While the Mets seem to have largely built out their 2019 pitching staff, there’s still some potential offseason work to be done. That may not mean bringing in new arms, though, so much as looking into new deals with existing ones.
There had been a general expectation that the Mets would pursue another rotation piece, whether to compete with or displace Jason Vargas in the #5 spot. General manager Brodie Van Wagenen cast doubt on that concept in an interview today with Andy Martino of SNY.tv (video link).
The Mets will “still stay in touch” with free agents, says Van Wagenen, but the team presently has “no plans to sign an additional starting pitcher.” Rather, per the rookie GM, the plan is to head down to camp and evaluate from there.
Whether or not Spring Training will provide opportunities — or create needs — for the Mets to consider additional hurlers, it’s expected to serve as a stage for contract talks. In particular, indications are that the club still intends to explore a new deal with star pitcher Jacob deGrom.
That negotiations haven’t yet started “has left the deGrom camp, at a minimum, disappointed,” according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. From the team’s perspective, Van Wagenen did not indicate that anything has changed. To the contrary, he says that he still “hope[s] Jacob deGrom is a lifelong Met.” There’s still ample time for talks to get started, of course — camp hasn’t opened, and deGrom is controlled for two more seasons — but it’s certainly interesting to hear that deGrom’s reps have been displeased at the lack of communication to this point.
Interestingly, Sherman also reports that the Mets have designs on holding talks with Zack Wheeler, who is earning $5.975MM in 2019 before reaching free agency. Wheeler is an interesting potential extension target, as he’s fresh off of an impressive season in which he re-emerged following a three-year run of injuries and struggles. He’s younger than deGrom and closer to free agency, but hasn’t reached his rotation mate’s successes on the mound and has a much more worrisome track record. Wheeler is a difficult player to value in a hypothetical extension scenario, so it’ll be interesting to see if the sides are able to line up on a deal.
Dang!
Our bullpen is strong enough now to hold down the fort. We need a legitimate cleanup hitter until Cespedes gets back if he does come back at all. We can afford to let a starter go to get that bat. With Gsellman and Lugo, they can fill the void.
Sign Ervin Santana, and I’ll feel better about this rotation
I would rather put Hector Santiago in the 5th spot instead of Vargas, but Gio sounds better than both of them
easy sign machado 5 year 155 million trade Rosario to Cleveland for Kluber any thoughts
I like how you put “easy” in front of statement as if either of those would agree to those terms lol. Pretty funny.
The Indians already have arguably the best SS in baseball. So Rosario probably wouldn’t even be a filler piece in a trade for Kluber much less the headliner. I don’t really see Rosario as a 2nd or 3rd baseman either.
I’m a Mets fan. And I just need to say that I’m sorry that one of my own said something so stupid that you had to explain that Lindor > Rosario.
🙁
Why would Cleveland want Rosario plus Kluber is too much $$ plus he’s been declining I’d rather have the cheaper and younger guy in Bauer. I’d do the 5 years for Machado and trade Lagares,Frazier and maybe Peterson for Bauer, since Cleveland needs an OF and 3b I would also include half the $$ of their contracts
I’ve said all offseason trade Conforto for Kluber fills both teams needs. But then the Mets would need to sign someone like and Adam Jones. Or Harper since I’m already reaching
5 year 155?
He’s looking for 300 mill.
The market is falling
I think the vast majority of Met fans would do that deal in a second. Machado on a deal <7-10 yr would be amazing. As for trading Rosario, I think he has turned the corner, but the mets still have Gimenez they can pencil in for 2020 and Guilmore and maybe TJ or similar as a stop gap for 2019. That is all great….BUT…CLE already has Lindor who is a top 3 SS who is beloved in CLE.
A third team would be needed, and that is where it gets complicated. I believe Texas just signed A. Cabrera who basically has cement block for feet and the range of a middle-aged sloth. I don't think Texas has much to offer in regard to prospects, so that is likely a non-starter.
Could a team like TB jump in for Rosario…maybe. They have Adames, who is cheap and had a good rookie season, so I'm not sure they'd want to displace him, but they are the kind of team always looking to deal. They obviously have a bunch of a young guys who could interest CLE.
I just don't see the fit. Unfortunately SS has turned into a position of depth the last few years with a bunch of top-notch young guys breaking in. If Rosario was a catcher, then there were be surplus value, but alas…..there are 8-10 guys ahead of him if he doesn’t continue to improve w. his bat. His glove and range will continue to make him valuable, but the modern SS can now hit too.
