NFT: Mets Minors 7/13/2018-Kelenic = beast

is 32 next season and having a bad year, would be so Mets to sign him

Unfortunately I have believed for some time that the Phillies were going to be the team that signs him in the offseason. The Braves will also reportedly go hard for Machado in free agency and they will have over 70 million available to spend. I still expect him to end up in Philly as they have a lot of room as well.

Philly is also exploring trading for Britton as well as Machado which will force them to give up several prospects including Sixto. I would love to see them give up all that and then lose Machado in free agency lol.

In comment 14013090 DanMetroMan said:

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is 32 next season and having a bad year, would be so Mets to sign him

Hadn’t checked his numbers recently but was really just throwing some stuff out there.

In comment 14013093 Jay on the Island said:

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Unfortunately I have believed for some time that the Phillies were going to be the team that signs him in the offseason. The Braves will also reportedly go hard for Machado in free agency and they will have over 70 million available to spend. I still expect him to end up in Philly as they have a lot of room as well. Philly is also exploring trading for Britton as well as Machado which will force them to give up several prospects including Sixto. I would love to see them give up all that and then lose Machado in free agency lol.

The AAV wouldn’t be a problem for the Mets either. The question would be if the new front office would have a change in philosophy on giving out “length”. Sandy’s on record saying he does not believe in long term deals unless it’s a unique circumstance(face of the franchise type) but maybe a new GM thinks differently? I also think the Mets are pretty much locked into Nimmo, Rosario, and Conforto as far as the lineup. I think I’m all in on McNeil being a 4th piece at this point. You’re probably not going to do better than Plawecki at C so that’s 5 spots. Cespedes/Alonso is likely your 1B in 2019. That leaves only one or two spots to upgrade (if you can clear Bruce). There’s not going to be a lot of options for the Mets/new office to make a “splash” and generate excitement. Way to early, and I know the Yankees, Phillies, and Braves, will all be involved... but I could see us as a dark horse.

He has two years left and his 20 million AAV anchor is dropping to 15 now. That albatross is finally coming to an end. Theoretically, you could backload Machado a little bit and he ends up replacing Wright on the payroll without changing things much at all.

They need to get better defensively and more athletic in general so getting a stud in CF, plus putting plus defenders in the corners, would go a very long way to helping. There's no safe bet like Lorenzo Cain in FA this year, but maybe someone like AJ Pollock is worth exploring. And obviously going in that direction means moving Yo...somewhere.

Can Yo play 1st and will it help keep him healthy? I have no idea. But we know from an attitude standpoint he's probably not a great choice to rebuild/retool around. So they may as well try him at 1st the rest of this year but then be ready to investigate equally large/terrible contracts to swap him for this offseason to open up CF. It goes without saying you do the same with Bruce.

The BP is simple - they need to just spend the money to get high-QUALITY relievers, not middle of the road or past their prime guys. The Yankees have proven that strategy works for the past 4-5 years with Miller, Robertson, Chapman.

If they bring back Frazier at 3B for another year it's not the end of the world, but clearly a position worth upgrading if possible. Same with 2B and the young(ish) duo of Flores/Mcneil. Though obviously you trade Frazier and Flores if you can get something decent back.

In the "crazy ideas" category, here are 2 trade ideas:

1. Wheeler for Ender Inciarte. He's having a down year, but he's on a good contract and would go a long way to fixing the CF and leadoff problems.

2. Bruce or Yo + Wheeler for David Price. Everyone except wheeler is crazy overpaid, but obviously this would be mostly a contract swap. Red Sox get out of what looks like a real bad contract, a replacement starter who may be an upgrade, and perhaps a piece that can help them at 1B. Mets get a very expensive #3 starter, but if he bounces back a much better use of $ than Bruce/Yo.

is overrated.

In comment 14013127 spike said:

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is overrated.

How do you think Jay Bruce (30m remaining) and Yoenis Cespedes ($75m remaining) are rated around the league right now?

Middle of the lineup hitter that Cespedes was supposed to be. He can’t be relied on anymore with his chronic legs. Nimmo, Conforto, etc. are good supporting hitters but you need the straw in the middle to stir the drink. I don’t think Inciarte is going to cut it. Gotta get that Piazza/Delgado/Cespedes(from two years ago) type to carry you for stretches when the rest of the lineup is up and down. Somebody like that at least a transforms our lineup to “average” again and with our starting pitching that’s likely all we need.

It at least opens the possibility of adding a corner OF again even though I agree a true CF that can hit makes more sense. Your just not going to find another “Beltran” again. Nimmo wouldn’t be the worst in CF if we got a impact corner guy.

And it could be Cespedes or it could be Alonso. But 1B is the position that's currently wide open and the easiest position to find that kind of hitter.

Since Acuna can play CF, Inciarte is a really appealing target to me for Wheeler. He's 27 years old, signed reasonably for 3 more seasons after this one plus an option year. He's a tough to strike out, high average leadoff hitter with some speed who can obviously play great defense at a premium position. If it wasn't the Braves, I'd say throwing in Bautista would make sense to give them a new LF'er also but that reunion is probably not of interest to them.

But I still can’t head into a new season with Thor/deGrom (theoretically if you keep them you have to be going for it) and feel good about Cespedes/Alonso as my rock in the middle of the lineup. They are both massive question marks right now. I also don’t know how you replace Wheeler without overspending on some crappy middle of the road starter type.

In comment 14013159 ZGiants98 said:

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But I still can’t head into a new season with Thor/deGrom (theoretically if you keep them you have to be going for it) and feel good about Cespedes/Alonso as my rock in the middle of the lineup. They are both massive question marks right now. I also don’t know how you replace Wheeler without overspending on some crappy middle of the road starter type.

That's all fair. Since there are more starters in general, to me it's easier to find a #3 SP than a great defensive CF who also contributes offensively (there are only 5-10 of those guys total, at most).

The 1B FA market mostly sucks next year, but that's why I think it's critical that they use the 2nd half of this year to try to see what they have with Cespedes. Alonso's defense worries me and he hasn't exactly lit up AAA yet, so certainly not penciling him in anywhere yet.

Btw who the hell knows if it's realistic, but I kind of like David Price as a target in some kind of salary dump for salary dump trade this offseason. He's still only 32 and it would probably do him well to be in a situation with a lot less expectation (plus NL and pitchers ballpark). Only issue is the BOS outfield/dh is crowded so there's no open positions for the big salaries we have to dump.