Jeff McNeil

Contract Renewals: Gallen, Lewis, Alonso, McNeil, Anderson

By Mark Polishuk | March 11, 2021 at 7:00pm CDT

As a standard course of business every spring, teams reach agreement on contracts with their pre-arbitration players. Since pre-arb players have virtually no negotiating leverage, their salaries aren’t far beyond the MLB minimum ($570.5K), and most teams now adopt a particular formula for assigning modest raises to pre-arbitration players who have performed above and beyond expectations.

When a player doesn’t accept this agreement, it has no change on his contractual status with the team. It just means that his contract is “renewed,” and the team will impose the player’s salary for the coming season. For a further explanation of the renewal process, MLBTR’s Jeff Todd provided an outline in a YouTube video last year.

Why would a player not accept the terms of his team’s raise? Often, it is just a matter of “principle,” as Cardinals righty Jack Flaherty (who had his last two pre-arbitration salaries renewed) said last year, as a player who excels during a season simply feels he is worth more than the minor raise a team is offering. Occasionally, you’ll see a player look for a more substantive raise, as Mike Trout’s camp asked for a $1MM salary for the 2013 season, following a 2012 campaign that saw Trout finish second in AL MVP voting in his first full year in the big leagues.

While Trout didn’t get his $1MM ask, some clubs have indeed rewarded players with pre-arb salaries worth well above (by a few hundred thousand dollars, in some cases) the minimum, both as a nod to performance and perhaps as a way to continue good relations with a player and his agent in advance of extension talks.

Here is a list of players whose contracts have been renewed for the 2021 season. As you’ll note, the members of this group have already enjoyed significant early-career success.

Zac Gallen: The Diamondbacks right-hander finished ninth in NL Cy Young Award voting in 2020, and has a 2.78 ERA over 152 career MLB innings.
Kyle Lewis: The Mariners outfielder took a renewal on the heels of his Rookie Of The Year campaign.
Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil: The two Mets regulars took renewals. As noted by Mike Puma of the New York Post, Alonso’s 2019 NL Rookie Of The Year campaign got him a larger-than-expected salary bump to $652,521 for the 2020 season “as a goodwill gesture” from the team.
Ian Anderson: The Braves righty made a big impact in his first MLB season, with a 1.95 ERA over 32 1/3 innings. Anderson also has the least amount of big league service time (0.094 days) of any player on this list. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that Anderson will earn $575K while in the majors and $142,978 in the minor leagues.

Mets Designate Brian Dozier For Assignment

By Anthony Franco | August 16, 2020 at 11:05am CDT

The Mets have designated second baseman Brian Dozier for assignment, per various reporters (including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). Right-hander Franklyn Kilome has been recalled to replace Dozier on the active roster.

Dozier’s time in Queens could have come to an end after just 16 plate appearances across seven games. The 33-year-old has now been cut loose by both the Padres and Mets over the past few months, but he managed a solid season with the Nationals just a year ago. Dozier hit .238/.340/.430 (99 wRC+) in 482 plate appearances in Washington last season. Speculatively speaking, the Nats could look back into a reunion with Dozier in the wake of Starlin Castro’s recent broken wrist, although Washington has quite a few internal options who could be relied upon to fill that void.

The Mets are dealing with an injury to one of their second base options as well. Jeff McNeil hasn’t played since leaving Thursday’s contest after running into the outfield wall. Fortunately, McNeil is available off the bench today, manager Luis Rojas says (via Tim Healey of Newsday). That seemingly bodes well for McNeil’s chances of returning to the starting lineup in short order.

Jeff McNeil Removed On Cart After Collision

By Jeff Todd | August 13, 2020 at 3:54pm CDT

3:54pm: McNeil has been diagnosed a bone contusion, manager Luis Rojas told reporters after the game (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Tim Britton). He’s not expected to require a trip to the injured list. He’ll be evaluated again tomorrow before any final decisions are made, though.

2:45pm: Initial X-rays on McNeil’s knee have come back negative, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets. However, McNeil will still undergo an MRI for further evaluation.

12:27pm: Mets utilityman extraordinaire Jeff McNeil was carted off of the field after suffering an apparent leg injury in today’s game. He crashed into the outfield wall after making a sensational running catch.

