- Luis Severino has joined the Mets in free agency after a mixed history with the Yankees. His career with the Yankees was marked by both success and extensive injuries. Severino signed a one-year, $13 million deal with the Mets.
Mets' Catching Depth:
- The Mets' catching depth is a concern, regarding Omar Narváez's performance and health. Cooper Hmel is considered a potential replacement for Narváez. They also picked up Tyler Heineman.
- Joey Wendle was picked up to replace LG as the utility man.
- Kyle Crick, a new Mets relief pitcher, has joined on a minor league deal with hopes of strengthening the bullpen.
The Mets have signed Austin Adams, Joseph Yabbour, Andre Scrubb and Cole Sulser to aid bullpen depth.
Mets Winter Meetings Focus:
- The Mets are expected to be active at the Winter Meetings, with a focus on acquiring an outfielder, starting pitching, and relief pitching. They are also interested in improving run prevention and outfield defense.
- The team may engage in trade talks, expect to hear the usual prospect names such as Kevin Parada, Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, and Ronny Mauricio.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Player Meetings:
- The New York Mets are planning to meet with Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the next week and he is expected to continue to draw significant interest from MLB teams.
- Shohei Ohtani is also expected to make a decision on his next team soon, with bids for his services surpassing $500 million.
- The Mets are also considering Korean outfielder Jung Hoo Lee.
Summary from pre Winter Meeting thread:
Hall of Fame Ballot Newbies: Inclusion of players like Big Sexy, Wright, and Reyes in the Hall of Fame ballot.
- Several iconic Yankees and Mets greats were in contention for Hall of Fame induction, but they fell short of the required votes.
Management and Coaching Updates: Significant changes in the Mets' management and coaching staff, including a new contract for manager Mendoza. Bench coach vacancy and role shifts for Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes as hitting coaches. Introduction of Kris Gross and Andy Green in player development and amateur scouting.
Pitching Strategy and Market Moves: Focus on fortifying the rotation, implications of the Cardinals' signings, and the pursuit of high-caliber pitchers.
Bullpen and Player Performance: Signing of BP arms to minor league deals and review of the players.
Previous Mets thread: - (
New Window )
the rest of the options are pretty flat but there are plenty of choices that should be economically reasonable whether they prioritize run prevention or more of a bat first player. get waiting on yamamoto in the pitching market but having a hard time figuring out why they wouldnt be aggressive on bat in the next few days once ohtani officially comes off the board.
the rest of the options are pretty flat but there are plenty of choices that should be economically reasonable whether they prioritize run prevention or more of a bat first player. get waiting on yamamoto in the pitching market but having a hard time figuring out why they wouldnt be aggressive on bat in the next few days once ohtani officially comes off the board.
Trade market?
Reports were they were in on Verdugo right?
Quote:
i assume there was some small hold up by soto/ohtani even if they were both long shots. soto is traded ohtani seemingly down to a final 2.
the rest of the options are pretty flat but there are plenty of choices that should be economically reasonable whether they prioritize run prevention or more of a bat first player. get waiting on yamamoto in the pitching market but having a hard time figuring out why they wouldnt be aggressive on bat in the next few days once ohtani officially comes off the board.
Trade market?
Reports were they were in on Verdugo right?
maybe, their trade market comments/rumors seem contradictory to me (they aren't interested in rentals, but also not looking to trade a ton of prospects, which is what non-rentals will cost).
here's the list of next years free agents/rentals from the same mlb.com link:
Second base: Jose Altuve, Gleyber Torres, Brandon Lowe (club option), Ha-Seong Kim (mutual option), Wilmer Flores (player option/club option), Jorge Polanco (club option), Brandon Drury
Third base: Alex Bregman, Eugenio Suárez (club option), J.D. Davis, Yoán Moncada (club option)
Shortstop: Willy Adames, Miguel Rojas (club option), Paul Dejong, Garrett Hampson, Joey Wendle
Outfield: Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo, Michael Conforto, Tyler O’Neill, Anthony Santander, Max Kepler, Mark Canha, Mitch Haniger (opt-out), Manuel Margot (mutual option), Charlie Blackmon, Austin Meadows
Designated hitter: Eloy Jiménez (club option), Marcell Ozuna (club option), Daniel Vogelbach, Matt Carpenter
seems unlikely they'd be shopping for 1b/2b/3b/ss given their comments about 3b.
so again we arent talking about a huge universe of possibilities for an OF/DH addition. this year's FA class has better names other than Soto. Maybe there's a trade target we arent thinking of.
i would imagine they would be fine with a 1 year option to leave open the possibility of a soto pursuit next year, which verdugo may have been, but even if they went multi-year with a LF, RF could very easily be open next year anyway. though they might not want to lock nimmo in CF.
