Mets fans had high hopes when Steve Cohen, now the wealthiest owner in Major League Baseball, officially took over for the much-maligned Wilpons in November. They shouldn’t be disappointed with the results so far.
Major League Signings
- James McCann, C: Four years, $40.6MM
- Taijuan Walker, RHP: Three years, $23MM
- Trevor May, RHP: Two years, $15.5MM
- Kevin Pillar, OF: One year, $5MM
- Jonathan Villar, INF: One year, $3.55MM
- Aaron Loup, LHP: One year, $3MM
- Albert Almora Jr., OF: One year, $1.25MM
- Sam McWilliams, RHP: One year, $750K
- Total spend: $92.65MM
Trades And Claims
- Acquired SS Francisco Lindor and RHP Carlos Carrasco from the Indians for INFs Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez, RHP Josh Wolf and OF Isaiah Greene
- Acquired LHP Joey Lucchesi from the Padres for C/OF Endy Rodriguez in a three-team trade
- Acquired OF Khalil Lee from the Red Sox for RHP Josh Winckowski and a player to be named later in a three-team trade
- Acquired RHPs Josh Winckowski, Sean Reid-Foley and Yennsy Diaz from the Blue Jays for LHP Steven Matz
- Acquired RHP Jordan Yamamoto from the Marlins for INF Federico Polanco
- Acquired cash from the Cardinals for C Ali Sanchez
- Claimed LHP Stephen Tarpley from the Marlins
- Claimed RHP Jacob Barnes from the Angels
Notable Minor League Signings
- Jose Martinez (split contract), Caleb Joseph (split contract), Jerry Blevins, Mallex Smith, Jose Peraza, Arodys Vizcaino, Jerad Eickhoff, Tommy Hunter, Mike Montgomery, Brandon Drury, Trevor Hildenberger, Wilfredo Tovar, Tom Windle
Extensions
- Francisco Lindor, SS: 10 years, $341MM
Notable Losses
- Rosario, Gimenez, Matz, Justin Wilson, Rick Porcello, Michael Wacha, Todd Frazier, Yoenis Cespedes, Wilson Ramos, Robininson Chirinos, Rene Rivera, Jed Lowrie, Jake Marisnick, Jared Hughes, Eduardo Nunez, Guillermo Heredia, Brad Brach
After purchasing the franchise for $2.4 billion, one of Cohen’s first orders of business was to retool the Mets’ front office. That meant bringing back former general manager Sandy Alderson as team president, parting with previous GM Brodie Van Wagenen and hiring ex-Red Sox, Cubs and Diamondbacks executive Jared Porter to replace him.
Based on what Porter accomplished with those clubs, giving him a prominent role looked like a reasonable move, but it couldn’t have gone worse for the Mets. Just over a month after the Mets appointed Porter, they fired him in light of allegations that he sexually harassed a female reporter when he was with the Cubs. They subsequently named another offseason hire and former Red Sox executive, Zack Scott, as their acting GM.
If you take away the front office ugliness, which is certainly hard to do, it was a productive offseason for an organization trying to escape a four-year playoff drought. Once Cohen grabbed the reins, expectations were that the Mets would spend at the top of the free-agent market, though that ultimately didn’t come to fruition despite efforts to sign elite free agents such as right-hander Trevor Bauer, center fielder George Springer and catcher J.T. Realmuto.
Even though they lost out on top-class free agents, the Mets were quite active on the open market, where they addressed several areas of need. Their biggest pickup in terms of dollars was catcher James McCann, who parlayed a terrific 2019-20 run with the White Sox into a four-year, $40.6MM guarantee. It’s fair to be skeptical of the 30-year-old McCann, who wasn’t all that effective as a Tiger from 2018-20, though he did enter this past winter’s market as the consensus No. 2 catcher available because of his performance in Chicago. Mets fans surely would have preferred for their team to land Realmuto, who wound up re-signing with the division-rival Phillies on a five-year, $115.5MM pact, but he didn’t put pen to paper until late January, and Alderson indicated that the Mets weren’t willing to wait around for JTR to make a decision. They now have McCann, who signed in mid-December, and Tomas Nido as the top two backstops on their roster.