Needless to say, there’s no indication at this point of the seriousness of the injury. McNeil attempted to leave on his own power but ultimately required additional medical attention. Any lasting absence for McNeil, of course, would be a brutal blow to an already reeling Mets club. He hasn’t shown the pop that he displayed in 2019 or even in 2018, but McNeil entered play hitting .293/.358/.362 through his first 67 trips to the plate in 2020.

The Mets have already lost Noah Syndergaard for the season due to Tommy John surgery, while Marcus Stroman has opted out of the 2020 campaign citing health and safety concerns. Also on the injured list for the Mets are Robinson Cano, Jed Lowrie, Jake Marisnick, Eduardo Nunez, Rene Rivera and Michael Wacha.

Mets Place Robinson Cano On Injured List, Activate Billy Hamilton

By Steve Adams | August 4, 2020 at 10:41pm CDT

10:41pm: Cano will be on the shelf “until at least mid-August,” DiComo tweets.

6:15pm: The Mets have placed second baseman Robinson Cano on the 10-day injured list due to a Grade 2 left adductor strain and selected the contract of Billy Hamilton, who’ll be on the bench for tonight’s game (Twitter links via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). DiComo adds that Jeff McNeil (intercostal strain) and Amed Rosario (quad tightness) are both day-to-day.

There’s no telling just how long Cano will be sidelined at this point, but any type of Grade 2 strain (as opposed to a more mild Grade 1 strain) is cause for concern regarding an extended absence. His injury is particularly unfortunate for the Mets given that the 37-year-old had gotten out to a blistering start. In his first 39 plate appearances, Cano was hitting at a torrid .412/.462/.559 clip with a homer and two doubles. While it’s inevitable that he’d have cooled off to some extent, Cano also ranked among the game’s best in terms of hard-hit rate and average exit velocity, and his swinging-strike rate was among the lowest in MLB.

Despite the addition of the designated hitter in the National League, Cano has been the team’s primary second baseman. Yoenis Cespedes had been serving as the regular designated hitter, but he opted out of the remainder of the season over the weekend. With Cano, Jed Lowrie and Jeff McNeil all on the injured list, regular second-base duties for the Mets seem likeliest to fall to top prospect Andres Gimenez and veteran Brian Dozier, who inked a minor league deal late in Summer Camp and was selected to the Mets’ roster last week. Dozier is batting sixth in tonight’s lineup against lefty Patrick Corbin, but the makings of a natural platoon with the left-handed-hitting Gimenez are present. Of course, that’s contingent on Rosario returning to the lineup; Gimenez and Dozier could each draw regular starts as double play partners while Rosario is out.

As for Hamilton, he was acquired over the weekend in a trade that sent recently outrighted reliever Jordan Humphreys to the Giants. He’ll jump right onto the Mets’ big league roster and provide some speed and elite glovework off the bench. Brandon Nimmo is still lined up for everyday work in center, and he’ll be flanked by J.D. Davis and Michael Conforto to begin most games. Hamilton’s role is perhaps the same role the Mets envisioned for offseason acquisition Jake Marisnick, but he’s currently on the injured list with a hamstring strain.

Mets’ Infield Dealing With Injuries

By Connor Byrne | August 3, 2020 at 8:32pm CDT

The Mets are suddenly dealing with a few notable injuries in their infield, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News was among those to report. Second baseman Robinson Cano (left groin), shortstop Amed Rosario (left quad) and third baseman Jeff McNeil (lower back) are all battling some degree of “tightness,” per Thosar.

The severity of these injuries are unclear, but they’re the latest hits to an offense that saw outfielder Yoenis Cespedes opt out of the season Sunday. Cespedes got off to a subpar start this season, as has Rosario. On the other hand, Cano and McNeil have been great thus far. It’s especially encouraging in regards to Cano, who was a letdown a season ago, but not surprising in McNeil’s case. After all, he was one of the NL’s best position players last year.

The Mets entered the day at 3-7, so any further bad news for their lineup could make it even harder for the team to dig out of the hole it’s in at the one-sixth mark of the season. The Mets replaced their three lost starters with Brian Dozier, Andres Gimenez and Luis Guillorme on Monday.

Does Baseball Have Its Next Zobrist?

