Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen made clear yesterday he intends to make further improvements to the roster. Last night, he indicated that free agent center fielder A.J. Pollock could be a realistic target.
In an appearance on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link), Van Wagenen said that the Mets are in contact with Pollock’s reps about a possible match. Pollock “fits us really well,” says Van Wagenen, who added that he’d continue to engage on Pollock — though it’s “unclear at this point” whether anything will come to fruition.
It’s hard not to see the connections between this interest and the Mets’ reputed push to land catcher J.T. Realmuto. That deal might well cost the team a high-quality young outfielder — Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo are said to be in the conversation with the Marlins — who could in theory be replaced by Pollock.
Of course, that’s quite a juggling act, and a purely speculative one at this point. But it’s possible to imagine that it’d leave the Mets particularly interested in a true center fielder, with the roster space to accommodate. (Pollock would fit just fine with Conforto and Nimmo flanking him, and Juan Lagares serving as a reserve, though the anticipated mid-season return of Yoenis Cespedes would make for a potential crowd.)
As Van Wagenen says, we’ll have to see where this all goes. But it’s potentially very good news for Pollock that the New York organization has such obvious interest in him. He’ll be stretched to achieve his reported asking price, but pursuit from an aggressive Mets organization could help push his market into gear in the run-up to the Winter Meetings.
I think the Mets are going to be fun to read about the rest of the off-season, fun to watch in the next two years, and then a lot of fun to read about in three years when they are a tire-fire.
This is going to backfire by the all star break
Maybe, but Philadelphia and Washington could also implode.
So could any team
That’s baseball
However the Mets definitely will implode.
That’s Mets baseball.
I agree that this could potentially hurt them in the long run but I also understand the unique dilemma they are in.
They have the reigning cy you g award winner in Degrom, an elite starter in Thor, and Wheeler has seemingly turned a corner. Add in a healthy Matz (big “if”) and you have one of the best pitching staffs in the majors. That doesn’t come around too often.
Their window of opportunity with those guys is closing quickly. Hard to not look at what you have and see how you can win now.
Great SPing and a new GM trying to make an instant stamp on the squad has made the Mets relevant again. Trade for J.T.R. and sign Pollock and look out NL East. Then again, it’s the Mets….
Yep, watch out NL East! Jeter, just when you thought you had the highest NL East draft pick locked, the Mets may catch you for that.
I love your comment haha
The Mets are very deliberately burning down their franchise so a ground – up rebuild is the only option.
Should be totally expected. Open up two browser windows at Baseball-Reference, one for the Mets franchise, the other for the Phillies franchise. You are faced with a fifty year history of the Mets and Phillies alternating long rebuilds. One team is up top while the other is down on the bottom.
The Phillies and Mets never compete against one another, the exact opposite of the Yankees and Red Sox.
Of course, this is just a “coincidence” that has lasted fifty years and has no end in sight.
Changing your ID only works if you don’t repost something you posted 5-6x last summer ( word for word ) – my question is did you memorize this tidbit of info or is it still saved on clipboard from months ago.
wait… is this Casey’s Partner back again? i almost didnt recognize him without his John Middleton bashing
ID change, huh? He must have broken up with Casey.
didn’t the Mets and Phils fight each other 2006-2008?
when
He has a (dumb) explanation for that.
Mets going down and Phillies going up trajectory has to meet in the middle aka 06-08 lmaoo heard this a hundred times
By your logic that would mean they would battle for 3rd place. If one goes up while the other goes down, neither team should never be good at the same time as the other, yet they were forgetting for the division. Smoke another bro
Three years?
It’s been burning the last three!
It’s the AJ Preller method of trying to build a baseball team.
Agree. Why try to build with the last GM’s trash?
Turner, Grandal, Bauer? Yeah the difference in WAR they provided these past 4 seasons would of really made the Padres elite. (obviously a joke)
Same with the Mets. Make a million trades to creat an illusion of “going for it” to keep the fanbase interested. Trade Conforto, Rosario, etc. Is either of these guys the lynch-pin in a title run? Absolutely not.
