Jan. 31: The Mets formally announced McNeil’s extension this morning. He’ll be paid $6.25MM in 2023, $10.25MM in 2024 and $15.75MM in both 2025 and 2026, tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The club option for 2027 is also valued at $15.75MM, and it comes with a $2MM buyout.
Jan. 27: The Mets and second baseman Jeff McNeil are in agreement on a four-year, $50MM contract extension, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. The contract contains a club option for a fifth season, which could allow the extension to max out at $63.75MM over five years. The deal buys out the final two arbitration seasons for the Paragon Sports International client, and the Mets will gain control over what would’ve been McNeil’s first three free-agent seasons.
Unable to come to terms on a one-year salary for the upcoming season, McNeil and the Mets appeared headed toward an arbitration hearing. He’d filed for a $7.75MM salary on the heels of his first National League batting title in 2022, whereas the Mets had countered with a $6.25MM figure. Those sums can now be thrown out, as McNeil’s final two arbitration years are locked in. If we count 2023 at the $7MM midpoint of those two sums and figure McNeil could’ve earned anywhere from $12-13MM in what would’ve been his final arbitration season, the Mets are guaranteeing somewhere in the vicinity of an additional $30MM to lock in two more free-agent seasons and secure a reasonably priced club option on a third free-agent year.
McNeil, 31 in April, is now locked in through at least his age-34 campaign and possibly his age-35 season. He’s fresh off one of the finest seasons of his career, having turned in a .326/.382/.454 batting line with nine home runs, 39 doubles, a triple and four stolen bases in 589 plate appearances. Unsurprisingly, that season earned him a second career All-Star nod and won him Silver Slugger honors in the National League — his first such award.
McNeil was one of the toughest strikeouts in the Majors, fanning in a career-low 10.4% of his plate appearances. He’s never walked much and didn’t change that in 2022 (6.8%), but it’s difficult to argue with the results. McNeil benefited to an extent from a career-high .353 average on balls in play, but even if that mark regresses toward the .324 mark he carried into the 2022 season, his bat-to-ball skills and penchant for finding the gaps will allow him to remain the well above-average hitter he was for the majority of the 2018-21 seasons.
The 2022 season was also very arguably the finest defensive season of McNeil’s career. Each of Defensive Runs Saved (3), Ultimate Zone Rating (3.5) and Outs Above Average (7) pegged him as a strong handler of the glove at second base. He also logged some brief time in the outfield corners (278 innings) and drew average or better reviews for his work there, and he even chipped in a lone inning at third base for good measure. Second base will continue to be his primary home on the diamond, but McNeil has shown in the past that he’s a capable third baseman, left fielder or right fielder, which only adds to his value for the Mets.
Of course, since we’re discussing the Mets, the financial ramifications of the contract extend well beyond the $50MM that McNeil himself will receive. The Mets are already over the fourth and final luxury-tax barrier this season, meaning any dollars they spend are taxed at a 90% clip. Had McNeil won his arbitration hearing and secured a $7.75MM salary, that would’ve meant the Mets would’ve paid $6.975MM in taxes on his salary — bringing the total expenditure to $14.725MM. Instead, the Mets will now be taxed based on the $12.5MM average annual value of McNeil’s contract. That means they’ll pay $11.25MM in taxes on McNeil’s contract this year — an increase of $4.275MM over what they’d have paid him had he won an arbitration hearing.
There’s some down-the-road tax benefit to extending McNeil — even beyond the obvious value in keeping an excellent player at a reasonable rate for the next half decade. Had McNeil won an arbitration hearing next month — and coming off a batting title, he’d have had a strong case — he’d have landed that $7.75MM salary. With another strong season, he’d quite possibly have been in for a raise beyond the $12.5MM AAV of his current contract in his final arb season, when the Mets will likely again be in the top tier of luxury penalization (with overages being taxed at a 110% clip). The extension, then, could wind up saving the Mets $1MM or so off their luxury ledger for the 2024 season — assuming McNeil has a healthy and productive 2023 campaign.
