Free agency is officially underway, and with the Mets staring down multiple holes in the rotation, bullpen and lineup, they’ll be among the sport’s more active teams again this winter. A pair of early targets for the team include left-hander Andrew Heaney, per Newsday’s Tim Healey, and old friend Michael Conforto, per Will Sammon of The Athletic.
The interest in Heaney is sensible on many levels. First and foremost, the Mets currently face the possibility of losing Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker to free agency. Heaney certainly isn’t going to offset a potential deGrom loss, but the Mets figure to cast a wide net in sifting through starting pitching options, as it’s unlikely that they’ll come to a middle ground and re-sign all three of their rotation free agents. Secondly, GM Billy Eppler knows Heaney quite well, having spent the 2015-20 seasons as the Angels’ general manager; Heaney, while originally acquired when Jerry Dipoto was the Halos’ GM, was with the Angels for all six of those seasons.
Beyond the sheer need in the rotation and the familiarity with the pitcher and person in Heaney, his 2022 breakout with the Dodgers was nothing short of remarkable. A pair of shoulder troubles limited him to 72 2/3 innings, and that’s a concern for any pitcher but especially one with Heaney’s lengthy injury history. However, when he was able to take the mound, the 31-year-old southpaw worked to a tidy 3.10 ERA with the second-best strikeout rate (35.5%) and best swinging-strike rate (16.8%) of the 188 pitchers who tossed at least 70 frames in 2022.
Heaney’s emergence came on the heels of the Dodgers scrapping nearly his entire arsenal. Heaney continued throwing a four-seamer he debuted in 2021 — he’d previously used a sinker as his primary heater — but dumped his changeup and curveball in favor of a new slider that proved to be an absolute knockout offering. Heaney was almost all four-seamers and sliders in 2022, with the lone exception being a 5% usage rate on the aforementioned changeup (which he once threw at a 23% clip).
As for Conforto, a reunion makes some sense — though only if the Mets lose Brandon Nimmo to another club (or feel that his early asking price is simply beyond the pale). The longtime Mets slugger had a down season (by his standards) in 2021, though he still checked in as a slightly above-average offensive contributor. Unfazed by the dip in production, Conforto rejected a qualifying offer in search of a multi-year deal but found a frosty market before suffering a shoulder injury that required surgery and ultimately kept him out of action for the entire 2022 season.
Ostensibly, that would set the table for a one-year, make-good deal wherever he signs, but agent Scott Boras has already suggested that Conforto is likely to target a two-year deal with an opt-out — similar to the structure that Carlos Rodon had with the Giants in 2022 (presumably at a decidedly lower total than Rodon’s $44MM). Whether such an offer materializes can’t be known so early in a months-long free agent period.
Signing Conforto would likely mean sliding Starling Marte over to center and bidding farewell to Nimmo, or perhaps committing to Conforto in more of a DH role. The latter scenario might not appeal to a 29-year-old who’s looking to reestablish himself as a credible all-around player, however, and it seems unlikely the Mets would jump the market to sign any outfielder who’d push Marte to center before having a full grasp on Nimmo’s situation.
Payroll shouldn’t be much of an issue for a Mets club that topped $280MM in 2022 and approached $300MM in luxury-tax obligations. Still, it’s worth noting that entering the market, the team projects to a payroll of about $238MM, per Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez, with a bit less than $249MM on the luxury ledger. Finding a taker for Dominic Smith or Darin Ruf (or simply non-tendering the former) could slightly drop those figures, but the Mets are already deep into luxury territory and figure to have little qualms about surpassing the newly implemented fourth tier of penalization for a second straight year.
I guess Conforto is their option if they miss out on Nimmo.
Conforto if they miss out on Michael Confort.
anti Italian racism!
guess Italian is a race
what is it, NYM?
It’s a nationality. Italians come from Italy.
know what, Brady? I was struggling to remember the correct word. you’re right….well done
I wouldn’t mind that. Conforto is better then 2021 and not as good as 2020. He’s a solid but streaky hitter.
They don’t necessarily need to replace Nimmo. Marte can play CF and Cahna and McNeil can play the other two OF positions. Escobar at 2B, Baty at 3B.
Might not be a great defensive OF, but putting Conforto out there with Marte and Cahna won’t be great defensively, either.