Still need a 5 year rebuild like the Yankees, Padres, Cubs, Astros, etc. Sure the Red Sox did it, but that is not a sustainable model and requires an MVP like Betts.
If he is as good as AJ then he should draft and develop his own guys.
“Yankees, Padres, Cubs, Astros”
One of these things is not like the other
One of these things just doesn’t belong
Red Sox model? You mean spending a quarter billion $?
you’re right, the Padres only have 57 mil committed to players in 2019…
While all the other 3 teams combined is almost 400 mil….
You were so right!
The Yankees rebuilt for 5 months… not years. They had one selling trade deadline and then were right back in it the next year
So all those consecutive years where they missed the playoffs….???
It also requires a free agent signing or new hitter like JD that is a stud. Cano is a dud. Old and without a big bay behind him.
?
Why don’t you tell me abut all those consecutive years with no playoffs. WS 2008 missed playoffs 2009 Wild card 2010 Won East 2011 and 12 missed 13 and 14 playoffs 15 wild card missed playoffs 2016 made playoffs 17 and 18.So I guess all those consecutive years was 2. WOW
Yeah it seems oddly similar to what AJ Preller did before he tore it down. 2015 was terrible for Preller, but it seemed like a way for him to deal prospects he didn’t draft to trade for prospects he wanted. Hasn’t worked out yet, but guess time will tell.
Right……
The rock star GM did it on purpose.
lol
He did.
That has been said since 2016.
And the exact same thing will happen with the Mets.
Have fun these next 5 years NY!
Mets fans will have lots of fun watching Cano’s contributions deteriorate. They have gad experience with Wright.
Reminds of the Padres and White Sox a few years ago when they were “ALL IN” and ended up with worse records than teams that were actively tanking.
It’s the Brodie and jerry show.. keeps us tuning in….
We don’t need more outfielders. We just traded away Bruce to fix that issue. I hope we just sign more relievers, and probably another catcher.
Well, if you’re about to trade Nimmo for Realmuto then yeah, you do.
You do need a CF unless you want Lagares out there. Idk if throwing 80 mil at pollock is the correct solution though. Or at the least you need another corner outfielder because expecting anything out of Cespedes would be foolish.
Why isn’t Nimmo just penciled into CF? Guy can do it all and is cost effective. Pollock is 32 and always on the DL. Why is everyone viewing Nimmo as a corner OF instead of a CF?
Because Nimmo is only nominally a CF. He can play the position if necessary, but he grades out poorly there. It would be ideal if he didn’t have to play there regularly. The same is true for Conforto, which is probably why the Mets are fine with the idea of trading one and getting a true CF like Pollock.
You seriously think a 31 year old will have more speed to track down fly balls in Center than a mid-20 year old, lean, 6’3 athlete, who just started getting used to center in 2018? It’s not all historical. You have to use your common sense too. Nimmo is fast wnough for Center, gets a opd enough jump, has age on his side, and is plus offensively for a CF
BAM!
That’s the be-all, end-all for CF? Did you bother looking to see the Cespedes at CF experiment? He had the speed, obviously the arm, and a GG in the corner. How’d that first AB of the WS in 2015 go? Nimmo is not a good CF because of speed.
Also, Brodie said he’s going for it now. He’s not waiting for Nimmo to get a full season playing there to learn the ropes while his rotation gets older and more expensive. Pollock, if healthy, is a good defender and a good hitter. Bruce was not traded just to get rid of an OF. He was trash in the field, garbage at the plate, and made too much money to be a bench bat only.
Cespedes has had bad heels for years, he’s never been a speed guy. Great arm but the speed was never a thing.
He had plenty of speed. You clearly never watched him play longer than his highlight HR or OF assists. Regardless, the point he made was that any corner OF player could man CF if he had speed. Which is just not true.
