-Springer a Blue Jay
-Quintana to LAA for 1 year 8. Bummed we didn’t land him at that price. Potential steal.
-Heyman says they had/have interest in Kike Hernandez but he is looking for a starting job. Maybe a platoon in CF with PT in other spots entices him?
-the new head of R& D is close with Justin Turner. Zero indication the Mets are interested but notable.
-have not shown interest in JBJ to this point
-Hand and Colome have both switched agents (Hand’s new agent does not have any Mets clients for anyone looking for that connection)
@JonHeyman
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1m
Dodgers have checked in on Trevor Bauer and are believed to have interest on a short-term deal. Word is, he’d love to be in SoCal , and he’s said he’d consider short deals. Dodgers showed short-term interest in Greinke and Harper but stars usually prefer the biggest haul.
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In comment 15129202 DanMetroMan said:
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should be noted, the Dodgers are letting Hernandez walk and over the past 2 seasons 22 hitters in baseball have been worse which includes guys like Mallex Smith, Roughed Odor, Joe Panik and Rio Ruiz Link - ( New Window )
I'm pretty sure the LAD expected him to get more $ than they can afford to bring him back. Interesting in the link supposedly he specifically wanted a 1 year deal where he can get 500 plate appearances. Dodgers Rumors: Kiké Hernandez’s Reported Contract Demands Likely End His Time in LA - ( New Window )
You don't think the Dodgers would have offered him 1 year and 500 PA's if they felt he was worthy of that? How does that compute? If anything that should be cause for concern. The team that knows him best won't give him an expanded role for 1 year when their starting 3b is a FA and he's their starter at 2b as of now.
I live in dodger country and everyone loves the guy. I have no idea why they are letting him go or what's going on behind the scenes but my best guess would be the anticipation of Lux is the primary issue w/ playing time at 2b. He only just turned 23 and spent time in the big leagues each of the last couple years.
A: I’m not sure their bench was better than that in 2018, at least not until David Freese and Brian Dozier arrived in summer trades. Ríos, in particular, is an asset as a pinch-hitter, similar to Joc Pederson on days the Dodgers faced a left-hander. Matt Beaty manned the bench for much of 2019. The difference would really just be Zach McKinstry replacing Kiké Hernández. In 608 plate appearances over the last two seasons, Hernández logged an 86 OPS+, or 14 points below league average. Hernández is an excellent defender, no doubt, but I imagine the Dodgers expect McKinstry will approach that offensive line.
Also, I don’t think Lux will be a long-term member of the bench. Especially after his shortened 2020 season, the Dodgers will want him playing as much as possible. If that’s not at second base in the majors, it’ll be in Triple A. So, for that reason, I could see an acquisition taking that last bench spot. Or that acquisition could bump Taylor into that spot.
don't care about the luxury tax. Then what do those people suggest the reason for not outbidding Toronto for Springer and potentially "losing" Hand? Not being snarky, genuinely curious. Sure seems to indicate the luxury tax is coming into play here.
@BNightengale
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57s
Michael Brantley is returning to the #Astros on a two-year, $32 million contract, @MarkBermanFox26
is reporting.
don't care about the luxury tax. Then what do those people suggest the reason for not outbidding Toronto for Springer and potentially "losing" Hand? Not being snarky, genuinely curious. Sure seems to indicate the luxury tax is coming into play here.
I never claimed anything either way about the LT, but being willing to exceed the LT and not be willing to overpay Springer could both be true.
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My question is this...if the claim is @Mets
don't care about the luxury tax. Then what do those people suggest the reason for not outbidding Toronto for Springer and potentially "losing" Hand? Not being snarky, genuinely curious. Sure seems to indicate the luxury tax is coming into play here.
I never claimed anything either way about the LT, but being willing to exceed the LT and not be willing to overpay Springer could both be true.
