I was getting into my car with my dad in the passenger seat, and two annoyed kids who just went to the pediatrician’s office complaining in the back seat when I removed my phone from my back pocket before sitting down. By force of habit I looked at the screen when I saw the alert from Jeff Passan:
I reflexively pressed hard on my brake. The car was in park.
My father concerned by my expression asked if everything was ok. “Yes” I said comically happy, “everything is great!”
Those are words I wouldn’t have used a year ago after it was becoming painfully clear that Steve Cohen may not end up owning the team. But a lot has changed over the past year. And this being one of them. To take from Ken Rosenthal’s latest story title “The Mets are a big-market bully again”.
Here is the deal:
As Sandy Alderson said in his press conference to announce the trade yesterday “it came at a signficant cost”. The Mets traded away some of their infield depth in Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez and some of their prospect depth in Josh Wolf and Isiah Greene but got back in return a superstar shortstop and a starting pitcher locked in for 3 years at a team friendly rate.
To say the Mets got the better end is not scratching the surface on what this move does to the franchise. Here’s a few thoughts I had while listening to Sandy Alderson (Team President) and Jared Porter (General Manager) during yesterday’s press conference to formally announce the trade:
NOBODY knew this deal was coming- In years past, the Mets leaked like a bucket full of water with holes. Not anymore. This is another reminder that it is no longer business-as-usual in Flushing. This regime kept this under wraps until the deal was complete and kudos to them for being able to do so.
Sandy said that this deal had been in the works since the beginning of the offseason and went from just Lindor to including Carrasco. He also mentioned that while he was averse to trading away from a thin prospect system, the ability to get Lindor and a top flight SP without sacrificing the top five or six prospects in the system was an opportunity the team couldn’t pass up.
The cost of acquisition was high- Make no mistake, the Mets traded away not one but two starting caliber shortstops with Amed Rosario estimated to earn around $2.2M per Spotrac in his first year of arbitration and two more arbitration years and Andres Gimenez two years away from arbitration and total 5 years of cost controlled service time. They also gave up two guys with untapped potential in Wolf and Greene, who were in the bottom part of a system that’s ranked around 20 in most publications eyes.
Questions came fast and furious about what this means for the rest of the infield depth and Sandy was quick to point out Luis Guillorme still existed who is an excellent defensive IF and Jeff McNeil has some versatility to play second and third but the real questions were about third base.
Jared Porter pointed out that the major league developmental team would work with JD Davis to improve his defensive ability so he could offer more value at 3B but in answering a question about what’s next he did say that they were looking for good defensive players with versatility to play multiple positions. So its not clear yet what the Mets plan on doing at 3B or if Davis is a permanent solution but it bears watching how they deploy Davis if his defense doesn’t improve. Perhaps its a pipe dream but there are rumblings that the Mets checked in on Kris Bryant. But given the backlash from everyone on the Darvish trade the Cubs may be hesitant to give up Bryant for nothing despite him also being a year out from free agency.
Acquisition over cost- This quote keeps coming to mind and once again drew focus for me when Sandy answered questions about Lindor’s signability. One of the biggest drawbacks of the former ownership group were their shyness to dip their toes into the deep waters of big time free agency thanks to their dabbling in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Those restrictions clearly do not apply to Steve Cohen who promised Mets fans that they would spend when appropriate.
This seems appropriate. Many throughout baseball expect the Mets and Lindor to discuss a contract extension and for an agreement to happen prior to the season that will set the market for next year’s big SS class which will include Corey Seager (if this Lindor trade and signing don’t exacerbate urgency from the Dodgers to engage him as well), Trevor Story (who won’t be affected by the Nolan Arenado trade rumblings) and Javier Baez (you get the feeling the Cubs will be shedding him as well soon).
But Sandy spoke with optimism that while the return was based on Lindor being a player signed to one year, and the fact that the Mets were taking on all of Carrasco’s future salary commitment (two years at $24M and a vesting option for a third year at $14M) that they didn’t require a period to negotiate with Lindor’s agent. That’s the confidence an owner flush with cash can bring. The fact is they leveraged that into a lesser return to the Indians although the return the Indians got for both was fair in most player evaluation’s eyes. Notice I didn’t say equal.
Speaking of cost, does this mean the Mets are out on other big named free agents? Probably not- I need to be completely honest here- I can’t see the Mets signing Springer now unless the Mets either get creative to finesse some salary off the books, and Porter consistently said that they would be opportunistic and creative to make the team better, or if Springer takes less than we all think.
But Sandy made it clear that while the $210M Luxury tax threshold is an important line of demarcation, it isn’t a line that he has been told he can’t cross. Again expressing ownership’s new outlook on being competitive and being willing to pay the price when necessary. The Mets won’t spend like drunken sailors but it all depends on how drunk they get amirite?
Sandy’s “appetite for more talent” really drives home the point that the Mets are operating under a new ideal. This team has a few more questions to address like how they will address their defense in centerfield, what to do about the back up catching position, how else to beef up their bullpen. Porter made it clear when he said what Mets fans have said all along- there’s always a need for pitching. More pitching. So it will be interesting to see how the Mets address their CF position but this next question is the more pressing concern.
How is the lack of clarity on the DH affecting the Mets in free agency? There likely won’t be an answer for another few weeks which will leave guys like Marcell Ozuna available as the offseason goes on so when Sandy and Jared say that the market will dictate how they proceed- he’s right. But it affects the Mets pursuit of Springer and Jackie Bradley Jr if it forces them to choose between Nimmo and Dom Smith. Nimmo has the longer track record in terms of productivity offensively but he’s miscast as a CF just like Dom Smith is miscast as a corner OF. In an ideal world, Dom is the Mets 1B/DH and so is Pete Alonso and the Mets sign Springer/or JBJ moving Nimmo to a corner OF spot.
But MLB has dragged its feet on the DH situation and while the feeling is that in the next CBA that discussion will resolve itself, the reality is that the Mets can’t really move confidently forward without knowing where baseball stands on the issue in 2021. The inclusion of the DH in 2020 felt like a concession to players to get a deal done but for whatever reason despite its success MLB won’t resolve that issue just yet.
In the new reality however, the Mets can spend on CF and hope that the issue of the DH resolves itself in the Mets favor. And Sandy again reiterated that it is in the Mets best interest that the DH comes to the NL next year and moving forwad.
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