Conforto in lieu of Nimmo would be bizarre. A declining corner OFer who was perilously close to moving to 1B on a team like the Orioles or DH’ing somewhere, versus a 5.4 rWAR CFer?
Conforto’s more the 4th OFer the Mets desperately need and hope to get lucky with in the 120 games he’ll play when Marte, Canha, and Nimmo can’t take the field. It’s hard to believe the Mets would look to go into 2023 with a starting OF of Canha, Marte, and Conforto. That’s not a contender’s OF, and Marte can’t play CF any longer. Eppler was merely prattling at the presser on that score.
Both of these guys will be handed a good money but they will not play up to the expectations.
The Yankees and Braves didn’t make it out of the first round, but if you just want to have a bone to pick, fine be a child.
?
Obviously, birdsfan was making the point that Conforto was the reason that Atl washed out on the 1st round, as did the Yankees, even if they didn’t.
How could anyone not understand that?
Just sign Judge, Verlander, Turner, deGrom and be done with it…. Probably still won’t make it out of the first round.
I know you’re joking, but I don’t understand the Turner rumors. Where would he play on the Mets? Seems far fetched.
Probably want Justin Turner…. Again
Met fans are hoping 2b or OF but he seems pretty set on SS
McNeil and Lindor pretty much have 2B and SS covered. I think moving Turner to OF decreases his value.
@ Von, Trea is going to the Phillies
I would put money on that outcome.
I’m really not understanding interest in. Conforto only if Nimmo goes. Sign both. Canha shouldn’t be an everyday OF, so if you have he and conforto getting about 400ab each, that’s perfect. Plus we met fans know marte and Nimmo will both spend time on the IL anyway. I’d personally resign Nimmo, give conforto an affordable prove it deal, and sign haniger, as you’ll prob need all three to cover OF and DH.
@Ma4170 Mark Canha is absolutely a starting OF on most every team. 2.5 WAR, 122 OPS+ and a 128 wRC+ which tied him with Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner for 35th in all of MLB.
Yes! I don’t understand the hate about Canha. He’s a solid old school ball player.
No he’s really not. He’s a perfect 400ab 3/4 OF, but when he gets into the higher PAs you see more of the warts. He’s still good and can start, but shouldn’t be FT starter on a top team. You can OPS+ and WRC+ me all you want, but he’s not near the level of player trea Turner is. And when he starts getting more regular AB, he gets exposed more. The last two years he played more than ever, and aug-sept numbers dipped in 2021 and sept last year same thing. 400 ab? Yes, sign me up.
Canha had 542 PAs last season and 625 {118 wRC+) in 2021. In 2020 he played in 59 of the possible 60 games with a 129 wRC+. So he’s not really the role player who can get exposed like you make him out to be.
@Ma4170 I think I understand, my guess is that you want a Kevin McReynolds type because he hits 25+ HR’s and gets 90+ RBI’s and you really don’t care that as a Met McReynold’s OPS+ was 120 to Mark Canha’s 122.
Your definition of a good FT player is ridiculous if it’s comparing said player to Trea Turner. He’s a top talent in the league. Most players aren’t as good as him.
Ma4170
=================
So you want to add Nimmo, Conforto, and Haniger, send Marte and Canha to the bench, and have a $300M payroll, but only 3 SPs?
I think I understand… You’re one of those people that thinks OPS+ and WRC+ is the end-all be-all to evaluate a player… You gave me Mark canha versus Trea Turner as being comparable bc of those measures and they’re not… When one player has 118 more TB than another in only 160 more PA, he clearly generates way more value
The supplemental metrics are great for giving a more balanced picture but the counting stats still matter and someone’s OPS being boosted up by more walks and by slugging automatically makes them less valuable.:: so no, a 122 ops+ for one is not the same as for another if they’re generating more total bases… the SLG matters more there
And to mule, yes he has.. he finished the last two seasons badly… as the PAs went up
And take a step back for goodness sake… in 542 PA he had 13 hr 61 rbi 24 2b… that’s not very good idc how much he walks or how much you try to spin it
@Ma4170 I pointed out that Canha’s wRC+ tied him for 35th place in MLB with Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber. Never said he was as good of a player as either of those guys. But In 2022 Canha’s run production was on par with those guys and for good measure, 13th among all outfielders. No stat is the end all be all, they all have their flaws. You are calling out RBI which is a situational team stat and doesn’t mean much by player. It’s why analytics teams look at wRC+ and OPS+. I’m not spinning anything, I’ve just left the 1990’s in the past and see the game the way todays analytics teams see it.