“That negotiations haven’t yet started “has left the deGrom camp, at a minimum, disappointed,”
Do you know who team owners are? Nicknamed “Coupons”
Wilpons would probably try to get one more Arb year out of deGrom, rather than extending, after winning Cy Young lol.
You are such a bore!! At least make an attempt to contribute something rather than repeating the same lame comment about the Wilpons. We get it you don’t like them…
The Wilpons have been annoying the rest of the baseball world for 15 years. They deserve the criticism. How they run that team is ridiculous in that market. I’m not even a Mets fan and I wish MLB could make them sell the team.
No doubt they deserve criticism but the argument concerning the N.Y. market is played out. They are what they are, they will spend only what makes sense to them, move on. I watch because I am a fan of the game not the owners. If the team is winning, awesome! If they are not, oh well. There will always be another year. It’s not a big deal at all, certainly not enough to call them names and clamor for them to sell the team, which they simply won’t do until they feel like it.
Hey why not. Off the high horse buddy. This site is to express opinions, not for complacent fans to knock people who do and come up wothnrypical
With Typical Mets fans, “oh well, there will always be another year, it’s no big deal at all”.
It’s time for you to move on because it is more interesting with fans expressing their passion.
And the Wilpon’s get what they deserve. Their handprint around the NY fans necks is well documented. They have choked the life out of the franchise and it’s been going on a lot longer than 15 years.
Besides their financial misery, they are plain incompetent managers of their asset. Have you not read the “Flushing Soap Opera” over the past decade?
You can’t make up the stupid stuff that has gone in under their watch. And if you did come up with something crazy, without mentioning a team name, most baseball fans would guess the Mets.
Fans like you contribute to their financial objectives. If you decided to put in big boy underwear and stop supporting their finances as well as SNY it would force Mutt and Jeff to sell sooner.
But I like my high horse. People are saying, it’s the highest. If you don’t like the wilpons or how they run the team, that’s fine, but making the same lame comments (coupons, mutts, etc) over and over does nothing. If the comments are topical and actually well thought out then by all means make them. But the idea that posting snarky comments from the toilet is going to make someone sell an assent worth billions is neither topical nor well thought out.
Life shouldn’t revolve around a sports team. If they are doing well, I’ll watch and enjoy if they are not then I’ll simply pay less attention. There is no need to get so invested, specially with a team you clearly don’t even like. Life is good on this high horse!!
Let’s see. DeGrom is in the stronger position to negotiate based on last year. He is controlled for two more years. That’s reason number one not to rush. His age is reason number two. He just got a nice raise through arbitration so let’s see how effective he is this year ( not expecting last years performance but a solid effort for a number one pitcher). By the way is the arm sound before we give him the keys to the vault.
Seriously, I love DeGrom but I think I would rather have Noah at 30 than DeGrom at 35. Years of Age.
And please understand there is a difference between being cheap and spending wisely.
Eiland-Callaway are the best pitching coach-manager tandem in MLB. As the 2018 season wore on and Mets pitchers adjusted to their coaching and handling, almost all got better.
Vargas is not the LH question mark. Matz is. If he doesn’t kick it in, I look for him to be an in-season trade piece. Also look forward to what they can do to rework Hector Santiago. Would love to see him stabilize in long relief, then move back to a starting role, or try his hand as a one inning shutdown reliever.
I am surprisingly more worried about Matz than I am Vargas. Matz really needs to get it together this year.
27 years-old, 4 years in the bigs.
Started 30 games last year, but struggled in too many. The Mets thought Wheeler would be something special. Eiland-Callaway got that out of him, the man was exceptional the 2nd half. Now Matz has to bloom or the Mets need to turn the page.
I have not been impressed by Matz at all. He scrapped his slider because it “hurt his arm”, he can’t consistently throw anything off speed for strikes and flat out cannot command his fastball location. Just watch one game and let down know how many times his catcher does NOT have to move his glove. Plus, he appears to be turning into a Head case.
Did u even watch the Mets last year? Callaway was an awful manager. He’s gotta improve greatly this year.
I think he just had two slipups: the batting-out-of-order case and the time time he made a pitching change BEFORE the pinch hitter was announced (which actually worked out. Everything else was pretty by-the-book. They also hired a bench coach with NL experience this off season. Wheeler and Matz improving as the season went was huge but then you had guys like Swarzak, Blevins, and Ramos never got better
I hate “by the book” managing. What happened to instincts, going with the hot hand, stay with the hitter who is seeing the ball well, etc.