I’m not saying that replacing Nimmo or Conforto with Pollock is necessarily the best option, all I’m saying is that it’s probably one of the factors guiding the Mets on this subject, along with their desire to make a FA splash. For what it’s worth, I think Pollock is a shaky target based on his injury history, and I’d prefer to look elsewhere. But I do think that Nimmo in center is a stretch.
Neither was playing a full season. Once he signed the big deal,it was a big deal to keep him off the DL.
Who knows with the Mets, the GM stated earlier this off season that McNeil was penciled in as the starter at 2B and that lasted about a month.
Because Nimmo will be part of the trade for Realmuto.
Just my choice but, I woudn’t want Realmuto if the cost was giving up Nimmo, Conforto or even McNeil. This is not to say Realmuto is not good. I just wouldn’t want to pay that price. You could sign Pollack (if that’s what you’d want), play Nimmo and Conforto at the corners with Lagares as the forth outfielder.
Pollack becomes the right handed back they ‘re looking for. If Cespedes does come back you make the decision at the trading deadline this season to move Conforto, Nimmo or Mcneil.
I still think the biggest need is the bullpen, they need people to get the ball to diaz,. If Vargas stays with this team, i’d make him the garbage time long man spot starter. Give Lugo and Gsellman a shot a to battle it out for the 5th spot. Loser goes to the pen.
They could go the Defensive catcher route…
I have a question because I don’t know KC’s situation or most of their players.
What does anyone think Salvador Perez would cost if the tires were kicked there? Would KC move him? Would the cost be more than Realmuto?
Thoughts?
Nice to hear some positive news on potential Met moves.They haven’t had this kind of excitement since the days of Frank Cashen.Hope some of these moves actualy happen
Hey man…you are going out on a limb comparing excitement to the days of Cashen. Only problem is that he worked for a different owner. In the past 3+ decades the Wilpon’s have been known for deception. Just wait.
Ok so Comforto is replacing David Wright as the face of the franchise so he isnt going anywhere. Did anyone notice how Comforto excelled after the all star break?
He just wasnt ready to start the season after coming off of surgery.
If they trade Rosario then they will go after Machado.
If they trade Comforto then they will go after Harper. But signing Harper adds too many lefties to the lineup.
Its fun to read and hear all these trade rumors.
All i want is exactly what Brodie VW is doing. Making the New York Mets relevant again.
“Ok so Comforto is replacing David Wright as the face of the franchise so he isnt going anywhere.”
Degrom without question is the face of that franchise.
I agree. DeGrom is the face of the Mets at this point, but with all these moves, that could change. An exciting off season for you Mets fans
Mr. Met is obviously the face of the franchise.
Conforto is a very solid player, but who is Comforto? LOL
Another easily fooled Met fan, the wilpons live theare idiots.
If they trade Rosario they are going after Machado? Lol
If that was the case why didn’t they just sign Machado instead of trading for Cano?
That’s right, money, same as always for the Coupons.
You may have come up with a nickname for the Mets’ general manager: Volkswagen (VW).
Be prepared with a sharpie to lower the price of your lemonade around Flag Day. That’s the time your dreams will begin to evaporate.
ATL. ya better start making moves.
Long offseason, but my favorite division certainly has been exciting. Plenty of fish left to buy. I love this. I can’t wait to see how Philly ATL and the Nats spend the rest of their money and assests
I believe it’s now ATL’s turn to choose
Eh the Braves are building the correct way (for them) as opposed to throwing money at the problem and trading prospects away from an already depleted farm. Braves are far from done too, but their moves are about beyond just 2019.
I guess adding Donaldson and McCann weren’t enough for you?
I hope the Mets sign A.J. Pollock … They could have their very own version of Jacoby Ellsbury! LOL
Exactly
Pollock camp on record requesting $80M and reports stating he will likely take far less make this just another hilarious misinformed quip hating on the Mets. You get it all out now??? JE got a $150M contract – not comparable. Got any other funny stuff?