By Jeff Todd | April 17, 2020 at 4:54pm CDT

You tend to hear talk of “The Next [insert player’s name]” involving guys whose careers change something about the way we think about a sport. It’s often the earth-shaking stars — Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Lawrence Taylor types. But not always.

In baseball, we’ve heard talk for years of “The Next Ben Zobrist” or “Team X’s Ben Zobrist.” It’s one of those things that you tended to understand when you heard it. Zobrist embodied something new and different: he was a high-end, star-level performer masquerading as a regular old utility guy. Moving around the diamond, featuring a plate-discipline-driven offensive skillset, and playing in Tampa Bay … it took some time for Zobrist to make it on the map. But once he finally got the recognition he deserved, he became the archetype of a new breed of player.

While the rest of the league caught on to the idea of moving guys around the diamond more liberally, we haven’t yet seen a single player match Zobrist as a Swiss Army knife that’s actually really good at all its functions over a sustained, multi-season span. Now, as Zobrist rides off into the sunset, Jeff McNeil of the Mets promises to change that …

The then-Devil Rays originally landed Zobrist from the Astros — in exchange for Aubrey Huff — way back in the early days of MLBTR (July of 2006). Some guy named Tim Dierkes wrote up the trade, characterizing Zobrist as a “solid but not spectacular shortstop prospect” of the sort who’s a “good guy to have around, gets on base, but not a star.”

Thankfully, Tim’s readers stuck with him despite that whiff. (I doubt I’ve had any of those, so … no need to go back and check, thanks.) In truth, the description was plenty fair at the time. It took a while for Zobrist to emerge.

Zobrist was a mess in his first two MLB seasons, putting up -1.7 rWAR and -1.9 fWAR cumulatively for the Tampa Bay organization. When the club dropped the devil from its name in 2008, Zobrist’s age-27 season, his angelic side emerged. He earned his way back for another shot and showed quite well in a 62-game run.

The next year opened with Zobrist as an obvious choice for the MLB roster. He ultimately emerged as an outright star … on paper, at least, while awaiting recognition … by turning in 599 plate appearances of .297/.405/.543 hitting with 27 home runs and nearly as many walks (91) as strikeouts (104). And he did so while appearing at every spot on the diamond aside from the battery (in addition to taking a turn at DH).

Like his forefather, McNeil was a legitimate but non-elite prospect when drafted. (The former went in the sixth round, the latter in the twelfth.) Neither player was hyped much on his way up the ladder; in both cases, they showed excellent plate discipline and polished hit tools … but little in the way of home run power.

The skillsets are rather similar, as are the timelines. Actually, having recently celebrated his 28th birthday, McNeil is a bit ahead of Zobrist’s curve. And his own versatility is proving equally useful to the Mets as Zobrist’s did to the Rays.

McNeil lined up mostly at second base when he was first called upon in 2018. He graded rather well there and could certainly have just been kept at the position for the long haul. But the Mets had other ideas. As they cooked up a surprising swap for Edwin Diaz, the Mets reportedly discussed McNeil with the Mariners. Fortunately for the New York org, it didn’t ultimately have to put him in. (Ill-conceived though the trade was, as we recently explored on YouTube, losing McNeil would’ve made it an even greater calamity.) But adding Robinson Cano meant bumping McNeil off of second base. He did have a lot of experience at the hot corner on the farm, but McNeil had spent very little time in the outfield. As it turned out, McNeil handled more 2019 frames on the grass than on the dirt, grading out as a capable defender no matter where he was thrown

While the glovework is what primarily spurs the comparison, there’s a lot connecting these two at the plate as well. McNeil is rather more dependent upon his ability to maintain a really lofty batting average to get on base. While he rarely strikes out, he’s not as handy at drawing walks as was Zobrist. But with a .321 batting average through 815 career plate appearances … so far, so good.

While McNeil had ramped up his power output in his breakout upper-minors showing in 2018 — thus forcing his way up in the midst of a busted Mets campaign — it was hard to know if it’d carry forward. He hit only three dingers in his first 63 games and 248 plate appearances in the majors. But McNeil launched 23 long balls in 567 trips to the dish in 2019, his first full big league campaign. That’s not an overly impressive tally in the streamlined-orb era, but it does suggest that McNeil can find a way to expand his contact skills into loft when the offensive environment supports that kind of approach. Zobrist never came within seven long balls of his first full-season tally, though that certainly didn’t stop him from producing a ton of value at the plate.