Callaway is ROUGH with the bullpen, but I think he is a great combo with Eiland and new addition of Riggleman. If Riggleman can play an active role in game management and leave Callaway to scheme with Eiland and handle the off the field stuff, the Mets have a chance at having a pretty solid coaching core. I don’t know how long Riggleman will stick around, as he is 66, but hopefully he can stay 2-3 seasons and help Callaway with his in-game management and teach him how to better manage his bullpen. Brodie is trying to idiot-proof the BP, which has been much needed. I’m cautiously optimistic that the Mets can be in the thick of it in Sept.
Pretty sure Vargas is a gigantic question mark. You can add Matz too but he has age and stuff on his side. Vargas sported an ERA when not playing at the cavernous citi field of over 7. He sports a robust 88MPH fastball and is 36 years of age. I wouldn’t feel very comfortable penciling him in as a sure thing. I’d be looking at another starter if I were BVW.
His salary is what’s keeping him on the MLB roster. With only one year remaining, then a club option after, figured would’ve cut the cord already after Brodie hire.
Especially since Vargas is from the “old regime”
Is Spring training Vargas’ final leash?
He wasn’t awful in the second half and they owe him 8 million bucks. I definitely didn’t expect them to just fold on him altogether but I thought they’d at least bring in a serious competitor for his job. Not hector Santiago the man who when good outpitched his peripherals severely and this was years and years ago.
Fortunately, you’re not BVW.
Vargas did well last year after he recovered from his ST injury. He’s a soft-tossing lefty. Formulaic analytic pitching theories are not the only way to go. Jamie Moyer pitched quite effectively up to age 40, and was still eating innings until age 49. Vargas is a #5 starter that knows how to pitch at the ML level. If healthy he’ll do the job, and if he gets on track he can bounce Matz out of the 4 spot.
BVW has brought in a few reclamation projects. Eiland-Callaway (and an improved defense) will fix some. Along with their position player depth, the Mets will be able to make a few nice in-season trades.
Do you just give him a pass for his 7+ road Era or the first half of 2018 and the second half of 2017? Seems to be a question mark in my eyes.
What the hell are u talking about… Vargas is terrible.
It’s interesting when people bring up a single outlier to try to prove a point; it’s like when people talk about Hall of Fame pitchers who threw 250 innings a year for 20 years or whatever; those guys are really rare – they’re generally in the Hall of Fame for a reason. For every Nolan Ryan there’s fifty Mark Fidryches or Brandon Webbs or Mark Priors. Likewise, with every Jamie Moyer there’s 50 Jason Vargases. Moyer was individually unique in MLB history; a borderline Hall of Famer who survived with below-average stuff, both velocity and control, because he managed to get soft contact (when he wasn’t giving up the most home runs in baseball history, that is).
He was incredibly unique and I did enjoy watching him keep hitters off balance well into his 40s, but he’s an absolute outlier; maybe the most unique career arc of any player in baseball history. But he’s not a guy I’d comp anyone to. Like Nolan Ryan or Tony Gwynn, there’s just really nobody like him in history. Look at B-Rs comps for Moyer – none of them is really comparable at all. (Dennis Martinez and Bartolo Colon are the most comparable pitchers to Moyer, and you’d never mistake any of those guys for Moyer). Most pitchers, Vargas included, fall into a pretty predictable band of outcomes. Vargas isn’t Moyer in any way except he’s left-handed and doesn’t throw hard.
Anyway, Vargas was bad last season; the season before he was decent; he needs a good stadium to pitch in and, like he had with the Royals in 2017, a good defense because he gives up so much contact. His control is nothing special, the homers are creeping up…he’s probably on his last legs. He’s not Jamie Moyer; he’s just a generic soft-tossing lefty whose career path going forward is probably the LOOGY path, if it’s anything.
Vargas is FAAAAR more likely to be mediocre to bad than he is to bounce back and be effective. Matz’s problem is the 6″ between his ears. The kid can pitch and at times he looks unhittable, but he is so inconsistent and he appears to really struggle with adversity. I want to compare him to Wheeler, but Wheeler had some of the best pure stuff when he was in the minors, while Matz showed flashes of #2-#3 plus being a lefty. I hope Eiland and Mickey can get Matz setup with a solid vet who can talk him through the mental side of the game. I’m not sure if that’s Pedro, or even someone like Colon. Bartolo has been mentioned previously as a great mentor, so maybe the Mets give him a ST invite and see if they can catch lightening in a bottle again and MAYBE have some of Bartolo’s guile and creativity rub off on Matz. Bartolo is nearly unflappable…if Matz could adopt some of that he could be a dangerous #2.5-#3 pitcher on most clubs.