The Mets didn’t fare as well – at least on paper – in center, where they didn’t add Springer or Jackie Bradley Jr. They instead signed stopgaps Kevin Pillar and Albert Almora Jr. for a combined $6.25MM. Neither is a surefire everyday player for the Mets, who can still regularly deploy Brandon Nimmo at the position alongside Michael Conforto in right and Dominic Smith in left. The Nimmo-Conforto-Smith alignment is the Mets’ best outfield bet in terms of offense, though they’ll be sacrificing some defensive ability when they turn to those three. Pillar isn’t the defensive marvel he was earlier in his career, though he’s still competent in the grass and as a hitter, while Almora earned plus marks in center as a Cub from 2016-20.
As for starting pitching, while there’s no Bauer – for whom the Mets finished as runners-up to the Dodgers – they weren’t inactive in that aspect of free agency. The Mets retained Marcus Stroman, who accepted their $18.9MM qualifying offer after sitting out 2020 because of COVID-19 concerns, and signed former Mariner, Diamondback and Blue Jay Taijuan Walker to a reasonable three-year, $23MM deal. Neither will pitch to the Cy Young level that Bauer did last year, but Stroman’s an established mid-rotation starter and Walker has looked like one at times. That wasn’t all for the Mets’ newly made starting staff, which swung separate trades for longtime Indians standout Carlos Carrasco and former Padres southpaw Joey Lucchesi.
The plan was for Carrasco to join Stroman, Walker, ace Jacob deGrom and either Lucchesi or David Peterson in the Mets’ rotation as they await the return of Noah Syndergaard from Tommy John surgery, but Carrasco suffered a hamstring tear last month that could keep him out until at least May. Syndergaard may be back within a few weeks after that, which will perhaps give the Mets a rather formidable rotation down the stretch. If all goes according to plan, there should at least be quite a bit of depth – something New York’s rotation has lacked in recent years.
Of course, Carrasco certainly was not the headlining piece in the deal that transferred him from Cleveland to New York in early January. Rather, the trade centered on superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor, who was down to his last year of team control – in which he’ll earn $22.3MM – and was not going to sign an extension with Cleveland.
With no chance to retain him for the long haul, the Indians sold one season of Lindor for a package of young players – Amed Rosario, Andres Gimenez, Josh Wolf and Isiah Greene. Rosario and Gimenez were very promising prospects for the Mets in recent years, but trading them, Wolf and Greene for Lindor made sense for the club – especially if it was confident it could prevent Lindor from testing the free-agent market next winter. The 27-year-old four-time All-Star was in line to become arguably the leading player in the 2021-22 class when the Mets acquired him, so they took a risk when they made the trade.
As of a few days ago, there was little optimism Lindor and the Mets would hammer out an extension by his April 1 deadline, but the Cohen-led club found a way. At the proverbial 11th hour of negotiations, the Mets agreed to a 10-year, $341MM deal with Lindor – by far the largest contract in Mets history and one that counts as the third-biggest guarantee MLB has seen. It’s the type of exorbitant signing that would not have occurred during the Wilpons’ reign atop the Mets.
Thanks in part to Lindor’s entrance, the addition of McCann and their aforementioned outfield, the Mets are heading into the season with an offense that looks tough on paper. Granted, the unit will be without second baseman Robinson Cano, who thrived in 2020 – his second year as a Met – because of a 162-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. The silver lining is that the Mets won’t have to pay Cano the $20.25MM they would have owed him for this year, but it will hurt to lose him based on last season’s output.
Cano’s temporary exit aside, the club will still welcome back first baseman Pete Alonso, second baseman Jeff McNeil and third baseman J.D. Davis as starters. All three can hit, though the Mets did show interest in replacing Davis during the offseason when they pursued Justin Turner and DJ LeMahieu in free agency and considered trading for the Cubs’ Kris Bryant. Turner and LeMahieu re-signed with the Dodgers and Yankees, respectively, while the Cubs didn’t trade Bryant. However, as an impending free agent, Bryant’s among those who could interest the Mets if they’re still looking to upgrade at third during the summer.