Pollock injury prone so I agree perfect fit for the Mets
Bet we can get Sally Perez for a more reasonable deal, prospects only. That’s way better to my ears.
Agreed!!
Royals have to take back Bobby Bonilla life contract to even out salaries.
Ellsbury had far better seasons and wasn’t as injury prone at the start of that big deal. No big SB or HR years like ellsbury but I can see whatever deal pollock gets will be a bust, unless it’s for 3 years with an option at a rate that he’s most likely to surpass.. you can’t pay a guy that much for that long wondering if he ever plays more than 115 a year..
The new AJ Preller winter 2015.
Definitely shades of the 2015 Pads.
Pass on Pollock, please. He and Cespedes would lead the league in payroll on the d.l. Go all in on Machado. If we miss him, go get Freddie Galvis and then flip Rosario Matz and Nido for Realmuto. Then offer McCutchen (still only 32!) and/or Adam Jones (33yrs) two year deals with an option. Plan c would be take Billy Hamilton’s defense and speed and bat him 8th. Two players who I think could be traded for are Starling Marte (Pgh -age 30) and Whit Merrifield (Kc -age 29). I’d accept either or both. If the Mets can entice with Matz/Rosario, I think both can easily be replaced. Catching is incredibly thin across baseball, so getting Realmuto should be priority #1. If it means taking on Starlin Castro’s contract, go for it. Remember, Castro came up as a shortstop and played there regularly as recently as 2015. Cano at 1b, Castro at 2b, Galvis at ss, Realmuto c, McNeil/Frazier 3b, Conforto, Hamilton and McCutchen…that’s veteran consistency and might even ‘motivate’ Cespedes. I’d be pretty happy with those moves.
And this is why fans make the worst GMs.
You gave Jim Stem a “stone-cold stunner”?
Sign Machado! And if that fails go get Freddy galvis! Yikes. Wide range there bud.
Nonsense.
I love it go all in on Machado.That means between Machado Cano and Diaz in 2020 you’ll have a 75 million dollar payroll for 3 players.But I’m sure the Mets will start spending like Boston to complement those 3. lol
As a Mets fan I love how BVW is making this team interesting.
I don’t blame you Bruce but do you think it might have been a good time to rebuild? Other teams in the NL East have done it already and are going to be good for the foreseeable future. The Nationals are still spending. Just a hard time to make a bad team a contender
I feel like with the pitching the Mets have, they’re going with the “win now”, mindset. After 2020 we will only have Cano on payroll and that’s $13.4 a year which isn’t the worst, I can see the Mets dumping off all big name starting pitchers if they fail this year and use those pieces to rebuild the farm systems and tear it all down. Whenever teams bring in a new GM it’s either to start over and rebuild or try and contend. Obviously BVW is trying to contend but I think a rebuild could still come, similar to the Padres doing this after getting Kemp, Kimbrel, and Upton.
You Mutt fans are so unbelievably dumb its frightening.
“After 2020 we will only have Cano on payroll and that’s $13.4 a year which isn’t the worst”
No he wont moron.
Hes on the payroll those three years for 24 million per year.
He counts against the luxary tax for 24 million.
That’s why Seattle traded you him and Diaz for 2 bums and a couple prospects.
Classic wilpons shifting money and fooling their fans.
The 29 million they got in the deal goes right in the wilpons pockets.
In 2021 they will be crying that they can’t spend because of cano being there.
Its amazing how dumb mutt fans constantly fall for this trick.
Thank you Boogaloo. I lived in NY for 62 years and Mets fans just don’t get it The Wilponzis are pocketing money now off this trade and in the future claim poverty.Last year they claimed a 160 mill payroll not mentioning insurance was paying most of Wrights and Cespedes almost 50 mill combineds= contracts.It just never stops and Mets fans never learn.Nor does media in NY
Ignorant reply from a child who needs name calling to try and make a valid point.