@timbhealey
·
8s
The expectation remains MLB will finish its Billy Eppler/Mets investigation by the end of the year.
So, any time in next two weeks or so. (League office basically shuts down for Christmas & New Year’s.)
Stearns said he didn’t know if a potential punishment would impact Mets.
right as have the backup CF types + Lee. whichever way(s) they decide to go, the options are there they just need to pull the trigger on one.
the WM have now come and gone,
soto trade (at a reasonable price) has come and gone,
ohtani about to be gone.
senzel gone!
unless they just dont have any preference and are waiting out whoever becomes the best bargain.
id have no problem signing him for the glove and a solid semi-regular role, but his power last year was almost definitely a fluke (which he's done before).
his barrel% was 2x mlb average (and 2x his prior 2 years, carrer average) and all his other offensive numbers were way below. dont want to oversimplify, but in total he barreled 31 balls where the prior 2 seasons he was in the low 20's so we are probably talking about 10 extra swings he fortunately barreled that he is unlikely reproduce.
(barrels always seem to highly correlate w/ xbh)
if the contract is right i would be good with him making 100 starts in center and late game sub, as many as possible vs lefties (figure that is about 40 starts), and taking a lot of innings off nimmo. against righties maybe that gets stewart into LF and nimmo in CF.
margot's career splits vs lefties are better, so depending on the details of his 2025 "mutual option" i think that's a similar level option. his career ops vs lefties is 760 with better contact and slightly lesser power. a few years younger. taylor better D.
Mets’ smaller moves in bullpen reveal larger focus - ( New Window )
I like reading Stearns doesn't think they necessarily need to carry 2 lefties.
Diversity.
The homogeneity of New York’s relievers was an issue in 2023, with the Mets tossing out right-hander after right-hander, all of them with fastballs in the mid-90s and similar-looking sliders.
And with Díaz out for the season, the reliever corps lacked high-velocity arms. Mets relievers threw a grand total of four fastballs as hard as 98 mph last season. Philadelphia Phillies relievers threw 1,195 such fastballs.
“I think there’s a desire to have a diversity of looks and stuff out of relievers,” Stearns said. “Velocity is a part of that. Velocity is not the entire package there. I’d like to have a couple of guys who can really bring it out of the pen. I’d also like to have some different looks.”
I like reading Stearns doesn't think they necessarily need to carry 2 lefties.
100% - generally if they are getting paid the same they are the same level. we need to hope stearns is better at finding good outcomes.
they need at least 1 and possibly 2 high end hard throwing options other than diaz, so i agree they cant just do things differently they also have to have quality.
i think the diversity argument gives you a better chance of having success with the low-end options though, since generally you dont find cheap high velocity options that havent already been thoroughly proven to suck (like say miguel castro).
my plan A bp this offseason would probably be something like adding a high velocity type like hicks with an experienced guy like robertson who has good control gets ground balls has a bunch of different pitches.
robertson's problems 2nd half the last 2 year were when he lost his control, probably from overuse in role that were too high leverage for him at this point. not an ideal signing but probably best of what's out there. not sure hicks is gettable as a non-setup man but id try. lopez probably would have been my first choice. maybe yariel rodriguez is another option.
In the courtship process, the Padres could possess both a special advantage and unique motivation. Ha-Seong Kim and Lee are former teammates and best friends. Meanwhile, signing Lee might aid the Padres’ interest in potentially extending Kim in the next 11 months, before the Gold Glove-winning infielder becomes eligible for free agency. (Based on his growing history of big-league success, Kim is almost certain to decline his mutual option for 2025.)"
Because it's disrespectful to a fellow countryman to sign with the same team?
But the Padres have the advantage because "Ha-Seong Kim and Lee are former teammates and best friends."