Joebrady where did I say that? Seriously, tell me where I even implied that. I said add conforto and haniger to the OF/DH mix especially bc with their track records Nimmo (if re-signed) and marte will miss time. Nimmo marte canha conforto haniger to cover OF and DH… follow along
But his run production wasn’t on their level, that’s what you’re missing. You keep going back to those stats and trying to insist that counting stats don’t matter like they used to. You’ve bought into the idea that RBI are only situational and team based, yet on a consistent basis certain people produce RBI more than other regardless. And it ignores the fact that people in the middle of the order in RBI situations more often get pitched to more carefully or pitched around, which make the RBI even more impressive. I’m not sure where people got fooled into thinking these stats mean nothing… talk about a pendulum swinging too far the other direction. Unbelievable
@Ma4170 Why shouldn’t Canha, with a strong OBP and the ability to fake CF and RF and even the infield corners during a 2.5 rWAR season, be a regular?
The Mets can also complement Canha with Baty in LF. Granted you’d prefer Yordan Alvarez in left, but the Mets have major, major holes elsewhere that even a $300m payroll won’t cover.
You can’t have stars at every position. No team does. Even the all-time great teams, the 1927 and 1964 Yankees, suffered some weak regulars in the lineup. Heck, the ’64 Yanks had 4 below average hitters in their everyday lineup, 3 of those well below.
@jack
His defense actually was pretty poor last year. And if you look you’ll how bad he was when his ab increased in aug and sept 2021 and sept last year. He’s best as a 4 start a week guy who fills in all over. He can start FT, but ideally he wouldn’t. And beyond some walks, he doesn’t give that much. Hell, conforto drew walks and provides way more power, and not sure where you’re getting his defense was awful. Anyway, I’m not the only one who sees that as canhas ideal role – looks like most GMs agreed w me last offseason as 2/26 was the best he could get. Idk why 400ab a year sounds insulting when that’s clearly his best value on a good team. I’m not saying he’s trash.
@Ma4170 Fair enough, though at -6.8 runs by UZR/150 (fangraphs), I’d suggest he’s not ideal but is tolerable, given all his other contributions, as a cromulent regular clocking in overall at 2.5 rWAR and 2.8 fWAR.
That UZR, btw, is identical to Conforto’s, while Conforto by dWAR was a hair worse—but he lacks Canha’s versatility. Wrt MC, I was thinking more of his decline in the field from 2020 to 2021, by dWAR.
I agree Canha’s stretched playing every day–in fact if they had had the money for him and given Nimmo and Marte’s difficulties staying on the field, I thought Canha backing up those two and Seiya Suzuki would be a very strong OF, but 13m AAV for a 4th OFer is pushing it even on a team w a 300m payroll. Fwiw I don’t think it’s coincidence that Canha’s peak, prior to 2022, was 141 games and other than that he was in the 120s. He’d definitely do better as part of an OF rotation, which is another reason the Mets should avoid punting the 4th OFer slot in 2023.
In any event, thanks for the considered reply. Much appreciated,
Second base and McNeil to right field but I agree it’s not a good fit.
DH, probably, and insurance against Escobar collapsing further, if they believe Baty needs a year in AAA.
Still, spending 12-14m when they probably have 3B covered and can fake DH with Vogelbach and whomever isn’t dreadful v LHP, seems unwise. They’re going to need every dollar even of a $320m payroll to be well spent.
For the love of my glorious perm, don’t sign Heaney.
Amen to this
NO
Would guess NYM will also be making significant trades. Vientos etc
Vientos will be on their opening day roster.
Vientos will likely be the DH against LHP and will fill in at 3B, 1B, and OF as needed.
This seems a bit befuddling to me for a team that has issues with starting pitchers making starts targeting a guy who won’t come cheaply.
I mean I get these are “rumors”, but I can only suspect it’s just that, a “rumor”, or they are seemingly targeting Heaney because he’ll come more reasonably if they still want to target DeGrom but fill the other spots.
I still don’t like injury risks making the Mets rely on thin depth.
Maybe the concept is find several “cheaper”. 2nd tier guys knowing you can never have too much pitching.