PJ,
100% was not aimed at anybody in particular. But if the luxury tax isn't a consideration then what is an "overpay"? Why would Cohen personally care about spending a little more over 5 years? Why would Hand even be potentially headed somewhere else? Pretty clearly it's something they are taking into consideration. Do we really think they valued May over Hendriks for example? Cohen's personal wealth would suggest signing ALL of the top names and they haven't even pretended that's the plan or goal. I suspect they are willing to go over but will look to avoid it unless they have to. That's how this appears. I doubt they prefer Lucchesi over Quintana... but one is making 8, the other the minimum.
They stuck to their guns on what they thought a good deal was for Springer.
They were aggressive on McCann as opposed to Realmuto because they saw value there and they weren't willing to wait and get into a bidding war.
Carrasco was obviously highly appealing because of the value of his deal.
They've said they prefer to stick to 1 year on Hand and might have claimed him even though the $10m was "perhaps a little high".
Lindor is someone they clearly think is worth a big deal.
After the Lindor trade Sandy said something like (paraphrasing) "we aren't done but we are unlikely to sign anyone who is in demand and gets a big deal". I think that's exactly what happened with Springer bc Toronto made a pretty big move up from the initial reports of their offers around $110-115m. I'd imagine that's what will happen with Bauer too.
I'd bet on a bad contract swap or an outright buyout stretched over a bunch of years. Or just eating a ton of $ to ship him out, but I think that counts against the LTT so maybe not? I need to find a good explainer of LTT rules now that it's something we need to consider lol.
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have to figure out what to do with Cano. Owed 40 million 2022-2023, it's a real issue.
I'd bet on a bad contract swap or an outright buyout stretched over a bunch of years. Or just eating a ton of $ to ship him out, but I think that counts against the LTT so maybe not? I need to find a good explainer of LTT rules now that it's something we need to consider lol.
Any money they send out counts against the luxury tax. A buyout also counts against the luxury tax it can just be reduced with deferrals. There is no "clean" way out of Cano's contract barring another PED suspension.
1 word - flexibility. The issue isn't the money as much as the desire to maintain flexibility to move on from players if they aren't performing and the more money you guarantee the harder that is.
I believe a big part of the appeal with Lucchesi is that he has options and can possible swing the pen if necessary. He has flexibility.
If you give a player $8m to start, that's what he's doing. With Thor potentially coming back midseason I think it makes sense to try to have as much flexibility with whatever resources allocated to the starting rotation as possible. They have said from day 1 that they want to spend smart and the LTT is a consideration, Cohen said point blank they weren't going to spend like drunken sailors.
Maybe they want to give Peterson and Matz each a chance in the rotation if they earn spots? Maybe they just think the $8m can go further to help elsewhere? The $8m could be a choice between Quintana and Hand. Or Quintana and Wong or Hernandez. Maybe they like another FA SP better than Quintana. Who knows?
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coming back would give them 4 MLB caliber SP's. How would Quintana impact that? As of right now, he'd be the 4, he'd become the 5 with Syndergaard back.
Maybe they want to give Peterson and Matz each a chance in the rotation if they earn spots? Maybe they just think the $8m can go further to help elsewhere? The $8m could be a choice between Quintana and Hand. Or Quintana and Wong or Hernandez. Maybe they like another FA SP better than Quintana. Who knows?
Matz is guaranteed 800,000. If flexibility is the issue, then isn't that the epitome of it? Spending 800,000 for insurance? How much cheaper of an option can you get? And why are we suddenly choosing between Quintana and Hand if the lux tax isn't the issue? I thought you said overpaying was the issue? Which of Hand/Quintana is an overpay at 8 million? I'm not seeing one.
No, I think they are considering it as a possible outcome because it's a possible outcome. If they thought Matz was the worst SP in baseball they wouldn't have even bothered tendering him. And Peterson not only pitched decent last year despite being forced into action but was also a first round pick of this regime.