No you are the ignorant one. In two years you will have a 38 year old Cano making 24 million per and DeGrom facing fa and Thor a year away from fa earning 15 mill.If you still have Diaz he’ll be earning 15 mill or more and Conforto and Nimmo will be pulling down much bigger contracts along with Wheeler which means good bye DeGrom good bye Thor hello Cano as a mediocre non hustle 2b/1b
Ok, and Wright will be off payroll as would Cespedes. Getting Cano now will elevate the team and make them better. If the mets can grab some wins, make the playoffs, and look good they can see a budget increase from the current $150 mil. Also funny how you get name calling from a 62 year old grown baby because someone has a different opinion. Clown.
I didn’t name call I used the same word ignorant as you did, Also Cespedes and Wright were off payroll last year as insurance not the Mets paid there salaries. The Mets for several years with Harvey Thor and DeGrom costing them nothing did nothing to improve their offense so you can go ahead and keep dreaming that now the Wilponzis will change I just don’t see it.If the Mets had really changed they would do what the Indians just did and extend Thor and Degrom.Don’t hold your breath.As for name calling you called boogaloo a child and ignorant and me a clown and a 62 year old baby.Look in the mirror
Haniger to ATL. you heard here first
Numerous people have been floating that idea since they signed Donaldson.
Not as good a fit as Jason Bay 10 years ago.
I do not get this move. If this is a precursor to them swinging Nimmo and prospects for Realmuto it still doesn’t make sense.
Nimmo is enough better than Pollock offensively (at this stage of their careers) that it doesn’t justify the upgrade defensively. This is a real head scratcher.
I know you guys are gonna scream look at his WAR when it comes to NImmo but he’s a 263 hitter without power and doesn’t steal bases.He walks alot and WAR loves that but offensively he’s really overrated
Bingo!
Besides, I doubt the Marlins best offer from all the interested teams is this deal for just Nimmo as the headliner.
Yeah, sign a 31 year old who’s had one good season and a history of not being able to stay on the field.. Great idea. Pollock rumored asking for $80m is laughable.
Conforto & Nimmo are both young and have the most offensive upside of any players on the team, they are the present and the future, leave them be.
Sign Grandal or Ramos at C, get some bullpen help and a short-term deal for an OF’er (Markakis?) and take your chances with McNeil & Alonso at the corners. Do not trade Syndergaard. Forget Pollack, Kluber, etc.
None of Pollock, Brantley should be looked at. Specially, if they are asking for multiple years. Both should be content with what Donaldson did, prove at least one more year that they are healthy and can duplicate, then, hit the open market again the following off season.
I think the timing is all wrong. They are trying to make a bad team competitive with other teams in the division that are much better and younger. This would be the time for them to rebuild.
Of course fits the Mets really well. He’s always HURT!
Well I had Pollock to NYM in my prediction contest, until I changed it to CHC at the last second. Conforto, Cespedes, Nimmo all *could* play CF, but they’re all better elsewhere. Pollock is a good CF, brings right-handed balance to the lineup.
The Cano/Diaz deal might start to make some sense if the Mets (Wilpons) are willing to spend $$ for at least a couple of high end FAs to validate the GM’s “fearless” win now rhetoric and, more importantly, fill some of their critical gaps (C/CF/RP/etc.). Too many to fill them all with trades and lower end FAs, and pretend they’re all in. Pollack is an injury waiting to happen, but he is perhaps the only impact FA CF available. His signing would be a high risk move, but no more so than what they’ve done so far.
Whoever signs Pollock will end up with what St. Louis had with Fowler. Signing a CF past 30 who has never consistently reached their potential and wants $80 million is a huge red flag. This guy screams bust. I just hope someone takes him before he ends up in San Francisco, like these guys have predicted.
If Sabean or Evans were still in charge, this signing would be a foregone conclusion. This doesn’t feel like anything that the new front office would touch with a 10 foot pole.
Giants are already 0-4-ever signing aging CFs. Aaron Rowand, Angel Pagan, Denard Span, Austin Jackson…
Is there anyone Brody supposedly is not interested in?
