As the New York Mets opened camp, general manager Billy Eppler expressed the organization’s contentment with the positional roster they’ve constructed. And with just cause.
The additions of Starling Marte, Mark Canha, and Eduardo Escobar complemented this team wonderfully. Marte is the true center fielder the Mets have been in search of for years. Canha brought much-needed and extremely capable corner outfield depth. Escobar has 30-homer potential and the capability to move around the infield. All great things.
And on Monday, sure, this was an extremely viable group to head into the season with, especially considering the rotation Eppler & Co. have put together. The Mets’ moves this winter were big, only exceeded in size by the organization’s commitment to bring a championship to Queens. Though, since then, the landscape has changed. Considerably.
Atlanta reinforced their title defense this week, saying goodbye to future Hall of Famer Freddie Freeman with the acquisition of Matt Olson from Oakland (signed an eight-year, $168 million extension), welcomed outfielder Eddie Rosario back on a two-year deal, and brought longtime Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen into the fold on Friday night.
Freeman landed on his feet; quite sturdily, in fact. Los Angeles scooped up the SoCal native for a cool $162 million over six years, shifting the balance of power in the National League yet again. A projected core of Freeman, Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, Justin Turner, Will Smith, Cody Bellinger, Chris Taylor, Gavin Lux, and AJ Pollock with Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, and Clayton Kershaw leading the rotation is daunting.
Toss in the Phillies adding Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos to an already impressive base of Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, and Rhys Hoskins, and the shine of the Mets’ offseason begins to lose some of its luster.
Now, if they choose to do so, it’s on New York’s front office to adjust accordingly. Eppler noted this week that the team was comfortable with their roster but wouldn’t let an opportunity go by if it arose.
The Mets arguably saw a chance to improve take a midnight train to Minnesota late Friday, as former Astros shortstop Carlos Correa agreed to a three-year, $105 million deal with the Twins (with opt-outs after year one and year two).
Were they interested in Correa? Who knows. He’s made his willingness to move to third base known, and adding a player of Correa’s caliber to this current group would have certainly tipped the scales back in the Mets’ favor.
And that’s not to say Escobar can’t handle hot corner duties. But if there’s room to improve, Joneses to keep up with, and money to spend, why not?
Steve Cohen noted earlier this week that the team “expected” to cross the $290 million CBT threshold that unofficially bears Cohen’s name (“Better than having a bridge named after you,” Cohen quipped). Correa’s $35 million would have pushed the Mets to somewhere in the $315 million neighborhood (per FanGraphs).
Worth it? Maybe. Better spent elsewhere? Also maybe. The Mets would have relinquished their 14th-overall pick in this summer’s draft if they did sign Correa. There’s an argument to be made that losing the pick would be palatable in a situation like this, but that ship has sailed.
No looking back now. Only forward.
On Friday, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported that San Francisco, Boston, and “two others” were in pursuit of free-agent shortstop Trevor Story. Heyman also notes that the 29-year-old is “prioritizing winning” and is “apparently considering a short-term positional move if necessary”. Interesting.
Story’s a career .272/.340/.523 hitter (158 homers, 112 wRC+, 2x ASG in six seasons with COL). His .292/.355/.554 line from 2018 through 2020 (83 HR, 124 wRC+) shrank to .251/.329/.471 (24 HR, 100 wRC+) last season and he hasn’t played third base since 2015 (19 games between Double-A New Britain and Triple-A Albuquerque).
J.D. Davis is behind Escobar on the big club’s depth chart at third base. Not ideal but doable. I guess. Brett Baty is the highest-rated third-base prospect in baseball, depending on who you ask but (despite an oppo taco in Friday’s intrasquad game) isn’t quite there yet. Mark Vientos is turning heads putting up Pete Alonso-like exit velocities but isn’t a shoo-in to be an impact maker at the highest level yet either.
Maybe toss a higher-AAV, two-year offer at Story, see if he’s down? Could be a very nice bridge to the future if all parties are on board. Likely a long shot but worth a call.
Image credit: Chris Simon
Then you have the outfield.
Canha is a considerable step up, no doubt. Dominic Smith, healthy after playing through a labrum tear last season (Pat Ragazzo, SI.com), will get reps in left field, per Mets manager Buck Showalter. Khalil Lee hit a tank of his own in the Mets’ intrasquad game on Friday after owning the 10th-best wRC+ in the minor leagues last season.
The Mets have viable internal options. Always a good thing. They also have an old friend out on the street looking for a job. Michael Conforto is still looking for an employer with just under three weeks until Opening Day.
Conforto, 29, hit .265/.369/.495 (97 HR, 133 wRC+) from 2017 through 2020. He struggled mightily last season, compiling a .232/.344/.384 line over 125 games (14 HR, 106 wRC+), but picked things up substantially over the final two months of the year (.272/.372/.457, 8 HR, 121 wRC+).
That’ll play as a fourth man in the outfield rotation. And to be clear, no one will be a “fourth outfielder” among a potential Marte, Nimmo, Canha, Conforto group. This is a data-oriented organization now and having the ability to play to those strengths is a positive.
We posed the question to Mets fans this week on Twitter and it was a landslide. If the money is right, I think I’m with it, as well.
Let’s see if Billy has another banger in store.
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