And they are obviously not opposed to adding SP to compete with those guys - they did exactly that trading for Luchessi. And they apparently inquired about Sony Gray. And they attended Kluber's showcase. They are clearly still looking.
I don't think there's any grand conspiracy behind why they didn't sign Quintana other than they didn't think it was the best use of $8m. Simple as that. They could be right or they could be wrong. I'll wait to hold judgement until we see what they do the rest of the offseason.
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really in your heart believe the Mets have not added a SP because they want to give both Peterson and Matz a chance to win 2 of the rotation spots and don't want to "block" Thor if they do?
No, I think they are considering it as a possible outcome because it's a possible outcome. If they thought Matz was the worst SP in baseball they wouldn't have even bothered tendering him. And Peterson not only pitched decent last year despite being forced into action but was also a first round pick of this regime.
And they are obviously not opposed to adding SP to compete with those guys - they did exactly that trading for Luchessi. And they apparently inquired about Sony Gray. And they attended Kluber's showcase. They are clearly still looking.
I don't think there's any grand conspiracy behind why they didn't sign Quintana other than they didn't think it was the best use of $8m. Simple as that. They could be right or they could be wrong. I'll wait to hold judgement until we see what they do the rest of the offseason.
They were considering both non-tendering and salary dumping Matz (to Toronto) given his guarantee (833,000) I very much disagree this means they believe in Matz. They almost certainly think it's worth the "risk".
Matz is guaranteed 800,000. If flexibility is the issue, then isn't that the epitome of it? Spending 800,000 for insurance? How much cheaper of an option can you get? And why are we suddenly choosing between Quintana and Hand if the lux tax isn't the issue? I thought you said overpaying was the issue? Which of Hand/Quintana is an overpay at 8 million? I'm not seeing one.
Who said the luxury tax isn't an issue? Sandy Alderson on luxury tax threshold a couple weeks ago:
Both Sandy and Cohen have echo'd similar sentiments consistently since their intro press conference so not sure why there's surprise that they didn't sign 1 specific back end SP when they just traded for a different back end option 2 days ago.
Maybe, especially as a new owner, he doesn't want to be perceived (by other owners, the media, et al) as "buying a championship", like Steinbrenner was at one time.
He might not be comfortable, in his first season, being the only team owner (most likely) to surpass the LT threshold.
They were considering both non-tendering and salary dumping Matz (to Toronto) given his guarantee (833,000) I very much disagree this means they believe in Matz. They almost certainly think it's worth the "risk".
"Worth the risk" isn't the most ringing endorsement but it is an endorsement nonetheless.
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In comment 15129243 DanMetroMan said:
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My question is this...if the claim is @Mets
don't care about the luxury tax. Then what do those people suggest the reason for not outbidding Toronto for Springer and potentially "losing" Hand? Not being snarky, genuinely curious. Sure seems to indicate the luxury tax is coming into play here.
I never claimed anything either way about the LT, but being willing to exceed the LT and not be willing to overpay Springer could both be true.
PJ,
100% was not aimed at anybody in particular. But if the luxury tax isn't a consideration then what is an "overpay"? Why would Cohen personally care about spending a little more over 5 years? Why would Hand even be potentially headed somewhere else? Pretty clearly it's something they are taking into consideration. Do we really think they valued May over Hendriks for example? Cohen's personal wealth would suggest signing ALL of the top names and they haven't even pretended that's the plan or goal. I suspect they are willing to go over but will look to avoid it unless they have to. That's how this appears. I doubt they prefer Lucchesi over Quintana... but one is making 8, the other the minimum.
I don't think that being willing to surpass the luxury tax if and when it makes sense means they don't have line in the sand values they place on players in terms of max $$ per ACV or max TCV.
I don't think it's any more complicated than that.