The Mets should score their fair share of runs with this cast of hitters, but whether their bullpen will be able to lock down leads late in games is another question. New York added former Twin Trevor May and Aaron Loup, previously a Ray, in free agency. The two of them carry quality track records, though it’s debatable whether those pickups will be enough for a team that will begin the season without Seth Lugo after he underwent bone spur surgery in the middle of February. As far as healthy holdovers go, the Mets will need another big year out of closer Edwin Diaz, who rebounded tremendously from a disastrous 2019, and it’s imperative that Dellin Betances, Jeurys Familia and Robert Gsellman bounce back. Those three have put together solid big league careers, but it’s no sure thing they will provide the Mets decent or better production this year.
Although neither the Mets nor their fans checked off every item on their wish list during the offseason, the team nonetheless looks demonstrably superior to the one that finished the abbreviated 2020 campaign with a horrid 26-34 mark. Thanks in part to their winter transactions, the Mets should push for a playoff spot this year, and they appear capable of ending the Braves’ three-year run atop the National League East.
How would you grade the Mets’ offseason? (Poll link for app users)
Have they won the World Series yet?
All you want is a chance as a fan – and they certainly have a great chance.
If Trevor Bauer hits free agent next year I think Cohen will sign him quickly this time
@Al Hirschen- you want to sign Bauer for $45-50 million annually? Smh. Maybe you guys should pass on that, and sign deGrom to an extension for that kind of $ instead?
Agree
I do not expect Bauer to have a similar year like last one. Alderson was cautious regarding Bauer and I feel he was right in being so.
Nonsense- caution had nothing to do with it and Alderson wasn’t the decision maker for the Mets. Bauer went where he wanted to go and got paid more money to do it
He didn’t get more money in fact he took a little less money to go to LA. And that’s a good thing. Would have been a disaster. For one, Lindor probably would not have been extended.
Great off-season, still feel like the Braves are the team to beat but they’re in the wild card hunt.
That Padres-Mets WC game we’re all expecting is going to be epic.
Make sure all of the other teams looking to compete for it get this memo.
Braves depth scares me. Their bench is thin and upper level minors is not much help aside from Waters potentially coming down.
Camargo, William Contreras at the alt site with Terone (Trey) Harris and Michael Harris (turning heads at ST) waiting in the wings. Adrianza was the best bat in ST, combined with Panda, enough to not rely on Camargo. Bench is thin, but better than I’d thought it’d be at this point.
Eh. Their bench is fine, and they have options in FA, AAA and trades at the deadline.
They don’t have a lot of holes to fill outside of the Bullpen, but honestly, the bigger issue there is Snits use of RP’s.
Short of long-term injuries to Nola, Harper, and/or Realmuto, Phillies will win the NLE.
Lol right pal
Put $ on it.
I did put money on the Phillies winning the east, but only because the odds were in my favor. The Mets and Braves are better on paper for sure.
@ VonPurpleHayes;
Game is not played on paper, on computer, or via statistics.
Game is played on the field.
Girardi has the Phillies playing solid fundamental baseball. Night-and-day from 2 years ago. In a tight race that will be the determining factor. Look how they won game 1.
“Put $ on it.”
@ raisinsss2;
Invest long-term in markets, but am not a bettor. In fact, not sure how to place a bet.
However, think I’ll spend some time this afternoon to find a creditable site on the Internet to do so.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Agreed. Phillies are being overlooked a bit, and I love it, but it’s also foolish to dismiss the talent in the rest of the division. The Mets and Braves are good.
Phillies won’t win the east, or a wild-card.
@ VonPurpleHayes;
Agree with you. In fact, I’d argue that the Marlins are vey good as well (look for them to finish 3rd – unless they have an epidemic of injuries).
But that’s my point. When teams are similar, what separates them is playing solid fundamental baseball. The Braves do not – too many hot dogs, too much lack of concentration at times….they’re going to miss Markakis setting the tone. The Mets do not – if they did they would have won in 2019 playing in that big yard (look how the Royals build teams to take advantage of their big yard). The Nationals are sloppy as well. Mattingly has the Marlins executing well.
Dear goodness, we have someone predicting the Phillies will win the division based on how they looked the first game of the season?