Having interest in both players make sense. It will all depend on how the market breaks for Free Agency.
There will he many others that the Mets will be interested in and glad they’re doing their due diligence on all these players.
Having multiple plans is necessary during the offseason!
LFGM!!!
Conforto on an incentive laden or make good type contract, maybe with some options or opt-out would be fine. Not thrilled handing DH over to Vogelbach and thought the Mets would be better served to sell while his value is high. If it would allow McNeil to stay on the dirt more, than it’d be ok.
Not a fan of Healey at all. Would rather have Ross Stripling.
No offense, but ‘selling high’ on a guy going into his age 30 season with a career WAR of 1.4 (one point four) is pretty funny.
After the Mets release him, will other teams find Nimmo?
The Fish will reel Nimmo in.
@MannyBeingMVP
No…just no. In the words Lucious Washington (Michael Clarke Duncan) from Talladega Nights, “Don’t you put that evil on me, Ricky Bobby! Don’t you put that on us!”
Don’t want that bad contract coming our way. Let the Mets or some other sucker sign Nimmo for all that money for those 6 or so years.
Go pay verlander 1 year 50 mil
‘Tis the season for the “Mets have interest in X” stories.
Unless they come absurdly cheaply, I don’t see why the Mets would be interested in either of them.
Lol The Mets don’t have a real plan here. They are flailing just like at the Trading Deadline throwing stuff at the wall hoping it sticks. Smoke & mirrors and hence the Collapse to end the Season. The FO remains clueless. Ha Ha
These rumors are from writers and not the front office. Of course the front office has a plan. Winning 101 games and people still talk smack.
No the Mets FO doesn’t have a plan. They aren’t committed to a plan for building a Roster. They have dead weight to move on from ( Dom Smith, Ruf, McCann ). The Ruf trade at the deadline was extremely embarrassing and they need to decisively move forward which they won’t do. They need a Rotation, a Bullpen, a DH, a C, a starting CF and more. I have my popcorn ready. LOL
They have a solid farm system that is getting better every year. They won 101 games. They seem to have a fairly good plan. It’s more like nothing is good enough for some fans.
101 wins don’t mean a thing if you can’t win the division as well.
101 Wins Sounds Good but they crapped out in September in embarrasing fashion. Not too much to be Happy About in fact their choke was highly predictable. Could see it coming from a mile away. LOL
Why is everyone forgetting to mention that the Mets have the longest championship drought in the NL East? Don’t you guys know how to bash the Mets? Sheesh, I have to teach you all everything. Amateurs!
@Mets6986?? The idea that winning 101 games was a job well done after spending around $290 million and inheriting a 40 rWAR core while putting the team in the hole for 2023-24 as well, is pretty amusing.
Overall the Mets spent roughly $170m by AAV on 2022 salaries, on players brought in in 2021 and 2022, but after you deduct what they gave up in talent and the negative production of a half dozen of the additions, they only improved by 16 rWAR.
Spending $10.6 million per WAR in addition to dealing away a half dozen useful minor leaguers isn’t smart, it’s less than minimal.
What are you talking about WAR for? They improved by 24 games last season. Do you really think a stat that isn’t even consistent in how it’s calculated is more important then actual wins and losses? They have a top ten rated farm system that has drastically improved over the last two years. You are talking gibberish.
The Mets should be able to move Darin Ruf. That would leave payroll of about 235 million. The Mets could then sign Conforto to a contract that MLBTRADERUMOR seems to think is akin to 15 mil. 250 million payroll. Add 20 million to rebuild bullpen and bench. 270 million payroll. Sign Andrew Heaney, add 14 million for 284 mil payroll. Don’t see a deGrom resigning nor signing Judge.
Why does the bench need to be rebuilt? They will have three young top prospects on the opening day lineup.
i dont get it either unless you eating money or getting rid of talent.
lets assume you have 13 players for position 8 on the field leaving 5 spots for the bench
Guillorme is pretty much guaranteed a spot
Nido/Mccann or Alvarez has a spot maybe 2 depending on how offseason shakes out with Mccann
I have a feeling Baty and Escobar is gonna be on the team fighting for 3rd so one gets the bench
Vogelbach seems like he staying which is not horrible for a platoon but could be better
In reality that leaves you with 1 spot most likely a 4th outfielder and if nimmo leaves it will be a 4th outfielder that can handle cf.as Im assuming the team gets rid of ruf … please get rid of ruf. I would even take a hot dog vendor over ruf. Just let em hold the bat over the plate and probably have better odds of a hit.
