season and he’s a #2? Cmon, he was mister irrelevant for 2 years. Trade his ass for top prospects before he turns back into a pumpkin. If the Yanks are willing to trade their top prospects for a thirty year old oft injured pitcher, the Mets can do just as well with a 28 year old Wheeler
Hey 99, you may not be aware of Met’s Fans’ Hot Stove Rule #1:
Take any players’ stats for their best half season and multiply by 2. Then act arrogantly as you proclaim that these will be their stats the following year.
I am sick of hearing what their payroll is already for next year. If anybody writing these articles are not adding the amount covered covered by insurance for Wright & Cespedas then I am not acknowledging it. These owners are not broke. They just spend money stupidly.
Really, that has to be over40 million, watch the Yanks spend that Ellsbury insurance money.
Spending stupidly…something John Middleton and the Phils aspire to do. Finally, NYM have something PHI aspires to be.
Unless the Mets messed up Wright’s insurance by playing him in a farewell game. Typical Met move.
They let one of the most popular players in team history, who is respected across MLB play in a final game after devastating injuries killed his career. So if it cost them a few million and they were ok with spending that money for that purpose they means they messed up? Actually, that’s the right thing to “waste” money on. They did the right thing.
If I’m a Met fan I want that “few million” dollars invested in scouting and development or somewhere that could benefit the future of a franchise with a crap farm system, and little young talent. Plus Wright’s been collecting a massive past check for years for doing nothing to help the team. Literally nothing… It’s not his fault I’m not saying it is, but he’s cost the franchise enough coin so yeah a “few million” more towards Wright adding zero value bothers me if I’m a Met fan. Just saying…
@Bush
I am a Mets fan for 50 years –
Mets have plenty young talent in lower minors and have 4 MLB Pipeline Top 100 right now, 3 of whom may make their debuts in 2019.
As for David Wright, bad mouthing him is disgraceful.
He’s total class act, a man of integrity and high character who has done everything possible trying to return. I’ve never seen a more resilient player attack setback after setback, year after year trying to get back on the field as a major league capable player. The extensive pre-game prep he’s had to do for his neck, back and shoulder just to play in 2018 and for portions of 2015 and 2016, plus spring Training and minor league games was off the chart. Hours every day.
Through it all, he has been with the team, year after year even when unable to play and continued to provide exemplary leadership as team captain. and in the community.
Unfortunately, even surgery on his neck, low back and throwing shoulder, was not enough to prevent the end of his career at 35 on what was a Hall of Fame trek before injuries beset him. But he’ll be part of the Mets going forward, whenever he’s ready to start the next phase of his life in baseball.
@callingoutdummies247
Absolutely!
First off the Mets young talent is not nearly as good as you are saying. They have one of the weaker farm systems in baseball and seemed to always be in a crunch with money. My whole point had nothing to do with what a great guy and teammate Wright is. He clearly is a great guy. But I’d much rather have the multi millions that the “farewell game” could have costs the Mets in insurance funds then that game for him. This is a business and it’s not like the Mets have ridiculous money and the luxury to throw a ton of cash away. I’m constantly hearing about their financial issues. Call me disgraceful all you want, but the betterment of the franchise by investing that money smartly is so much smarter.
@bush: As I said before, your supposedly great Cubs shot their wad in 2016. Don’t get me wrong – I think it’s great that they finally broke through and won, and I was very happy for them and their fans as I am for any team that wins. But they’re no longer one of the very elite teams, especially after losing the WC game at home. So you shouldn’t feel that you somehow are superior to fans of the Mets or any other team, or that the Cubs are somehow more important or relevant. Try to remember that humility is a good thing.
What are you talking about? I don’t feel like that at all. The Cubs have done many things I disagree with and I’ll be the first to admit that. Quit making sh@t up to start drama. The Mets have obviously made some strange decisions over recent years and I’m just calling it as I see it. Quit being so insecure.
@Stu Baron-You are right. @ Bush should start his dose of humility by posting his photo on here like you do. LOL. Typical Mets’ fan, huh?
They’ll pay about 6.5MM of Wright’s contract. While The Mets told reporters his contract was insured they didn’t say any more than that.
Many insurance policies on players do not cover preexisting conditions and the Mets knew about Cespedes heel issues when they signed him. If they knew the insurance company knew and would probably invoke the preexisting conditions clause.