Setting aside any such minutiae, the primary benefit to the Mets is simply keeping a two-time All-Star and paying an annual rate that, with good health for McNeil, will likely clock in below his true open-market value by the time the 2024-25 offseason rolls around. There’s certainly some risk for the Mets, as one need only look at McNeil’s pedestrian .251/.319/.360 batting line from 2021 to see that his lack of power (outside of the juiced ball campaign in 2019) leaves him with a fairly tepid floor. The Mets already had control over McNeil’s age-31 and age-32 seasons, and it’s always possible that preemptively buying out a player’s age-33 through age-35 seasons could look regrettable in hindsight.
That said, the aforementioned ’21 campaign is the lone below-average offensive season of McNeil’s career, and his contact skills and defensive aptitude at multiple positions figure to make him a perennially useful player even into his mid-30s. It’s not realistic to expect him to replicate his 2022 production in the years ahead, but there’s little reason to think this deal will turn into some form of egregious misstep, either.
McNeil now joins Max Scherzer ($43MM), Justin Verlander ($43MM), Francisco Lindor ($34.1MM), Brandon Nimmo ($20.5MM), Starling Marte ($20.75MM), Edwin Diaz ($21.25MM), Kodai Senga ($15MM), Jose Quintana ($13MM) and Tomas Nido ($2.1MM) as players locked into their 2024 salaries.
Assuming an even distribution of McNeil’s salary, that’d come out to just over $225MM guaranteed to 10 players, with another four club options (Mark Canha, Eduardo Escobar, Brooks Raley, Darin Ruf), two player options (Omar Narvaez, Adam Ottavino) and a nine-player arbitration class headlined by Pete Alonso all potentially adding to the bill.
Tremdous deal for an elite player!
Yeah, what am I missing?
Age is the only thing that I can see, he’ll be 31 this season. Very good deal for both sides.
Last year at this time, I was arguing, McNeil, Smith and Davis had all had limited to no value. While I was partially right, you always have to root for a player who proves himself (and then some). Good for McNeil.
I agree… good deal by both sides.
I’m by no means a Mets fan but it’s rare to see a guy willing to choke up on a bat when he is struggling, it’s even more rare to see him go full Ty Cobb the way McNeil did at times last season.
Seems like he was kept in the minors for an over extended period robbing him of millions.
@Northeasternskier: not really true. He was a late bloomer
2 years lost to injuries.
He’s a terrific #2 hitter who plays every day. He offers some defensive versus healthy but isn’t great anywhere, and second baseman don’t get paid a ton. Seems to be a very good deal for both sides.
He’s an excellent second baseman. He’s good everywhere else.
H E Pennypacker: I agree. If JEFF KENT was half as good DEFENSIVELY at 2nd base as JEFF MCNEIL he’d been elected to the HOF yrs ago instead of being timed out.
“defensive versus healthy” = “defensive versatility”
Autocorrect sometimes sucks.
Jeff Kent was the only player in baseball that could turn Barry Bonds into a sympathetic player. The guy was hated by his teammates, his manager, the fan base and the media.
The only worse teammate I can think of off the top of my head is Davy Martinez and only Cubs die hard Cubs fans and Ryno know why.
Truth be told, I’m not even sure Kent would be allowed into the Hall of Fame with a ticket
Don’t forget Palmeiro, rough time for Ryno.
You can’t compare the two. Kent’s power is a huge difference maker. Moreover, his defense wasn’t that bad. It was average. McNeil also is a batter first. Their gloves are not very different. No one would give either player a GG.
Wow. You must have had a lot of interaction with him to build up such a strong opinion
dewey: I agree that “you” belong in the HOF. Kent would belong in the “BBHHOF” the BaseBall Hitters Hall Of Fame. That’s if they didn’t have an integrity clause in the guidelines. However (imo) the current HOF is intended for BEST all around skills including defense not just for offensive power #’s.
McNeil is a 2 way player.
Jeff Kent was a career -52 DRS.
McNeil is +11 at 2b. And is a plus defender at 3B, lf and rf.
Tell me again how Jeff Kent was an average defender. If you’re using the old “eye test” then forget it. Just go with “because I feel like it” instead.
None of that applies to entering the HOF.
Technically nothing matters except whether you get 75% of the vote. Is that your argument?
According to Kent’s career dWAR he was pretty average defensively. His career DRS is based on the last few years of his career and not his entire body of work.