“I have a feeling Baty and Escobar is gonna be on the team fighting for 3rd so one gets the bench”
—That’s not how it works on a well run team. The Mets FO should already know what they intend to do at 3B. They’ve had 4 years to judge Baty, and they’ve seen Escobar up close for a full year. No well run team decides that 70 PA in ST against very varied opposition that’s just tuning up for the season ahead, is how they’re going to decide who gets the job.
Baty’s power vanished in AAA and he didn’t hit in the majors, both in small trials. He didn’t look ready, His defense was bad. In the minors, too, where he averaged 35 errors over a full season at 3B. He’s not really a 3Bman, so he’s not in competition with Escobar. any more than JD Davis would be, if Davis was still around and hitting the way he did in SF.
Escobar’s the Mets starting 3Bman unless Baty’s defense magically improves in AAA, his hitting is as good as it was in AA, and Escobar is subpar.
so you want block baty AND vientos by bringing in someone else to play 3rd? Baty is the 18th best prospect in MLB and will need to play at some point and had a taste last year and was not great but i guess you would have sat derek jeter after his poor sept call up in 95 and let him rot in the minors.
Am i saying baty is going to be great? maybe not but since his clock is already started and outside of a crazy run in September Escober didnt do much with the bat either. He was sporting barely over 200 average outside september which if he opens spring like that and baty is hitting well i would think a well run team would consider making the switch and super utility / late inning def replacement escobar.
Also well run teams do make calls in spring training otherwise the braves would have had most likely RoY Strider on the team as they had him in the bullpen and pushed him into the starting role.
His power vanished in triple A? He had 22 at bats. Well run teams don’t have multiple good players competing for playing time? Are you serious with these takes or just trolling?
No one is taking Darin Ruf AND his $3m salary.
The Mets will have to cut him and eat the $3m just to clear the roster spot.
Please no on Conforto
@Lone Rangers Agreed. Conforto might be a useful 4th OFer if the Mets bring back Nimmo, but that’s not the slot Conforto wants. He’ll probably end up with a pillow contract on a 2nd tier club that hopes to strike gold for cheap.
Mets interested in everyone
This is the correct post here. It was like this last year too.
Here is the MLBTR template for the Mets last year and this year for the offseason.
“Mets Interested in ”
It’s simple people. They just merge the database with the online template.
I don’t want Conforto back, ever. He was always overrated because he NEVER reached the ‘potential’ everyone couldn’t shut up about. Furthermore, if I see another slow motion of him taking a swing and the batter’s box and a broadcaster drooling over what a beautiful swing it is, when the guy can’t produce on the field for the Mets in the first place, I’ll just give up watching baseball all together.
So you would take an 82 game division win season over a 101 win wild card season? Let’s be serious. It was a real good season. Mist of the time real good seasons end in disappointment for everyone.
Conforto wants a 2 year deal with an opt out? He’s an ok player but in no position to make any type of demands whatsoever. He might get it but will more likely have to settle for a one year contract. I still say he overplayed his hand last year but good luck to him anyway.
Well said. Conforto appears to have cost himself 100 million dollars. That must be a shock to the system.
Two years with a player opt out seems like Boras blather, but who knows?
According the free agent signing predictions, the Mets and Dodgers are in on just about everyone.
Oh God if they get Conforto the Mets are going to revert back to the 2021 Mets. The least clutch hitter I’ve ever seen with the amount of opportunities he gets. He either strikesouts or popsup whenever theres a guy on second or third base. Most of his homeruns and RBIs come when the Mets are either up by 6 runs, down by 6 runs, or the Mets are finally out of playoff contention. If the Mets bring him back, they are doomed. I dont care if its a 1 year or a 3 year deal. He makes any team worse. I wouldn’t even want him DHing. Ever since he busted his shoulder while swinging he has never been the same. In the 2020 season, he had a great season numbers wise but he still wasn’t clutch at all and he took off the final 7 games because he wanted to keep his stats up since he started to slump near the end. Big mistake if he comes back
I would 100% stay away from Heaney. Of course I see the upside. But we have been a franchise with enough injuries over the years as it is. Don’t need to bring in anyone injury prone.