Regrettable contract signing in 3 … 2 … 1 …
Why would the Mets waste money on Pollock when they could easily trade Syndergard for both Albert Almora and Jose Quintana from the Cubs? They would get a gold glove caliber true CF in Almora and a solid starting LHP for way less money which is a solid trade for both clubs. Cubs may even throw in a prospect to sweeten the deal. Somebody wake up the Cubs front office please, they are asleep at the wheel at the moment!!
Lol. Please stop. The Mets might give you wheeler for that.
AJ Pollock has had one good offensive season and is not a high range CF that the Pitching First Mets need. The Mets are better off going after Billy Hamilton.
I love Hamilton’s defense, but he’s one of the worst hitters in baseball. A 7-8-9 of Rosario-Hamilton-Pitcher would be brutal.
With the Cano deal done and these other deals maybe happening that involve big bucks, I want to know why suddenly the Coupons are spending money? Did BVW hypnotize them?
They really haven’t spent anything yet. Cano actually costs less than Bruce and Swarzak in 2019 (about 3.5 mil less) thanks to the money Mariners kicked in.
Yes they bumped payroll on this deal starting in 2020, but only by about $7 mil for Cano plus whatever Diaz gets. Alot can happen in a year. Cano starts to hurt in 2021-2023.
BVW is creating alot of motion with this trade and his words, but don’t confuse motion with action.
I definitely give him credit for creating buzz. Buzz don’t win games though.
Seems to me the last GM creating a buzz like this was Preller and the Padres before the 2015 season. We saw how that turned out. What BVW has done smacks of the same type of hype without substance or wins.
oh my gawd.. he’s injury risk and has QO attached.. with already depleted farm system, can’t afford to give up any draft picks..
The Cano – Diaz deal seems to make sense to myself as the added cash would offset any financial hindrance for the current season, add Cano as a potentially productive veteran infielder, and add a premiere closer. Mets will have to take the risk of paying value for a reliever that will be paid well in arbitration, and risk Cano regressing on that contract. Mets have financial flexibility in the near future so I can understand Cano, but adding A.J. Pollock will hamper the team for years to come.
A.J. Pollock is 31, and will not get better. His injury history is scary and lengthy. Bad luck or not, it is a big big red flag. Only one season with over 500 AB’s by age 31 season. Historical deficiency against same handed pitching and Increased home/away splits does not help as well. A.J. Pollock built his name on a prospect pedigree and performance from a single season. No doubt talented and should be worth a starting spot on many teams, but with agent seeking 5 years for 80 million as starting point. Even negotiated down to 5 years for 60 million seems outrageous. Can’t see his body holding up for length of that contract, and a corner outfielder with his recent offensive numbers are not worth that much money or commitment.
Mets currently have Cespedes, Nimmo, Conforto, and Lagares as outfielders in the depth charts.. That will account for over 40 million in the payroll, even with minimal increases in arbitration for Conforto and Nimmo (unlikely). Mets will probably end up getting a journey man that might provide value above the contract, which might be minor league variety with invitation for spring training..
If the Mets would actually bolster the lineup with a big bat or 2 they could justify keeping Lagares in center.
If you’re a team built around pitching, having a gold glover in center should be a priority.
Don’t sign Pollock. It looks like a good move but it isn’t. He had just started having injury problems and signing him to a 5 year $80mill contract is too much for a player who will create a logjam.
Mets need a proven healthy hitter like adam jones who is way cheaper. He will be the mets grandyman for 2019 and where did the mets go when they added granderson? Right, the world series…same rotation, players who had a taste of what that experience was like, seasoned vets…a lot of upside for the amazins. Dont overspend or trade away young controllable assets like conforto, nimmo or rosario.
They’re going to overspend AND trade away the young controllable assets 3.
It’s the Mets way. Pollock is a scratch golfer and should be on the DL and with his buddy Cespedes on the links before Memorial Day.