I don’t know how good of a defender Kent was early in his career but apparently he was more than passable to end his career with just a -0.1 career dWAR.
Fair point. We haven’t yet seen how McNeil will regress defensively. At best though, the reviews on Kent at his best are mixed. Tons of errors, but rf more favorable. And we know he did not age well.
No denying the bat, however.
I like McNeil (and Hoerner). I think their skill sets are very underrated. Kolten Wong is another name that stands out to me.. guys who can put anything in play and play great defense. I just wish sometimes they would learn that just because you can hit a pitch, doesn’t mean you should.
Ha, true. And agreed. But the last time Jeff tinkered with his swing the results were awful.
He’s good as is, and is a fun player to watch in all facets of the game.
Lotta acorns for the squirrel
agreed, great deal for an undervalued player.
Great deal! if you think about it, the Mets will be spending $165M over the next five years for one direct and one indirect product of the Canó deal (~$207M if you include Canó himself). Díaz was direct. McNeil was indirect because the Mariners wanted him instead of Gerson Bautista in order to eat a lot more of Canò’s contract.
The Cano deal is paid for and Diaz is a stud who signed a free agent deal to stay. Your comments don’t make any sense. We get it the Cano deal was bad
Yeah… I don’t see the relevance here at all.
Btw, Kelenic has been a negative value player thus far while Robbie was one of the Mets best players in 2020 . Still irrelevant to Jeff mcneil.
Great deal for the Mets.
It’s always heartwarming when a player sells himself short and gives the richest owner in sports a cut-rate deal. : -)
Maybe money isn’t the most important thing for McNeil. To me that’s refreshing.
@rodcannon Yes, exactly. Undoubtedly he could have gotten more money on the free agent market, by a lot. But maybe he’s one of the few who appreciates that he already has a sick amount of money without ever having to worry about money in his life, and whether he gets 50 million, or 100 makes no difference at all really. So he stays where he’s happy, good for him. Great deal for the Mets.
@rodcannon, I’ve modified my opinion after my initial quick take. It was a smart move on McNeil’s part.
McNeil has never made big money. He was signed out of college in the 12th round. 12th round! Those guys don’t get big signing bonuses. Those guys don’t make the majors. Maybe 80? 100K? 120K? Pay Uncle Sam, and he has 60-70K left to get him through the minors over the next six seasons. Six seasons! He didn’t make it up to the Mets until he was 26, after six seasons in the minors, after being a low-round draft pick. He had burned through his signing bonus years before he swung a bat for the Mets. Then he made league minimum for several years. Good living but not life altering. He could suddenly get food at a restaurant not named McDonald’s.
What I hadn’t considered originally was his age. I knew he arrived later, but I thought maybe he 28 and would be a free agent at 30. Nope. He would have been 33. He doesn’t have big endorsement contracts and had an off year in 2021. Another off season in the next two and his free agent contract would have taken a big hit.
Not only should he have signed the deal, he should run to the table to sign the contract. Do I think he signed the deal because he loves being a Met? No. I think he signed for the money to guarantee his family’s financial future, and a generation or three beyond.
We won’t know for sure until (and if) McNeil answers questions about his thought process. But I can’t imagine he would want to leave the Mets now that they have a free-spending owner and a stacked roster. If they did a fan poll to see which current Mets players are the most popular, I suspect McNeil would be in the top five.
Basically this. He’s older and this guarantees that he and at least his children will never need to worry about money with even a modicum of fiscal responsibility.
This guy was trade fodder last off-season and was generally lumped in with Dominic Smith and JD Davis. Nothing elite about that. He is a good player. This was a pretty fair deal as he hadn’t really ever made much money.
Mike Trout laughs at the way you throw the word “elite” around.
Mike trout is why “generational” exists.
He is an actual generational talent.
Wouldn’t offend him by calling him merely elite.
An elite player with a Hard Hit% in the 7th percentile. Like Arraez, he was a lucky hitter in 2022. McNeil doesn’t walk much, but has to hit his way on base. Players like him can hit .326 one year and .251 in another year. Mets won’t win with any WS with too many of that type of hitter.
A hitter. When he swings, it’s rare he misses. Great point Bright Side. Hopefully his luck continues?