They don’t have enough starting pitching and bullpen is awful. Let alone their lineup outside of realmuto and Harper isn’t great.
@busta37 They had the 5th best offense in the league last year, and they brought everyone back. They also have a completely revamped bullpen that has looked good early. Do I think the Phillies are the best team in the NLE? No. Do I think they can win the division if everything goes right? Sure, but the Braves, Mets, Nats and Marlins can all win too. Until someone proves otherwise, this is the Braves division to lose.
Lindor, Carrasco, Gimenez, McCann and May? I had to give them an A offseason.
Gimenez? They get an A for trading him away?
The main thing we did this off season, was they added depth which us huge .
“The main thing we did this off season, was they added depth which us huge ”
–
Been hearing that about the Mets for 3 years.
Most overrated tam in MLB. But hey – NYC and Boston just can’t get enough exposure in the national baseball media.
?
Which tam is the least overrated? 😉
@ rodcanon;
Tampa Bay Rays.
@samuel the rays get praised regularly for being gurus of sabermetrics… you would think they’ve made the playoffs 10 straight years and won a title… I find them more overrated at this point, but it al depends on your perspective
You meant team. Be real.
Def the Rays. Or A’s.
There’s no tam in team
How can the Rays be overrated when they actually have success, but get less respect than a team like the Mets?
@Samuel
I’ve been hearing about the Mets great offseasons for 3 decades.
What’s it like making decisions like giving out $300+ million dollar contracts. I am asking because you said “we” so I am assuming you work for the Mets. I have always wondered how you come to decisions like that on a player. What kind of insurance do you get in case he starts pulling a David Wright? Do you start biting your nails when they make a head first slide? I have so many questions.
A-/B+ cause McCann, Pillar, Walker contracts were bad but they made moves at least and the Lindor trade was great
they’re not even making 20 total this year and the total commitment after this year is very little. none of those moves are bad.
Huh?
Well…………..OK – If you count DeGrom leaving, Cano suddenly retiring, Stroman, Thor, etc.
Yeah McCann is bad when you could get a slightly worse player like Jason Castro for 2/7. Walker had bad peripherals this past year and has huge injury issues which makes 3/30 an overall. I thought pillar got 2/10 but still 1/5 is pretty bad. They also could’ve got Springer who would’ve been a great signing. Still give them an A- though.
A? Seriously….. How does the aforementioned offseason grade out as an A? That’s absurd. B is a stretch, in my opinion, but at least I can see how you get there. An A?! No.
@Yankee Clipper-no Springer, no Bauer, no Realmuto, no DJ, no Rosenthal, etc… lol. The 2nd best team team in NY traded for and signed Lindor so I generously gave them a C. Maybe next season, they re-sign deGrom and Comforto? Then I can give them a better grade.
What is with you and the comments about signing deGrom? He’s signed through 2023 with a 2024 option. He doesn’t have an opt-out until after the 2022 season, so stop with your ridiculous anti-Mets garbage.
@Birch- you’re the only Mets fan that would say Mets and garbage in the same sentence. So congratulations! Enjoy 2021!
Pillar’s making 5 mil lol
I didn’t think those contracts are bad at all. McCann is a top 10 catcher for only 10 mil per year. Pillar for one year as a late in defensive replacement and play vs lefties occasionally then walker 7 mil per year for a 4 or 5 starter isn’t bad.
McCann is a top 10 catcher? This is news to me. I love the signing. Mets got great value, but he’s not a top 10 catcher.
yeah this is an easy one
Lol y’all see the marlins are 0-2
So I guess the Mets will get 4th place?
What I’m picking them for.
Kid, You got that right!
And the Mets haven’t lost a game !!!!!!
@MetsFan22- maybe the Marlins will go 160-2 the rest of the way? Lol.
I’m waiting for the inevitable MFB reply.
Same here lol
You should feel embarrassed that you feel some kind of rivalry with the Marlins. They are a rebuilding team. You are seriously bringing up their 0-2 record? That was the most likely outcome to their first two games. What’s the point of talking trash on a rebuilding team? Do you commonly go pick on people in the hospital or push around toddlers at the sandbox?
Here I am.
Last night was a bad loss without a doubt.
And of course a Mets fan would be making a thing of the season after 2 games.