The policies have a 60-90 day elimination period before they begin paying, Premiums are huge so some teams take a longer period to reduce premiums. The Mets haven’t said how long his elimination period is, everyone assumes it’s 60 days because Wright’s was 60 days.
Along with an elimination period, player insurance policies are usually three-year term policies with options for renewal.
Cespedes played his last game on 7/20/18. IIf the policy had a 60 day period and if the policy covers the heel issues the Mets were paid for the last to weeks of the season in 2018.
Discussing Wright’s policy, Wilpon indicated that there’s a new elimination period for each season. Ignoring a day here and there for simplicity, the new 60 day period would end about April 29.
Cespedes makes about $1.125M a week ($29MM/26 weeks). and he’s supposed to miss the first two months of the season. That doesn’t indicate a big check coming in.
Wilpon went on to indicate that the Mets don’t figure insurance checks as income because “then there’s costs against that. (insurance payment) We had to pay for the policy, which is not cheap”.
He’s not wrong although he may be pointing at the wrong line item. Ancillary costs are incurred by the Mets due to Cespedes inability to play. Offsetting those with the insurance check – if they get one – makes sense.
That’s why they don’t dump it all back into payroll even though they could. Puma estimated a $7.2M check from the insurance company if they paid in 2019. That’s just about what the Mets paid Anthony Swarzak last year.
I’m not taking sides here just trying to explain why you don’t; see it as a direct change to their roster.
fireboss, Cespedes is supposed to miss a lot more than 2 months! July/Aug at least is what i have read
Great info. So I’m your estimation how much money did Wright playing in that farewell game cost the Mets? It’s very difficult to find much info. But from what’ve I seen it could be quite a lot of money. I really hope I’m wrong on that, and just asking.
Unless Cespedes spends the entire season on the DL, the Mets get nothing from insurance for him. Its all or nothing. The idiots, I mean the Wilpons, let Wright suit up for 2 games last year and lost that insurance money too. They will get 80% of the $27 million he is owed over the next two seasons if he doesn’t play. If they settled with him to get him to retire and he is not retained on the 25 man roster for 2019 and 2020, then they get zero from the insurance.
The Mets are not broke as a team. They have a projected $340+ million in revenue coming for 2019 which should mean a payroll of $170+ million. They didn’t come close to that in 2018 with a payroll of $150.58 million. What the Mets do have is cheap ownership who are still paying off massive debt due to the Madoff court rulings.
Hey Pads-your insight is great with all EXCEPT the final point. The Maddoff debt was over ten years ago, and that was offset by profits, some of which they took out when the ponzi was rolling.
So they’ve had plenty of time to pay off the debt; especially considering three factors:
-How cheap they’ve been from top to bottom in their organization.
-How much they have invested in their Brooklyn Dodgers’ memorabilia collection.
-How much they pay extended family beyond Mutt and Jeff (like brother in law Sol, other family and neighbors on the payroll).
And finally if they don’t have the proper capital structure (after MLB bailed them out), they should be told to EXIT.
However as long as foolish Mets fans continue to support them there is NO PRESSURE for them to get out.
That’s why fans should BOYCOTT the Mets.
ZERO ticket purchases.
Click ANYWHERE except SNY.
Hey Steeler-you would not accuse Mutt and Jeff of spending money stupidly is you visited the Brooklyn dodger Museum that they have built. It is located underneath the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Walk past the Krispy Kreme concession stand and take Staircase D down one level. When you pass the Guard sleeping in the security closet, just tell him “Yo-Fred told me to tell you its ok!”
Mutt & Jeff only overspend when their cheapness is over exposed and they are forced to open their wallets. Then like morons, they piss their money away on players like Cespedes, who’s agent played these fools like a fiddle and then “surround” him with players 1 or 2 subway stops away from collecting Social Security.
The Mets are like in need of a rebuild don’t correctly badly. Sell everyone they can, otherwise their peak will mediocrity for the next 5 years. I’m not sure how anyone front office can look at their situation and they think they’ve got a chance. Plus it’s not like their starting pitchers are a durable group. Sell them all to the highest bidder before they break down.
The Mets “are in need of a rebuild done correctly badly”
I see it as a very clear conflict of interest for a agent to be a GM if he still has any stake in his or anyone elses agency.
Right, and they say he now won’t be involved in negotiations with deGrom? That extension will be the biggest in Franchise history and basically shape who the Mets become. So to leave out the GM is just silly talk and BS.