Glass half full here; I’m thinking the shift rule could not only benefit McNeil, but hitters in general. Plus, possibly he digs playing for that awe shucks good ole boy Showalter fella. Miss him here in Baltimore.
307 career avg, 332 career babip… his line drive rate being top 25 in all of baseball last three years is more relevant than just hard hit rate.
Unheralded and under-the-radar Mets MVP right here. Smart move by front office.
He may not hit the ball hard, but he hits line drives and he doesn’t strike out often.
Go look at his year to year averages. 251 was the outlier, guy.
The Mets won’t win a World Series unless they are willing to trade from their farm system. Playoff teams are created in the winter but World Series winners are typically created at the trade deadline.
@BrightSide, he has hit .300+ in 4 of 5 seasons ans has a career .307 even with his outlying .251 season. I’d say at this point it is much more likely that he hits .300+ opposed to having a 2nd .250 season.
Wow talk about team friendly!!!
Had a 5.7 WAR and signs for 10-12 mil a year!!??
This is a great great bargain for the Mets
disagree,…horrible contract for McNeil. Great for the Mets
He traded ceiling for floor, guaranteeing generational wealth for himself and his family indefinitely regardless of what happens in the future.
He’s an “old” 12th round pick.
This is not exactly the Albies deal. Considering risk and potential, I’d call it a slight underpay. Maybe that was worth it for him. But I’m no professional here.
Where else can you get a 5.7 WAR in their prime coming off a huge year for 10-12 mil?
You’ll have to provide a list of players in their prime and coming off a huge year worth 5.7 WAR who’d then signed an extension for any amount. It would be a fairer comparison if it was done under this CBA and if the player were of similar age and service time as Jeff.
But first though, you’ll have to explain the math behind your $10-12m figure because I’m having some trouble figuring out how $10m got in there.
Thanks!
look cross town and dj … he is about the same age played multiple positions and was coming off mvp caliber seasons with SS awards along with playing in NY . The only differences is he has been in the league longer and had lesser WAR, plus i do not think DJ plays the outfield but i believe plays better d overall. With that he got longer contract with higher AAV. I believe it is in the same CBA as well as i think when he signed it was just after the CBA was signed,
im guessing because i am curious about it myself is if there is a buyout with the option. Since the contract is 4/50 that is 12.5 mil a year and if there is a buyout of 3 or 4 million then it would fall into the 10-12 range. I am curious because once you have the buyout it is a matter of the difference is worth the difference to higher someone else. Please let me know if im wrong on this or if there is a breakdown of the contract i am missing somewhere.
There is not a buyout in anything that’s been reported. Even if there were, a buyout would only serve to increase the lowest possible aav from $12.5m. $10m seems like a fabricated number.
Also, DJ received $90/6 ($15m/yr) as an unrestricted free agent. Mets are buying more arb years/fewer ufa years, so it’s going to be less, as arb increases are limited year to year. Not too bad a player comp, but the situation is different.
he is a very good player.i would not say he is elite,lol.
Moves like this may not happen had they signed Correa. This is smart. I imagine Alonso will be next.
I hope so but since this was done in connection with McNeil’s arbitration whereas Alonso already settled, I think it’s going to be hard to lock Pete up that quickly.
Don’t think that point wasn’t raised by some of the Mets FO braintrust shortly after the Correa agreement. A point which gained momentum as the negotiations dragged on.
Yea. It’s nice to see even Cohen is held in check by smart baseball people.
Extension talks to Pete HAD to be priority over that of McNeil. Right?! Whatever money and term the Mets were offering, didn’t cut the mustard with his agent(s). Position made clear, they pivoted to securing that record arb deal. Yes? Who is his agent(s) anyways?
For a guy with a career 128 OPS+ who can play multiple positions, looks like a bargain for the Mets
It does seem cheap, given he would perhaps make 15 million in arb anyways. The club option makes it look even better.
If you look at exchanged numbers for arbitration (5.x mil to 6.x mil), this deal seems good for both sides. Seems like McNeil trade a little cash for security but not much.
Correction: 6.x mil to 7.x mil arbitration figures exchanged for next year.
Jeff obviously loves where he’s at. That is a very good deal for the mets
Good move
This is an insanely club-friendly deal.