You all don’t realize that this is going to be a productive season for the Marlins no matter what. If we contend, well that speaks for itself. If we don’t we have pieces to trade at the deadline that will get us more young pieces to combine with the young pieces that will be up this year.
In closing, let’s see how many excuses @MetsFan22 has by the end of the season. I’m sure he’s noting the Mets not playing this weekend as one of them he’ll use later.
I don’t see the Marlins with much to trade. There’s no true stars on the team and the return for mid season decent players has been terrible lately. Miami might be good in 3 or 4 years if they play things right but I predict a relatively lost season in Miami.
Was a good off season but they didn’t really address the defense which is gonna be their Achilles heel.
@ Cosmo2;
OK, so maybe most of their defenders aren’t good . But the thing is…..they’re going to be moving them around to other positions they can’t play.
Remember what Casey said – “It’s very important to get a Catcher, because if you don’t have one, when the Pitcher throws the ball it’ll go all the way to the backstop”. Well, this Met team will have players setting up at ALL positions. So don’t sweat the D!
Lindor and McCann are definite upgrades… no DH hurts because Nimmo still in CF and smith in LF, plus davis at 3b but I think guillorme will play more than a little… still a need but definitely addressed it a bit
@ Ma4170;
Agreed they got better at C and SS – the 2 most important defensive positions.
However, add 1B where Alonso is terrible to 3B, LF and CF. Then add their poor baserunning, lack of moving runners up when making outs, and hitting into shifts.
One other thing about playing strong fundamental baseball which the Mets do not do – the ball. Balls used in Spring Training this year were the juiced balls used in 2018-2020. Balls used on opening day were the new balls. I’ve watched maybe 7-8 games on MLB.TV. Not only are HR’s noticeably down, but some broadcasters are noting how batted balls that appeared to be going out, died well short of the OF fence. And this occurred in warm-weather and enclosed venues as well as in cold parks. Of those I listened to, only one broadcasting team (Orioles) brought up the new ball, and in that case Jim Palmer had not realized that the old ball was still being used in ST until Kevin Brown told him that MLB officials had admitted that in a recent conference call (they had plenty of the juiced balls left, they wanted to use them in exhibition games). So with more balls staying in the yard – epically a big one like Citi – OF defense become even more important.
@samuel I agree, still have defensive needs where you noted, and that’s why no DH hurt more, because Dom at 1b is the right move defensively, not Alonso… their lack of fundamentals continually frustrate me, and I don’t understand how the coaches haven’t zeroed in on this over the years and in their farm system
@cosmo2
Well think of it this way, as long as the reds keep playing third baseman all over the diamond the Mets won’t have the worst defense lol. Lindor up the middle should make a big impact defensively though.
How was defense not addressed. McCann way better defensively than Ramos and I guess lindor is a hack at short. Plus moving McNeil to his natural position is an upgrade over cano.
People ignore the things that are contrary to their position.
They did not upgrade DF at starting CF, but have a capable 4th OF in Pillar and defensive specialist in Almora, Considering the cost in terms of $ and offensive ability to upgrade CF defense, they decided to roll with Nimmo in CF and Dom in LF. All three OF have potential to be plus / plus plus bats in different ways.
Same could be said about JD at 3b.
And yes. They significantly upgraded at SS, C, and 2B. But it doesn’t fit the narrative, so it’s ignored.
Catcher they upgraded. SS? Gimenez is about as good as Lindor. McNeil is not much of a defensive player and having giant holes at 3B, LF and CF is gonna hurt. “Narratives” aside, this is a terrible defensive team. But I guess every team has their weakness.
I was referring to Rosario who was last year’s OD SS, but Gimenez is probably the better comparison as he would be SS over Rosario at this point.
Nimmo has already played CF and was not a disaster.
Now Dom in LF. That is a disaster as he’s almost comically bad.
Oh, yea, Lindor is a huge upgrade over Rosario, for sure
Busta: Lindor, though very good, is not a significant upgrade over Gimenez. They upgraded at catcher for sure, but CF, LF and 3B could be disasters and everyone else is average to below. They did not address the important issues.