Vargas will be just fine a year+ after his TJ. He will sit perfectly in the 5 spot and can pitch to a #3 easily. Plus dude can swing it , put him at 1st if need be 🙂
Vargas isn’t close to being the best hitting pitcher on that staff.
lol. deGrom and Syn can both hit a hair below Bumgardner. They are ultra competitive too, which was part of what pushed Bartolo to really work on his batting, which was historically ridiculous. At one point he became embarrassed about it and the pitchers all competed to contribute at the plate. Hell…deGrom won at least one game with his bat bc the Mets sucked horribly for him almost the entire 2018 season.
Pitch to a number 3? He can’t even pitch to a number 6. Terrible signing. I’d put Lugo in the 5 slot and let Vargas eat innings via middle relief, if that much.
Mets should sign James Shields. Pitched to a respectable 4.53 ERA, in the AL & on a bad White Sox team and threw 204 Innings. Would be great value as a #5 SP.
this is absolutely hilarious. Shields has been garbage for years now.
Bartolo hit his home run off of Shields. No thank you.
Since when do the words respectable and 4.53 era go together. And I guess that its a bad team makes that era somehow more “respectable”.I guess since the Mets were a bad team last year DeGrom’s era was really more like a 1.00 last year with that reasoning.I’m a Yankee fan and I thought the Yankees had a problematic pitching staff last year but by your estimation we had a lot of great pitchers and several respectable pitchers.I guess I was wrong
I’m hoping for Bartolo to go deep one more time before he retires.
@Willy Mays
Maybe you should learn more about baseball other than a pitcher’s ERA when it refers to a pitcher being considered respectable. Okay, when a SP pitches in the American League & has the disadvantage of facing a DH everyday, it’s far easier to digest why a pitcher’s era would be higher in the AL vs the NL. That’s one. Now, the fact that he threw over 200 innings is nearly priceless. Only “12” pitchers threw 200 innings or more in ALL of MLB and guess what……..Shields was 7th on that short list, a list that included several pitchers that received Cy Young votes.
Also, Shields had a better ERA than the following SP’s that qualified:
Jon Gray
Zack Godley
Dylan Bundy
Tyler Anderson
Nick Pivetta
Although none of these SP’s are considered great but most would agree that many people consider almost all of these SP’s as talented pitchers. Oh yeah and out of all of these SP’s, Godley came the closest to Shield’s innings total and he was over 26 innings short of what Shields did.
So, is Shields a good SP, no but can he provide decent innings for a contending team………….absolutely. Like I said, I would rather have James Shields on a 1 yr deal over Gio Gonzalez on a 2 yr deal.
Mets fanatic you arrogant clown.Last year the average era in the NL was 4.02 in the AL 4.27 some difference but not the major difference you make it out to be.Noticeably the 4.27 era in the AL is a1/4of a run less than Shields era last year. I guess in your mind an aging pitcher who last year was a quarter of a run worse than the average pitcher is a good investment. By the way the guys you mentioned were miserable last year. Gray and Godley have been good in the past but both were bad last year. Bundy and Pivetta are young and might someday be good but they have never been good on the pro level..Also Shields whip was a miserable 1.31 so there is another stat he fails at. This uneducated fan kind of thinks a pitcher who gives up lots of runs lots of walks and lots of hits is not a good pitcher but maybe you can help me see the light by explaining how runs hits and walks don’t matter to a pitchers stats
When has Big Game James pitched in a big game…or even had a good game? Pitching to a 4.50 era last season is terrible considering how much the era stat has plummeted in recent years. Shields has been receiving contracts based on history and has statistically been one of the worst starters in the game the last few years.
Time for the bargain hunting.
Welcome to the new normal…..
What’s wrong with waiting for the price to come down on the remaining pitchers? It’s not like anyone else is rushing to sign them.
I hope they avoid caving on keeping Lugo in the bullpen. He’s had his moments as a starter, but I think he’s more valuable to them out of the bullpen.
I’m firmly in the “sign another pitcher and figure it out from there” camp, but I don’t expect that to actually happen.