If you look at this year’s arbitration figures (Mets and McNeil) exchanged, the overall value of deal seems to meet expectations.
McNeil might have given up some more cash should he continue to play at elite level but not that much.
McNeil seems to like being a Met and added security against injury etc
Cohen just knows what the fuuu he’s doing over there
Any owner or GM would have to be an idiot to not pursue an extension like this, assuming the player would be welcome to it.
that’s a really good deal for the Mets, man
Pending physical? Would be awkward if he failed.
Surprised his agent would let Uncle Stevie get away with this kind of deal.
I’d guess he was due for maybe $16m over the next two arb years, so this is a FA deal for 2/34 for a batting champion with multi-position abilities and an average 162 game WAR over 5?
Sounds like a steal.
He’d have been closer to 20 for the two arb years, most likely, but that only strengthens the point you’re rightly making.
I think there’s some downside, as I laid out later in the post. It’s easy to focus on recency bias and get caught up in McNeil’s batting title, but he was a below-average player in 2021.
I think those two seasons represent the extreme ends of what to reasonably expect from him, though, and barring a major injury (which is a risk when extending any player), it’ll very likely go down as a deal the Mets are very glad they made.
2021 is the career outlier in his full body of work, so it’s not recency bias to give more weight to 2022 when I could also point to literally any other season except 2021.
It’s also worth noting in 2021, his BABIP was 52 points below his career mark, and he *still* put up a 1.5 bWAR, which is nearly a league average player. If that’s the floor we’re presenting, it would be an overpay by only the most modest amount.
Most astute fans believe 2021 was an outlier.
2021 was the year they had him swinging for the fences. 2022 he got back to what he does best, and proved that was the right way to go for him.
exactly
Yup, I agree it was an outlier. 2021 was the when the NY Met hitting coach situation was a complete mess. They fired Chili Davis and, a number of Met players didn’t seem to come around to Quattlebaum’s ways. McNeil wasn’t alone in having a bad year. Their hitting approach as a team was horrible.
Good luck. Jeff Alberts is there now. He can screw up a good thing with the best of them. Just don’t blame him, or he gets his feelings hurt.
FYI, Steve, Scherzer is not locked up trough 2024 – he has an opt-out after this year. Seems to me that he’s almost sure to exercise it. At the very least he could get another 2 to 3 year deal rather than settling for the one year left on his Mets contract.
Sherzer opting out after this season is nearly zero. A forty year old with a guaranteed 43.5m contract isn’t opting out.
Consider this: Verlander just got the same 43.5 million through his age 42 season, with a club option through 43 that easily can vest into a guarantee.
So Scherzer will almost certainly expect to get paid for another two to three years after this one. That, at the very least, is the reason he is likely to opt out.
With the same team. The Mets would just replace him with ohtani for that price and then he would be looking at a 2/50 contract from someone else.
No way Scherzer opts out. Time hits quickly. He is 1 injury away from retirement.
Good for both sides. We get numbed by the big numbers on here. $50 million is a ton of money.
Smart move. Why they wanted to dump him I do not know. He’s easily one of their best 9.
100%. He didn’t get along with Lindor briefly. So rumors started swirling that they’d move on, but cooler heads prevailed. McNeil is integral to that core.
a rat? A raccoon?
I got the sense things improved when Buck came in and the team started preparing players to make plays in the shift–who covers second, who is positioned where for cutoffs–and they had fewer plays where both middle infielders went for the batted ball and no one covered second. I think the Post had an article about how Buck is now preparing lessons on the new rules. I wasn’t the biggest Buck fan but see now he does things like this well.
I think that was more of writers then the organization or fans.
Happy for the player but this is a bad sign by the Mets.
McNeil will be 31 this season and was under club control thru 2024. Why extend him now?
He had a tremendous year in 2022 at age 30 but there’s no going up from there.
Every player should be clamoring to get on the Mets!
This comment is a headscratcher. This is a tremendous deal for the Mets. Just because Reyes’ career declined after he won the batting title doesn’t mean everyone else who wins the batting title will. This is a bargain for one of their core players. Also, the Mets are gearing up for a run at Ohtani next year. It’ll make the Mets more attractive to him if their core players are locked in for the foreseeable future. Alonso may not be as easy to extend but I think he will ultimately remain a Met long term.