Cosmo I agree plus Lindor diminishes payroll flexibility for the next 11 years unlike cost controlled Gimenez.
Yea the back end of that contract is gonna kill them.
I’m not a huge lindor fan, but he’s a definite upgrade defensively even over gimenez
Bold trade and extension. Solid veteran additions. If they can secure a #2 behind DeGrom they should have a good 3-4 year window. IMO having Lindor and DeGrom locked up will make it easier to keep talent they want and bring quality talent in. A
Degrom is far from locked up. He can opt out after this year
@BeforeMcCourt- and why wouldn’t the best pitcher in baseball not opt out? The Mets should tear up his contract next season and pay him the $50 million that he would definitely get on the open market. No-brainer. $150 million for 3 years definitely sounds worth it to me.
He won’t get $50m. He won’t touch $40m.
He cannot opt out after this year.
@MetsFan22- yeah your right, he can opt out after 2022. The Mets will likely sign him to an extension next season then.
He can opt out after 2022
He already said he wants to be a lifelong met and if he does opt out(which I don’t think he would) the Mets would give it to him.
An A is a top grade – which means comparatively beating other teams OR filling their needs which they didn’t, defensively, and quite possibly not pitching either. That’s not an A.
Not likely that Cohen let’s DeGrom walk after the assets and money he just spent on Lindor
The grade is based on off-season moves not what your pre season rank is. IMO opinion Mets improved their franchise as much as anyone. Lindor and McCann are defensive upgrades over Rosario and Ramos. Anything else would be at the expense of offense.
Bullpen is a good point but you can say that every team could have done more. A-. I’ll give the Padres the A+. Dodgers A.
Yankee Clipper- definitely sounds like the 2nd best team in NY’s grade just be a C-. They should re-sign deGrom and Comforto right now before their price gets even higher, look what just happened with Lindor. With an extension before the trade the Mets could of gotten him cheaper, live and learn. Let’s Go Mets! Lol.
I gave them a “B” @Clip & @Yank.
I was actually torn between a B+ or an A-.
They only had one extremely puzzling move: Pillar. I’m not sold on McCann either. He’s had ~ 100 good games in MLB. & Loup although inexpensive is probably a poor move too.
They went with a quantity approach in free agency which I think was the smart way to approach this particular free agent class.
& the Lindor Carrasco trade was a heist. & they did fantastic with a number of smaller deals as well.
It was a good offseason for them. I still like Hotlanta in the East. But both Vegas & Pecota favor the Mets. That’s telling to me.
They’re a lot better. They seem to be far less of a punchline in general, too. One has to excise mestfan22 from all of it lol. Being as objective as possible they did pretty damn good. Lots of work had to be done & they got after it all winter.
& really, there was but one signature lolMets instance.
It’s a strong B. They ignored significant holes in their defense and largely their bullpen as well. You don’t win games in 5 innings. But you can’t ignore the star power+change in culture that came this year. Their lineup will win more than a few games on its own
Shane greene would fit this team nicely
I’ll give them a B. I’m not impressed by Sandy Alderson. I know he has been around for ever and he gets credit for the powerhouse Oakland teams of the late 80’s, but I’m still not sold. He didn’t build the Mets into consistent winners in his first go around and I was surprised a forward thinking owner turned to a relic to oversee this organizational rebuild. He knows how to write big checks. That’s his greatest talent in my opinion. The GM situation was kind of weird but it felt like same old Mets. That’s not a great way to start out. The player moves they made were fine. They had a good team and they got better so therefore a B.
Being a lifelong Mets fan, Alderson is just fine. The correct facts you pointed to though I believe were a result of their previous owners.
There’s 2 assets to which to work with to improve your team, right? Players to trade or money to sign FA’s. Alderson nor VanWagenen had $ to work with which is why you see things like the Diaz/Cano deal occurring.
Can’t make chicken salad out of chicken
Cano deal wasn’t money they had? That deal was ALL about money and that bad contract they took on just to get a RP for a couple of years under control. They could’ve just spent those dollars on the open market and saved themselves the embarrassment of trading their top prospect who may turn out to be better than they thought on draft day.
Gave them a B. Clearly improved, but no real bargains either, they were just willing to pay (or maybe even overpay).