Because it's disrespectful to a fellow countryman to sign with the same team?
But the Padres have the advantage because "Ha-Seong Kim and Lee are former teammates and best friends."
Shecky.. you know this but... Japan and Korea are 2 different countries and signing to play with your actual (assuming this is true) best friend surely trumps other concerns.
Mahle is said to be targeting mid-season. We'll see how realistic that is but guaranteeing him 2024 money + a team option (and buyout) would give him less incentive to rush back and essentially free money in his pocket to rehab.
You think they dug deep into this? And the relationship? etc? Come on lol. I find it hysterical.
You think they dug deep into this? And the relationship? etc? Come on lol. I find it hysterical.
Honestly? No. They have spoke openly about how close they are. Again, Japan also isn't Korea. For all we know there is no such resistance to playing with other Korean players. In fact, there most likely isn't one of you believe the Padres are viewed as favorites for Lee. As for the Japanese player stuff, Joel Wolfe thought enough of it to say that wasn't the case with Yamamoto so at very minimum, he didn't scoff at the suggestion, he would have ignored it if it was absurd.
Kim: First of all, he’s a great player. He’s got all the tools to become successful in the major leagues. I believe that. And secondly, I would love to have him as my teammate. Because the adjustment period, I’ve gone through it. I’ve been through it. I have the experience so that I can help him. I can be a huge help for him so that he can focus on baseball instead of taking time adjusting to other stuff. So yeah, it would be awesome to be playing together in the big leagues."
So no, I don't see suggesting having Kim on the Padres "helping" them is hypocritical at all.
Source: Teoscar Hernández has received calls from: Boston Red Sox, Anaheim, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston the most insistent, but they all say that they are first looking for pitching.
(and yes, I noticed he called them Anaheim and not LA, not sure that means he's a BSer)
You think they dug deep into this? And the relationship? etc? Come on lol. I find it hysterical.
I was actually talking about this with a co-worker the other day. We were talking about how we have seen reports that both:
1. Japanese players don't like to be together on the same MLB team; and
2. X or Y team has an advantage in signing A or B Japanese player because there is already a Japanese player on the team
Scouting Report: Uwasawa is a finesse righthander who relies on command and changing speeds. His fastball sits just 89-91 mph and tops out at 93, but he effectively locates it on the edges of the strike zone to avoid hard contact. His most-used secondary is a vertical 80-82 mph slider with decent depth, while his mid-80s splitter with diving action is an average pitch he leans on to get outs. He also mixes in a looping, below-average mid-70s curveball, below-average 85-88 mph cutter and fringy 80-82 mph changeup. Uwasawa mostly relies on keeping hitters guessing with his deep arsenal and inducing soft contact. He doesn’t miss many bats and averaged just 6.6 strikeouts per nine innings last year. He is a good athlete with a fluid delivery and clean arm action and has above-average control.
The Future: Uwasawa’s lack of stuff will be tested in MLB. He projects to be a low-end No. 5 or depth starter who relies on hitting his spots to be effective.
Fastball: 40. Curveball: 40. Slider: 45. Cutter: 40. Splitter: 50. Changeup: 45. Control: 55
@bekavac07
Asked @JonHeyman
about Arozarena and the Mets possibly
He answered: he doesnt see the Mets spending like that on a OF and that Michael Taylor would be a fit.
He did say Randy Arozarena would obviously be better
Tonkin spent the first five seasons of his MLB career with the Twins, where he never made much of an impression, producing exactly 0.0 WAR in 141 games. Finally, after his disappointing age-27 season in 2017, the Twins sold his contract to the Nippon-Ham Fighters of NPB. While he wasn’t much of a replacement for Shohei Ohtani, who the Fighters lost to MLB that same year, the righty was a solid reliever during the 2018 season, pitching to a 3.71 ERA in 53 games and collecting 12 saves. He chose to come back stateside in 2019, and he would spend the next several years bouncing around between the minor leagues, the Atlantic League, and the Mexican League before finally making his way back to the majors with the Braves in 2023. He spent the full season on the big league roster and served as manager Brian Snitker’s go-to long man, finishing second among NL relievers in innings pitched and recording more than three outs in two-thirds of his appearances.