A SP nobody talks about and I feel could be had at a bargain is James Shields. He had a 4.53 ERA, on a TERRIBLE White Sox team but also threw over 200 Innings(204). I would much rather have Shields as the Mets #5 starter for 2019 then Vargas. Vargas could become a solid long relief option with the occasional spot start.
You’re talking about him an awful lot.
How would Shields be an improvement from Vargas? You keep mentioning that he pitched on an awful White Sox team, but how did that affect his ERA? The team’s defense wasn’t all that bad.
Shields will be 37 this season. In the past three years, he’s posted a 5.17 ERA, 5.59 FIP, 80 ERA+, 1.44 WHIP, and 7.0 K/9. Do you really expect Vargas to do worse than that?
The only thing Shields can do is manage a high workload. We already know he’s going to finish near the bottom in just about every statistical category among qualified starters. They had almost identical lines last year, but at least Vargas has a shot at being productive. From 2016-2018, he posted a 110 ERA+. He got off to a terrible start last year, but in his final 11 starts, he posted a 3.81 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, and 8.6 K/9.
That’s the point. When it comes to a #5 SP, the most you can ask for is provide innings & don’t burnout the bullpen. I know that a 4.53 ERA is not great, not even close but he was pitching in the AL & was the White Sox #3 SP.
Moving over to the NL & not having to face a DH(for now), his ERA should drop by at least a quarter of a run and could even drop by as much as half a run. A #5 SP capable of producing 32+ starts, lots of innings, a high 3’s to low 4’s ERA and comes with a lot of experience sounds good to me. Especially on a 1 yr deal. Low risk, high reward.
The Mets, are the Mets . Like the Padres , are the Padres . Will always be bums . They dont know how to spend their money. Cubs were in this group until they got new ownership. Toss the Rangers and Seattle in this group too.
The only bum here is you. Stop trolling.
“The Mets, are the Mets……Will always be bums.”
_ _
Right on, Brother!
They haven’t been to the WS since heaven knows when…..like 2015….like…actually….honestly…like…you know. Like.
Heck, da Yankees were dare as recently as 2009. If dos bummy cheap Mets just overspent like da Yankees…….
i see you’re trying to be funny, but you’re instead just causing me ocular pain.
Thats the problem , they do (spend money). On bad contracts and broken old players . Thats why they will always suck hind tit to the Cards.
I hate…that you are correct. The Mets overachieved in 2015 DESPITE having one of the worst ownership groups in all of sports. The Wilpons are crooks and charlatans, but the other owners want to keep them because they spend like a small market team, which helps every other club out.
Mets payroll is shaping up to be at least $160-$165 million- well above the Phillies, who haven’t actually spent their “stupid” money yet, and the Braves, Meanwhile, the Marlins, who aren’t even a small market team, are on track to have a payroll of $80-85 million– so, half of the Mets’ payroll. Sure, the Mets could spend a bit more, but it’s pretty inaccurate to suggest they’re spending like a small market team
The marlins generate the 2nd least amount of revenue in the big leagues. Miami may not be a small market but they don’t like their baseball.
Miami isn’t a small market team? Gonna have to disagree with that evaluation. Miami may not be a small city, but Florida doesn’t care much for baseball. The Marlins (along with the Rays) have finished right near the bottom of attendance every year of their existence, including successful teams that had quite a few stars (Stanton, Yelich, Ozuna, Realmuto, Fernandez, Gordon, etc.) on them.
Blah, blah, blah. Must have been a quiet weekend.
If the Mets can add Gio and Adam Jones, they are set!
Is it so far fetched to envision Keuchel (3 years), Marwin Gonzalez, Mike Moustakas and Ervin Santana signed which enables us to deal Vargas, Matz, Frazier, d’Arnaud, McNeil and Nimmo for Realmuto
Sorry, hit send early. It would obviously not be just Realmuto. Maybe even a third team. Ramos can slide to 1b periodically and dh, Realmuto could slide to 3b or 1b in an emergency. Wouldn’t shock me to see him Biggio it at some point later in his career. Is this too far fetched financially? Not if we can throw in the Lagares and Cespedes contract and pick up half of those to unload them. Frazier, Matz, d’Arnaud, Vargas, Lagares and Cespedes at least gives the Marlins pieces to work with at the trade deadline. If they demand Rosario to madness this happen, just make sure we get some additional pieces like a bullpen arm
A bullpen arm, a young middle infield guy, maybe some international bonus money…maybe even Urena if he is getting too expensive for the Marlins.
lolololololol such a stupid trade. Best person in the deal isnt even realmuto. Clown