Headscratcher was very courteous of you.
Agreed on the other points. If I’m Alonso I got to FA. And the savings on Squirrel make me more confident about Shohei.
I could be wrong, but I think Met fans will be unhappy about the prospect of paying McNeil $31.5M after the 2024 season.
Just a drop in the bucket for Cohen but this extension was completely unnecessary given the 2 years of Met club control and the expected decline in McNeil’s production relative to his age.
SQUIRREL!!
Steal.
The Mets learned something from the Braves
Except the Braves have done it with players between 4 to 10 years younger than him. His greatest moment is when Adam Duvall hit a cardboard version of his dog with a home run.
https://www.mlb.com/video/adam-duvall-s-solo-home-run
That’s cool, the Mets got him for cheap and then signed him to a great team friendly extension through the twilight of his career
Twilight of his career at 31? Are you being serious?
Money well spent, and McNeil gets to secure his earnings.
Excellent move by NYM. Why some folks underrate him is odd. Guy is a player. Team won 101 last season and was a massive part of it in a less flashy way than Alonso, Lindor etc. and he excels playing in the toughest media market in American sport
Man when all is said and done and the dollars are all added up it’s insane the value they have gotten for McNeil. I could honestly see him staying productive until his late 30’s until his legs give out from under him…..especially now with the DH in the NL.
2021 is looking like an outlier on his resume. Only season he didn’t hit .300+ Good move for player and team IMO.
Iirc, I think in 2021 he was the best met defensively at like 6 positions.
Says about as much about him as it does the 2021 Mets (maybe it was 2020 or 2019).
And if anyone hasn’t seen the squirrel catch where he flies into the outfield netting, that should be viewed.
Love Jeff, and so happy for another home grown player to be sticking around a while.
Good move for the Mets
I have no idea why McNeil agreed to these numbers, both in terms of years and AAV. If nothing else, it would seem like his BA would only get better post shift ban. I know he agreed to this deal – it’s not like he was forced to – he but I hope he doesn’t come to really resent the team in the near future.
He’s 31 years old and 2022 was his first million dollar paycheck. He’s got two more years ago before free agency. No sure thing he’ll have a good season going into free agency at age 33. A lot of decent players are done by that age. Mets will have him signed through age 34. Seems like a good deal for both sides.
Great job by the Mets…darnit. McNeil is such a gamer. And the deal was fair for both sides – he had two arb years left, and would definitely be an old free agent (at age 33 season) if he got there so he had some real downside risk.
Many of us place a high value on someone such as McNeil, but the market looks at him with a certain amount of qualifiers.
This deal is a steal for the Mets. I see him aging similarly to DJ. Mets infield is basically locked up for the forseable future. Thirdbase has some question marks but if Baty can improve his defense this could turn out quite well
McNeil may even move there in years 3 and 4 of the deal if Baty is a bust.
It’s not easy to say “Thanks, but no thanks” to $50 million.
@mohoney Realistically McNeil could of gotten more if hes compared to DJ
DJ was a free agent – McNeil had two arb years left. Big difference. Mets got a hometown discount, but not nearly as much of one as folks are painting it to be. McNeil made a smart move taking into account all of the risks as well…he secured the payday.
DJ has more power as well which plays both in arb and in FA. Also a strong base of performance as Jeff was a late bloomer.
The guy wasn’t good the previous 2yrs.. so if he plays like he just did then great deal.. if he reverts back then he’s a glorified utility guy
Your definition of not good is interesting since in 2020, he slashed 311/383/454/836 w/ a 130 OPS+
He was bad in 2021… it was a weird season for him … IDK that anyone will ever get a full read on what was going on, but it just seemed like he was spiraling all year after a bad start
Prior to 2021 he was excellent through his first 1k plate appearances (319/383/501/884 w/ a 139 OPS+) ; He followed up 2021 by winning a batting title w/ a 326/382/454/836 w/ a 140 OPS+
Which season looks like the outlier here? The 400 PA’s where he was bad, or the 1600 PA’s that sandwich that year in which was a 140 OPS+ player?
Pretty indisputable argument here. Well said.