Why McNeil and not some other would-be Zobrists? Well, to this point, McNeil owns a 141 wRC+ at the plate — figures reminiscent of Zobrist’s monster early output. Whit Merrifield has perhaps the best claim, and he’s quite a good player in his own right. But he’s also a different beast — rather less bat (109 career wRC+) but with greater value on the bases. David Fletcher has versatility on his side, but he’s not even an average overall hitter over the same approximate span as McNeil. Likewise, Brock Holt doesn’t have a consistent record at the plate. Tommy Edman and Cavan Biggio each had early success, but neither has completed a full MLB season.

So … will the comparison hold? Zobrist took a bit of a step back at the plate in his second full MLB season but rebounded soon thereafter. And he continued to deliver multi-faceted value until he ran out of gas at the tail end. All said, Zobrist delivered 44.5 rWAR and 44.4 fWAR over this 14-year career.

McNeil has a long way to go to reach those levels of overall productivity. Statcast numbers suggest he was a bit fortunate last year, when he carried a .355 xwOBA and .385 wOBA. But even with a bit of a step back, we’d be looking at a high-quality offensive performer who (like Zobrist) contributes in the field and on the bases. Though McNeil is presently slated to line up at third base for the Mets, that could still evolve over time. Perhaps he’ll even end up reprising his ever-shifting 2019 role for certain seasons. Whether or not it’s ultimately utilized, that flexibility will help immensely when it comes to managing the roster during and between seasons.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Details On Mets’ Pursuit Of Mookie Betts

By Connor Byrne | February 12, 2020 at 10:43pm CDT

Mookie Metts? It didn’t come to fruition, but the Mets did make an effort in December to acquire superstar outfielder Mookie Betts from Boston. The Red Sox ended up trading him to the Dodgers earlier this week.

One reason talks between the Mets and Red Sox broke down? The Mets weren’t open to moving infielder/outfielder Jeff McNeil for just a year of control over Betts, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (they also wouldn’t give him to the Indians for shortstop Francisco Lindor). However, the Red Sox regarded McNeil as “integral” to a potential trade package, according to Sherman. Understandably, the Mets weren’t going to part with the versatile, inexpensive 27-year-old after he was one of the majors’ most effective offensive players from 2018-19.

While the Mets weren’t willing to surrender McNeil for Betts, they did offer packages centered on outfielder Brandon Nimmo and infielder/outfielder J.D. Davis (quality, affordable players in their own right), per Sherman. Those deals also would have included one of the Mets’ infield prospects in either Andres Gimenez or Ronny Mauricio, two top-100 farmhands. It seems the Mets, reluctant to absorb all of Betts’ $27MM salary, also would have tried to include one of their highly paid, unwanted veterans in outfielder Yoenis Cespedes or infielder Jed Lowrie in order to somewhat offset the money they’d have taken on had a deal with Boston gone through.

Considering that getting under the $208MM luxury-tax threshold was one of the main causes for the Red Sox’s decision to unload Betts (and left-hander David Price with him), adding Cespedes or Lowrie wouldn’t have been palatable for them. They wound up accepting the Dodgers’ offer of outfielder Alex Verdugo and two prospects – infielder Jeter Downs and catcher Connor Wong – saving a total of $75MM in the process.

Meanwhile, although the Mets went big-game hunting for Betts, their outfield appears as if it’ll enter 2020 with mostly the same cast. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, even though none of the team’s current options can rival Betts. However, to their credit, McNeil, Nimmo, Davis, Michael Conforto and Dominic Smith all had good seasons a year ago. It’s anyone’s guess what the Mets will get from Cespedes after injuries shelved him for the vast majority of the prior three seasons, but he’s back on a reduced salary and has always produced when healthy.

East Notes: McNeil, Voit, Givens

By Jeff Todd | February 3, 2020 at 4:14pm CDT

While we wait to learn more about a possible earth-shaking swap from the AL East — participate in our poll while there’s still time! — let’s check in on a few other storylines from the game’s eastern divisions.