While his 4.28 ERA, 4.43 FIP, and 0.1 WAR hardly stand out, especially given the low-leverage spots in which he was deployed, every team could use a near-replacement-level pitcher who can throw that many innings out of the bullpen. After all, there’s a reason Tonkin stuck on the roster all year for a Braves team with a top-five bullpen in the NL. What’s more, the pitch modeling data underscores him as someone to keep an eye on next season. PitchingBot was impressed with his command, Stuff+ liked his stuff, and both modeling systems were high on his sinker, his primary pitch.
so here's a question. it is your $385m to spend. which are you taking?
#1 -
yamamoto (10x330m + $55m posting fee)
#2 -
blake snell (8x200)
jordan montgomery (6x150)
seth lugo (3x35)
if you want you can add years/defer payments and structure option 2 so the AAVs each season are the same.
so here's a question. it is your $385m to spend. which are you taking?
#1 -
yamamoto (10x330m + $55m posting fee)
#2 -
blake snell (8x200)
jordan montgomery (6x150)
seth lugo (3x35)
if you want you can add years/defer payments and structure option 2 so the AAVs each season are the same.
Posting fee is completely Cohen's problem so I'm not sure it's even relevant. Doesn't count against the luxury tax so the 10 for 330 is really the only "baseball money" involved with Yamamoto. What should we care if Steve Cohen has to pay a posting fee?
timdierkes
@timdierkes
This might be me making two bad Bellinger predictions in one offseason, but here goes.
I think Boras may not be inclined to accept a sub-200 long-term offer for Belli.
I could see him pivoting to the model of Correa’s post-lockout deal.
Quote:
in the last few months post-max/jdg/jv we've all talked about the value of aces in mlb today since injuries are so common.
so here's a question. it is your $385m to spend. which are you taking?
#1 -
yamamoto (10x330m + $55m posting fee)
#2 -
blake snell (8x200)
jordan montgomery (6x150)
seth lugo (3x35)
if you want you can add years/defer payments and structure option 2 so the AAVs each season are the same.
Posting fee is completely Cohen's problem so I'm not sure it's even relevant. Doesn't count against the luxury tax so the 10 for 330 is really the only "baseball money" involved with Yamamoto. What should we care if Steve Cohen has to pay a posting fee?
it's an add on fee that's still money spent so how is it different than luxury taxes. what should we care if cohen has to pay luxury taxes?
both are cost of doing business except the posting fee is fixed and predicting the luxury tax cost over a decade is impossible because who knows what thresholds they are in and by how much? that is highly dynamic.
if you want to revise down the amount in column 2 to include luxury taxes that would paid on a comparable amount to a posting fee to make it more apples to apples, and we go worst case with them being in the cohen tax, that is a 50% tax + 60% surcharge. so you could spend 20m above yamamoto's deal on a player and the total amount would be 42m with 22m of taxes (50%=10m+60%=12m). so worst case you are knocking out lugo's deal.
Blake Snell for 8 years alone sounds like a horrendous gamble. Stuff over command guy who led the league in walks in a CY season from 31-38? A guy never known for pitching a bunch of innings? Even this season 5.6 innings per start, last season 5.3, 2021 4.74. Yeah that's a very hard pass from me on 8 years.
if you added $53m to their 2025 spotrac has their luxury tax payroll right around $200m which is $41m below the 2025 CBT.
this may not seem like the most likely scenario right now but imagine vientos has some form of a breakout and they decide to trade alonso at the 2024 deadline because they have a cheap replacement in-house? they will have their top 3 SP under contract, so presumably the decision could be made easier with some combo of peterson, vasil, megill, stepping up in 2024 to fill other sp slots cheaply as well.
my best guess as to why they havent gotten more aggressive in other parts of the market yet (OF/RP) is because they dont want to take that option off the table for themselves.
31-32-33-34-35-36-37-38
Yamamoto on a 10 year deal
25-26-27-28-29-30-31-32-33-34
Very realistic shot Yamamoto signs another contract after this one (even if he doesn't opt out)
Snell 35-38 seasons... how many SP 35 or older posted 2+ fWAR this season? That would be 3. Verlander, Morton, Gibson.
36? 2. Verlander/Morton
Keith Law
I think 8 years is an outrageous gamble on Blake Snell given all of these factors.