Fathead0507 is a bit correct when he says Mcneil had a bad 2020. The stats might not indicate but for about the first 35-40 games McNeil was batting around .220. His final 20 something games he was red hot which is why his season numbers ended so well
The whole Mets offense seemed to struggle in 2021.
Great move and nice write-up here, Steve. Thank you for breaking down his projected salaries vs this deal. Seems like one of the few reasonable deals this offseason.
I see this as a serious underpay, which is shocking in today’s market. Many players are signing / extending for mega deals that take them through their age 41 season. Perhaps they are a tick more elite than McNeil, but I have a hard time seeing Squirrel getting another long-term deal after this.
If I’m Pete Alonso, this signals to me that I need to wait until free agency. That’s the only way to rake in serious $$$$.
Ramirez could probably have made more on the open market than he’s gotten. I’m not comparing anyone to Brady or Manning but both of them took less for their teams to be competitive. McNeil is no spring chicken either and 2B isn’t a highly desirable position either. He’s definitely a quality regular but no MVP candidate. So, underpay? Yeah I agree. Still he wouldn’t sign if he didn’t want it
Headscratcher was very courteous of you.
Agreed on the other points. If I’m Alonso I got to FA. And the savings on Squirrel make me more confident about Shohei.
Nobody can talk down on the braves and rays for “not paying their players enough for their extensions.” This is a huge steal getting 3 fa years for that.
McNeil one of those west coast raised players that loves performing in Gotham and taking advantage of the profound elements unique to NYC. Some players don’t like the NYC vibe. Some gravitate to it. It’s one of the great global cities for many reasons. There’s few comparable comparisons to being a star in NYC.
There are no 10 cent beer nights in NYC but those of us who were working downtown before 1980 do remember Jeremy’s where you could get a styrofoam quart of ale for a buck.
Jeremy’s was still doing the stryofoam thing through the 2010s. Good times.
Now it’s $10 artisan craft beers in a shot glass or $40 for a flight sampler.
Dollar draws at beavers my man. Come down to flyover country
Good price for him.
Clubs that go to arbitration are foolish.The Padres have never since AJ Preller came aboard.
This just proves it.
They offered him $6.25 mil instead of giving him the $7.75 he requested then they go ahead and give him $12.5 a year?
If he’s worth $12.5(he is) then why threaten arbitration in the first place?
Probably OK for the first 2 years, probably becomes an overpay for the last 2 years.
In other words, standard operating procedure. Great deal for McNeil, good deal for the Mets.
Mets screwing their key players. I love it.
It settles his arb case for 2023, then splits up the rest for roughly $14m between 2024-2026–which makes sense considering he’ll decline in 2023 compared with 2022—then guarantees the then 33-34 year old 2Bman @ $14m per for 2025-26 when as recently as 2021 he was awful and missed 1/4 of the season. —Squirrel had a history of serious injury in the minors, too. He knows it can all end in a minute. I’m not surprised he’d push his first free agent contract back by two years for some security. Between injury and a 2021 when it looked like he’d be out of baseball in a couple of years, locking up $50 million had to be tempting.
That’s clearly a good deal for the Mets though, making, it that much stranger that McNeil would give away his 3rd FA year as a $13.75m club option.
Great signing, but all Mets fans will breath easier when Alonso gets his contract done. Pete needs to be Met for life racking up numbers no one will ever get close to, for many years to come. Still signing Jeff gives them that nice war infield for awhile
Great for the Mets! Seems like a robbery for Jmac
And now the Mets have a trade piece that is MLB ready and cheap. Package him with a couple of prospects and players like Bieber may be had.
McNeil is more valuable than Bieber to the Mets at this point.
I think he’s implying Batty is available now that McNeil is locked in. Not 100% on what I see but them having Escobar for now and Correa dealing signals they’re willing to trade him
Not sure I agree with that. Bieber is the type of pitcher the Mets should be looking to trade for – lock him up after his two years of arbitration, or sooner. They’ll need a plan post Scherzer/Verlander. McNeil had a good year, but not sure if it’s sustainable, but the contract is still too good, even if production is a bit lower. Package him with other prospects (Parada, etc.) and I think there’s a deal to be made.
padam, The Mets have a fine rotation, which is why McNeil is more value able TO THE METS at this point in time.