Mets utilityman Jeff McNeil anticipates settling in a bit in 2020, as Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News reports. It was largely evident just from looking at the New York roster situation, but McNeil confirms that he’s preparing to spend much of his time at the hot corner. “I think I’ll be playing a lot of third,” he said over the weekend. The 27-year-old says he’ll be a full go when camp opens. While a late-season wrist injury bothered him until late in 2019, McNeil says he’s over it now and has more or less had a normal offseason.
Speaking of winter recoveries, Yankees first baseman Luke Voit says he’s fitter than ever after undergoing core surgery, as George A. King III of the New York Post writes. That’s good news for him and for the club after Voit experienced a subpar, injury marred 2019 effort. He’ll need to prove in camp that he deserves a job. As King further explores, the club could lean on left-handed-hitting Mike Ford (perhaps in conjunction with Voit) and will also see how third baseman Miguel Andujar handles the other side of the infield.
It remains surprising that we haven’t heard more trade chatter this winter surrounding Orioles reliever Mychal Givens. That’s just fine with him. The 29-year-old says he’ll continue to “bleed black and orange” unless and until he is put into another uniform. With two full seasons to go until free agency, Givens is at the mercy of the team — except that his own performance is a major factor in his trade candidacy. Givens expressed optimism at his ability to bounce back from a rough showing last year; if he can do so, he could be a significant trade chip at the 2020 trade deadline. “Some great things have really been going on and are going to happen in the near future,” Givens says, “so hopefully I can stay here if I can. If not, it’s been a good road, but right now, like I said, I’m an Oriole.”

Latest On Francisco Lindor

By Connor Byrne | December 19, 2019 at 11:54pm CDT

11:54pm: Jeff McNeil, the Mets’ terrific infielder/outfielder, is someone the Indians “repeatedly” asked about during the teams’ Lindor talks, Tim Healey of Newsday reports. Unsurprisingly, though, the Mets weren’t willing to deal McNeil.

10:16pm: It might not be long before we see the Indians part with their franchise player, shortstop Francisco Lindor. The Indians have informed clubs that have pursued Lindor that they want their “best and final offers so they can make an assessment over the weekend,” Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes (subscription link).

The Indians don’t have to give up the 26-year-old Lindor, who has two seasons’ control left, but his value’s surely sky-high right now. Plus, having traded right-hander and fellow franchise icon Corey Kluber to Texas last week, the small-market Indians could be moving toward a rebuild. The Indians’ roster still looks better than average even without Kluber, but considering they’re unlikely to extend Lindor before he’s slated to reach free agency in a couple years, management may decide to take the best possible offer now at the expense of their near-term chances.

So far this offseason, the Dodgers, Padres and Reds have been prominently connected to Lindor in the rumor mill. The Mets also showed interest in him, but they’ve drifted into the background because of Cleveland’s exorbitant asking price for Lindor, Rosenthal reports. Even though Lindor’s team control is fading and he’ll make a projected $16.7MM in 2020, it’s understandable the Indians are demanding a significant return for him. After all, he’s a four-time All-Star, one of the faces of baseball and someone who has slashed .288/.347/.493 with 130 home runs, 93 stolen bases and 27.2 fWAR since his career began in 2015.

AL East Notes: McNeil, Rays, Didi, Shapiro

By Mark Polishuk | November 7, 2019 at 9:46pm CDT

“The Rays were focused on” super-utilityman Jeff McNeil in trade talks with the Mets last offseason, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports. McNeil’s multi-position ability and pre-arbitration salary status make him an ideal target for the Rays, making Sherman wonder if Tampa Bay could again target McNeil this winter, though the Mets’ asking price has surely gone up in the wake of McNeil’s outstanding 2019 season. Sherman’s piece floats some potential trades to help the Mets address their center field need, including his speculative suggestion of a Kevin Kiermaier/Yonny Chirinos for McNeil swap. The Rays would get their desired “low-cost Swiss Army Knife” of a player and also get Kiermaier’s contract off the books, with Chirinos involved to add a young arm to New York’s rotation and entice the Mets to swallow Kiermaier’s $36MM in remaining salary. Sherman looks further within the AL East to cite the Red Sox as another possible trade partners for the center field-needy Mets, as Jackie Bradley Jr. could be available, or there’s always the “pipedream” of a one-for-one swap of Mookie Betts for Noah Syndergaard.

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