Author: Frank Caggino
Editor: Brian Symons
After George Springer declined the New York Mets six year 125 million dollar contract, the Mets still have money to spend. This team has more work to do and there are many different ways the team can go about spending the rest of their money before reaching the luxury tax. The areas that should still be addressed is center field defense, bullpen, starting pitching, overall depth, and upgrade at third base. Even though the Mets were unable to get Springer, there are other centerfielders out there.
Even while the Mets were pursuing Springer, there are some Mets fans that prefer the team to sign Jackie Bradley because of the significant differences in contracts and how it would affect the Mets long term. Luckily, Jackie Bradley Jr. is still available and should be someone the Mets try to negotiate with. Bradley is one of the best defensive center fielders in all of baseball and would make a huge difference for this time in the field. Not only would the Mets upgrade their center field defense, but their left field defense would also improve by having Nimmo play left instead of Dom Smith. Bradley is not an automatic out either, as he had a .283 average in 2020 and even though he is a career .239 hitter, he can still have 20 home run seasons. A critique of adding Jackie Bradley is that if there is a designated hitter, the Mets would be too left handed. If that is a major issue for the team, there are available center fielders that are right handed.
Recently the Mets have been linked to Albert Almora Jr. Almora would also be an upgrade defensively in center field. The issue with Almora, is that after he hit a foul ball that hit a two year old fan that caused a brain injury, he has never been the same hitter. Almora can serve as more of a late game defensive replacement instead of an everyday starting center fielder. The decision on Almora would be much easier if the Mets knew if there is going to be a DH or not. There are two more right handed hitting outfielders the Mets could sign in free agency.
Kevin Pillar has put together quality offensive seasons and makes some highlight catches in center field. He should seem like a potential target, however the analytics are not in his favor and show that he has bad first step timing and does not have good burst to cover a lot of ground in center field. The last free agent option is for the Mets to bring back Jake Marisnick. He batted .333 but only played in 12 games. Injuries were a problem for Marisnick in 2020 and he did not make that many great plays in center field during his limited playing time. There are also possible trades to consider such as Kevin Kiermaier, Harrison Bader, Lorenzo Cain, Byron Buxton, and maybe Ramon Laureano. Ultimately Bradley would cost significantly more than Almora or Marisnick which the Mets have to be mindful of since they have other areas to work on.
The Mets looked like they were close to signing Brad Hand, but still are not close since they have not been willing to offer more than a one year deal. Hand would help out this team since he is a perennial All Star and the Mets have had bullpen struggles for multiple years. Brad Hand can help shorten games and allow starting pitchers to only go five innings. The Mets would have a combination of Trevor May, Seth Lugo, Brad Hand, and Edwin Diaz to close out games. Hand is also left handed which the Mets could use since the lefties they have are Daniel Zamora, Jerry Blevins, and Stephen Tarpley. Left handed relievers do not have the value they once did with the three batter minimum rule. However, someone like Hand would help since Bryce Harper, Freddie Freeman, and Juan Soto are all in the National League East. The other left handed relievers on the free agent market is Justin Wilson and Jake McGee. If the Mets are not willing to offer Brad Hand more than a one year deal, other teams will which makes Hand look unlikely. The other reliever the Mets have been connected to is Jeremy Jeffress who had a great 2020, bad 2019, great 2018. Jeffress clearly has upside, but also has risk but should be much cheaper than Brad Hand. There are plenty of good relievers on the market such as Alex Colome, Roberto Ozuna, Keone Kela, Brandon Workman, Ken Giles, and more. The Mets will definitely get a reliever or two but, who is going to be the main question since relievers are volatile and some of them have injury history (Ken Giles and Roberto Ozuna.) What would really take the Mets to the next level is upgrading their starting rotation.
Trevor Bauer is still available and likes Steve Cohen and Sandy Alderson which makes him a potential target. Bauer has a very high asking price, which would not be wise for the Mets to match. The team still needs to extend the contracts of Francisco Lindor, Michael Conforto, and Noah Syndegaard. If Bauer were to lower his price, he has the talent to be a great number two pitcher behind Jacob deGrom. Bauer has been inconsistent in his career, but his upside is very high. The other starting pitcher that has high upside is Taijuan Walker. Walker’s upside is his age compared to the other free agents (Odorizzi, Tanaka, Paxton.) If Walker is healthy which is a big if, he can be a successful starting pitcher. The Mets attended the workouts of James Paxton, Anibal Sanchez, and Julio Teheran. All of these pitchers’ best years are behind them and some of them have health concerns. For the right price one of these veterans on a one year incentive based deal would not be a bad move. The first two options should be Bauer and Walker. The pitcher in the trade market with intrigue is Sonny Gray who is a good pitcher as long as he is not a Yankee. The pitch usage of Gray on the Yankees is much different than the rest of his career which explains why he was not the same pitcher on the Yankees. Gray also has the huge bonus of Eugieno Suarez potentially being dealt with him.
If the Mets do indeed go cheaper in center field with Almora, are unable to get Hand, and Bauer does not lower his asking price, The Suarez and Gray trade becomes a more realistic possibility. The one position the Mets do not have a debatable top 10 offensive player is third base. Gray can be a mid rotation starter that would fit in nicely with what the Mets already have. The Mets have also looked at Enrique Hernandez, who would be a great utility player that can definitely help the team. Even though Kike is a nice player, the Suarez and Gray trade would be a great way to cap off the off season for the New York Mets.
METS ARE OUR UNIVERSE
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