McNeil is not getting traded after just signing an extension.
Parada was arguably the best hitter in last year’s draft class. Could be on the roster as early as 2024.
Let’s pump the brakes on trading them.
KP absolutely mashed at GT last year. I try to follow them as much as possible, and he was the thumper in the middle of a very good lineup that everyone was afraid of.
Didn’t strike me as anything special behind the plate, but I’m hoping there’s room to grow. Was so excited to see him fall to the Mets.
lol
Ya think when Cleveland ships Bieber over to ya for McNeil they’ll give ya back Andres Gimenez as well?
Such a deal, huh?
LOL!!! But only the Braves dramatically underpay their players. $12.5M AAV for McNeil is robbery by the Mets. But we know they won’t have the same energy towards that deal they do the deals the Braves trot out there.
If he were playing in Colorado he’d have Todd Helton value.
steal. does he not see how the Mets are trying to buy Championships? you can ask for more, Jeff!
Cohen pays more for other teams’ players. Somebody else’s girlfriend seems prettier…
“Other team’s players”
You mean “free agents” ? Lol
That’s kinda the way this works…
Duh
Dynamite comeback Monty
What a steal for a quality regular
Thank our lord and savior satan! Was wondering when the Mets were going to do this. Hell of a deal for a pretty elite player.
Can someone please tell Steve Adams that you don’t need a comma before either?
Also:
“The extension, then, could wind up saving the Mets $1MM or so off their luxury ledger for the 2024 season”
You’ve got it crossed again. It’s:
“The extension could then wind up saving the Mets $1MM or so off their luxury ledger for the 2024 season”
Go away, Ben Dover
No one loves you.
I think the actual cost of a player’s contract re the luxury tax should be looked at differently. Any arbitration eligible player who is tendered should have the team’s offer figured as an initial cost before figuring newly signed free agents. The result of the arbitration, settlement or AAV for an extension beyond the team offer should be counted after newly signed free agents. So in McNeil’s case for 2023, the luxury tax should be counted against the second half of his AAV instead of the entire cost of year one of the extension. Regardless, it’s still a great deal.
Stevie Cohen’s beautiful money.
I feel like this makes the Marlins trade with Minnesota look even worse…
I’m not sure I agree. It looks like batting titles are underrated by teams. Lopez is good but it’s not like they were giving up Alcantara.
Mets also have Lopez’ number. They’ve made him look like a borderline AAAA player when facing him over the last couple seasons. Sad to see him leave the NL East.
This isn’t a massive underpay like a lot of people are saying it is. The first two years cover his last two arbitration years which would have been about $20M total. So the deal is basically paying him $15M a year for his two free agent years when he will be 33 and 34, years where players often decline severely.
His age is why the money was low. He is someone who hits less than 10 home runs a year and walks at a low clip so his production is highly dependent on babip luck. He is one of the softest hitters in the game (last year was bottom 7% in barrel rate and bottom 7% in hard hit rate).
I would have taken the deal. He never made any big money in the past and now he’s set for life in a place he enjoys
Yes. That’s basically my point above. McNeil was a 12th round draft pick who didn’t make the majors until he was 26. He’s never had a big payday. He had an off year in 2021 and wouldn’t have been a free agent until he was 33. Has little power, doesn’t walk much. He has a good skill, but a slight reduction in his bat-to-ball skillset, always possible at his age, and there is no $50MM payday for him. He was wise to sign.
Dumb move by McNeil. he should fire his agent. He basically got a 2 year contract for age 33 and 34 years. most likely he will be in steep decline by that point and will not get a multi year contract after that. Should have just played out his contract and he would have been just 32.
Not dumb at all. Maybe he likes it where he is and sees this team as his best shot to get a ring.
Also, there’s another thing to think about. The deal before the club option takes him right up to the end of the current CBA. After that, all bets are off, especially if there’s a cap.
4yrs at $50M?
That seems light, especially for the remainder of his prime years. I feel like the Mets got a steal here. Imagine a big market team that can throw away money getting a steal.
Expecting Alonso next.
He’s a good player, but elite??? No
My favorite Met. Love me some McNeil.
McNeil isn’t sexy, just steady.
McNeil LF Mauricio 2B?