I’d put the Dodgers alone in a first tier of NL clubs, but Mets fit comfortably in the next tier.
Let’s see how Bauer does first. They clearly overpaid there.
@pwndroia- Bauer was grossly overpaid. My guess is he stays in LA next season and opts out in 2023. That option for the 3rd season is only for $17 million, so he is definitely going to opt out unless he has a really lousy 2nd season with the Dodgers.
I personally think the Mets overpay for injury prone and aging talent. McCann was no major upgrade but everyone made a big deal out of that signing.
McCann is quite an upgrade over Ramos, in my opinion. Ramos can barely play the position.
@pwndroia- your right, with the Mets not signing Springer or Bauer which they clearly expected, they definitely should of signed Realmuto. JT is no doubt the better catcher and player, and you keep him from a divisional rival also.
JT would’ve just been another high salary preventing future flexibility. McCann was the better value and the smarter signing.
I think there are three types of opinion here:
1. The Mets ‘missed out’ on some of the big names they were interested in so D.
2. The pieces the Mets did get make them a substantially better and deeper team.
3. The Mets haven’t won any games yet, so F
#3 is really the most confusing.
@pwndroia
If you watched Ramos catch for the Mets the 2 years he was with them, you’d know McCann is a drastic improvement even if it’s just defensively though Ramos couldn’t hit his way out of a paper bag last year.
I didn’t know defensively so I stand corrected. Honestly, I only looked at offensive stats and was not familiar with the defensive stats.
The Mets were a last place team in 2020. In 2021, everyone is rightfully considering them a real playoff threat. A for sure. The only team with a better offseason was the Padres.
No 3B, CF & same old dumpster fire in bullpen with Familia, Betances, Gsellman & Diaz and a 1B playing LF. Alderson whiffed on all the top FAs they needed and hired a deviant who lasted one month as GM. He traded their young cost controlled SS Gimenez for a $ 341 MM SS who won’t put them over the top.
Same old LOL Mets.
@Robrock – so you’re digging at two things that are legitimate (3B, CF), but still trying to use the bullpen as a glaring weakness.
Diaz was great last year. Betances and Gsellman are not locks to even make the roster and Familia can easily be replaced if he struggles. Gsellman looks like he’s lost his job with the addition of Lucchesi when Carrasco/Thor are back. Trevor May can easily slot into where Familia has been throwing at the back end of games and, again, if he struggles, there are options like McWilliams, Montgomery, Hunter who will gladly attempt to take his place. Really wouldn’t be surprised to see the Mets eat a lot of Familia’s salary to ship him out at some point.
Diaz was not great last year that is false PR spin as it was mostly low leverage situations with no fans. After a horrendous season in 2019 he lost the closer role to Lugo. Familia, Betances & Gsellman have indeed made the roster undeservedly so as Alderson was afraid to shake up their spots.
Disagree completely. Diaz didn’t serve his normal role because he hadn’t performed well the prior season. He looked confident in his stuff again and posted extremely good numbers. I don’t care what leverage situation you are in, a 17.5 SO/9 and 251 ERA+ are great. Some of his peripherals suggest he wasn’t back to his elite level, but how you can say he wasn’t great is beyond me. A 60-game season helped get him regain his confidence and that will hopefully carry over to this year.
Alderson didn’t “whiff” on anyone. That’s such a simplistic and cynical view. He did due diligence on free agents, signed some, passed on others. This idea that every time the Mets check in a free agent but don’t sign him it’s “lol Mets” again is absolutely infantile and shows a lack of understanding of how these things work. You check into a free agent, you find his asking price too high in regards to value (as the Mets did with Bauer, for example) Nothing “lol” about that.
pls don’t feed the troll.
A for amusing ??
Give em an A til that lindor extension. Firm D from there. That extension had Mets history wrote all over it
Did the Mets improve this off season? I’m sorry but, I don’t think they did. Francisco Lindor is an upgrade and Kevin Pillar is a true CF. However, they acquired some broken down players.
D: This is a very good last place team.
They beefed up the pitching staff, upgraded at C and SS as well as adding much needed depth. No question they’ve improved especially since they were pretty bad last year.