@JimBowdenGM
The #BlueJays can now focus attention on @BauerOutage
Brad Hand & perhaps even Marcel Ozuna who would fit nicely at DH and AAV not expected to be much more than Brantley was going to get. Not sure if Brantley deal fell apart over medicals or a Dwight Howard type miscommunication
Paxton might be asking too much, I read he was looking for more than what Kluber got
I don't think being willing to exceed the luxury tax for the right opportunity means the Mets are willing or planning to outbid the rest of baseball on every free agent in which they have interest.
I think they set limits and if a case can be made to exceed those limits they will. I don't think these decisions (2 years 14M vs 2 years 16M in your example for Hand) are made in a vacuum, they're part of a broader plan, and until we hear the Mets lost out on a player they considered must have you are dabbling in conjecture.
Sure but I also saw fans killing Cohen that they weren't doing anything the day before he traded for Lindor. So I don't put a ton of stock in what most fans suggest (this board notwithstanding because I think the NYM group here is as knowledgeable as any fan conversation gets).
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Brad Hand goes to Toronto for (an example) 2 years 16 million, and the Mets place the "value" of him at 2 years 14 million. What's the point of the valuation? For Cohen to personally spend 2 million less? Why wouldn't the Mets be the favorites for every single "smaller" FA target (where the salary differences are minimal)?
I don't think being willing to exceed the luxury tax for the right opportunity means the Mets are willing or planning to outbid the rest of baseball on every free agent in which they have interest.
I think they set limits and if a case can be made to exceed those limits they will. I don't think these decisions (2 years 14M vs 2 years 16M in your example for Hand) are made in a vacuum, they're part of a broader plan, and until we hear the Mets lost out on a player they considered must have you are dabbling in conjecture.
"For the right opportunity" is my point. They ARE trying to stay under if they can.
So I would not expect him to pursue Bauer. Losing Porter means no alternative voice.
I don't think most people expected one.
I for one (won't speak for others) prefer a methodical, deliberate, plan.
have a goal for
a) improving the major league team (my preference is focus on defense and pitching)
b) improve the farm
c) improve the behind the scenes areas - analytics, scouting, minor league philosophy, development, etc.
d) improve the fan experience (make Citi more "Mets", fanfest, old timers day, etc.)
none of it involved going hog wild in free agency
Sandy said they would have probably claimed Hand even though it was at a slightly higher number than true value. Each player is a case by case judgement call so all I can infer from Quintana, or Happ, or whatever other players sign with other organizations is that they made the judgement to put their priorities elsewhere.
When we see what they do with their money we can certainly debate what the best use was. For example I still think there's possibly a case to be made that if it were an option, they should have only traded for Carrasco, kept Gimenez, and then been more aggressive to sign Springer for $150m vs. paying Lindor $300m. But I'd suggest that knowing it may not have been an option. They said Cleveland wanted to couple Lindor and Carrasco together and they may not have been willing to deal them separately. They may have just taken the next best offer for both from someone else.
@AnthonyDiComo
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23m
Robinson Canó intends to join Águilas for their upcoming Caribbean Series berth. Canó previously played eight games for Estrellas in the Dominican Winter League, batting .353 with three home runs.
Águilas will play against the champions from P.R., VZ, Mexico, Colombia & Panama.
I don't think most people expected one.
I for one (won't speak for others) prefer a methodical, deliberate, plan.
have a goal for
a) improving the major league team (my preference is focus on defense and pitching)
b) improve the farm
c) improve the behind the scenes areas - analytics, scouting, minor league philosophy, development, etc.
d) improve the fan experience (make Citi more "Mets", fanfest, old timers day, etc.)
none of it involved going hog wild in free agency
Sandy was always exceedingly patient and prudent so Shecky's warning seemed very likely.
I would actually say that Lindor + Carrasco + McCann + May + a SP via trade has already exceeded what I expected. Had you asked me to predict then I think I would have said 1 of the big 3 plus a few other mid or low level signings. Lindor is probably a level above the big 3 and Carrasco is pretty close to the level or above when factoring in how good his contract is, so I think they already added 2 top players plus a few solid mid level moves.