Supposedly he has no stake in the agency now. But if you believe that…
Look Brodie got the Wilson’s to spend on Cespedas so he obviously has their ear. They bid againts themselves for that contract. He has a chance to get them to spend on upper level talent instead of buying in the bottom of the barrel. Wait til you see the extension before it becomes a conflict of interest.
Either you believe that wet dream, or realize that Mutt and Jeff are not so dumb after all. Their just revenge for being made fools of with the Cespedes’ contract was to hire the guy to run the team. Now he can hear the Abbott & Costello routine daily: “Who’s on First?”?
Apply it to the Hot Stove and you can hear, “Hey Wagon Wheel–there are plenty of free agents that can make a difference. Just look at all of the players that are being released this week. There are GREAT deals to be made. Go get them!”
Mets should trade Thor, DeGram, Matz, and any other veterans. They could then start signing guys after this year and be ready in three or four.
You are assuming that they are capable of negotiating for a quality return. That is a big assumption.
There’s no need for rebuild.
This offseason must be proactive with trades and free agency.
If it is – and I believe it will – I have confidence in BVW, the Wilpons and the entire organization are headed on the right track and will put a playoff caliber team on the field beginning in 2019.
foolish confidence…you must still be wearing the “Gotta Believe” t shirt. Wagon Wheel, Mutt and Jeff and the entire “organization” are on the right track, however will get stuck in Jamaica station as the locomotive runs out of steam.
If the Mets were going to increase payroll, Wilpon would have been trumpeting that from the mountaintops.
They already have $154 million in payroll for 2019 with guaranteed salaries, arbitration increases, and enough pre-arb salaries to fill in the rest of the roster.
That still leaves them without a closer, a centerfielder, and with huge holes at catcher, 3B, and in their bullpen. If McNeil turns out to be a mirage, they would also have a hole at 2B.
Cespedes will once again be on the DL most of the season and Bruce will take over at 1B after atrocious production in 2018. Frazier stunk in 2018 for the 3rd straight season. Vargas and his $10 million guaranteed put up a 5.77 ERA in 2018 and was injured for a 3rd of the season. Swarzak is due $8.5 million, made only 29 appearances, and struggled to a 6.15 ERA when he was healthy. Lagares and his $9.5 million salary is so bad that Van Wagenen said that OF was their biggest need.
The only way they might be able to compete in the East is to trade away both Syndergaard and at least one of those bad contracts and get back MLB talent in those trades. Oh, and pray that Cespedes and his $30 million in salary is either able to play most of 2019 or sits the entire season out. If he plays at all they get no insurance money for him.
Reading NY Mets’ posts here is better than watching late night comedians who happen to all be experiencing a renaissance. LOL.
Offseason goals:(Let me preface this as i believe the Agent in this new gm convinces the cohpons to spend and will make shrewd trades as follows)
Sign deGrom if possible (4yr/$110mil) club option $25mil (i doubt this will happen..but this is an extension that deGrom deserves. More even)
Sign:
Craig Kimbrel 4yr/$66mil
Andrew Miller 3yr/$31mil
Adam Ottovino 3yr/26.5mil
Trade:
Jay Bruce
Juan Lagares
Tomas Nido
Dom Smith
To Indians for:
Yan Gomes
Jason Kipnis
Gavin Collins
Trade:
Jason Vargas
Desmond Lyndsay
David Thompson
To Baltimore for
Andrew Cashner
Ademar Rifaela
Lineup
1) Rosario SS
2) Nimmo CF
3) Cespedes RF
4) Conforto LF
5) Alonso 1B
6) Frazier 3B
7) Kipnis 2B
8) Gomes C
Rotation
1) deGrom
2) Syndergaard
3) Wheeler
4) Matz
5) Cashner
Bullpen
1) Lugo
2) Gsellman
3) Swarzark
4) Blevins
5) Ottovino
6) Miller
7) Kimbrel
Bench:
Flores
Plawecki
Jackson
McNeil
Guillorme
With the NL East weakening… This is a roster that can compete for the division amd wildcard
Unfortunately your first prediction has absolutely ZERO chance of happening::
(Let me preface this as i believe the Agent in this new gm convinces the cohpons to spend and will make shrewd trades as follows)
So it all falls downhill from there. Meaningful free agents WILL NOT sign onto a franchise with such laughable ownership. Wagon Wheel will be left with choices that will be players who cannot sign elsewhere for the same money and WIN, so they take the money. They will be similar to last year’s additions and will under perform and/or spend much time on the DL.