I gave them a B for improving a lot with a few issues. They should content, but I don’t think they’re a championship team yet (which I see as reasonable for a new regime in its first season – I think a lot of fans want instant gratification)
1. The bullpen is improved, but still has glaring issues (I don’t expect anything out of Familia or Betances). The rotation is improved in terms of both talent and depth, although I don’t love the Walker deal.
2. I think they’ll regret not being willing to either overpay some for Springer or find a way to trade for a 3B. Davis, Nimmo and Smith are good hitters who don’t belong at the positions they’re playing,
3. I would rather have Lindor than Gimenez (I don’t really see him as more than a glove first guy long-term, not that he wouldn’t be valuable if that’s the case) but the contract will likely be an albatross at some point.
Kirk,
I think we mostly agree but you are more diplomatic than me.
I don’t like Sandy Alderson and consider him a fraud and an antiquated relic who can’t build a working bullpen and undervalues defense. I think Gimenez is more than a glove only. I highly regard his IQ, his base stealing speed and his contact bat. He is a winning ballplayer.
I enjoy this, but I’ve always wondered, why are these articles (offseason year in review) not done before opening day? Seems like a good target would be to produce 1 team per day leading up to opening day?
Just seems a bit off to be reading these after opening day? Could just be me though.
To be fair, the Mets opening day is not until Monday. For reasons that either cannot be mentioned or are no big deal and everyone should just ignore them.
I’m not digging the Lindor deal really either. I’m afraid, after about 3-5 years, he could end up Carl Crawford. No longer valuable at SS having to move to 2B then 3B and just slap hitting singles and doubles.
Yeah as a Mets fan I see being fairly happy for five years and basically having a Cano situation the other five… I thought Seager was the best of this FA class
Lindor had leverage that Seager, Storey, Correa and Baez won’t have unless they are traded. Mets traded away high level talent to get him and had a need for a “star” in terms of talent and persona which Lindor fits pretty well.
I agree that Seager is probably the best value of the bunch. I don’t necessarily see him beating Lindors contract though. Dodgers don’t need him in terms of stars and they have high ceiling talent available to replace him that they did not need to trade to get him (a la Lindor).
Anytime you sign a mega deal like this one you basically guaranteed to regret at least half of it.
Can’t be higher than a B because they haven’t won a single game or showed any capability during a season.
The poll is to rate the OFF season. Pay attention, chief. This ain’t rocket science
Curious to see what they do with Cano next year – still 2 more years of a bad contract. Suspension was a blessing in disguise because it freed up 20+m for depth acquisitions and gives guys like McNeil a chance to settle in one position. If the NL goes DH next year that will probably be split between Dom & Alonso. No real place for a 39 year old Cano. Gonna be hard to trade him with that contract
Have to go with B+. The Mets were so much of a mess (FO,minor league, ownership, defense) that there was too much to fix in just a year or two. New Owner, new FO, better C, SS and depth pieces without giving up draft picks is great progress for just a few months.
Are they a better team – absolutely, a good team- maybe, good enough to win the division- Gotta play the games (which is a huge improvement as you’d never entertain that thought in 2020).
Bad news is they are paying too much for the players they have in that they are up against the CBT and still have significant holes and issues (defense, CF) and have a poor farm system. They might beat Atlanta once in a while over the next couple years to win the division, but it’s really hard to see them beating LAD or SD period.
Go to Citifield if you can afford it and enjoy some games
I gave them an A. Although they didn’t grab a top free agent they sure as hell improved. I think Cookie and Taijuan are gonna be the underrated acquisitions of the off-season.
Probably one of the most acting spending off seasons in Mets history gets them an A grade. Hopefully it translates into regular & postseason wins.
When you look at it all listed out like this, it was quite an impressive offseason.
Plus, they have Lugo , Carrasco, and Syndergaard coming back to bolster the pitching.
I put B, but I think I would’ve put A-/B+. If Lindor produces and the outfield defense shows improvement while sustaining the offense of which it’s capable, it would be a solid A. I’m surprised Betances is still there if he’s having trouble throwing above 90.
Don’t care what you all say, but Villar was their best pickup especially at that price.
Bruh I completely forgot about Cano