It's not often you can say the team that handed out the largest contract of the offseason has been mostly inactive this winter, but that is certainly the case with the New York Mets.
Back in November, the Mets re-signed Yoenis Cespedes to a four-year contract worth $110 million, which is easily the largest free agent contract of the offseason. The second largest went to Aroldis Chapman, who received an $86 million deal from the Yankees.
And yet, aside from re-signing Cespedes, the Mets have done very little this winter. Here is a full recap of their offseason moves:
- November 2: Exercised Jay Bruce's $13 million club option.
- November 3: Exercised Jose Reyes' league minimum club option.
- November 14: Neil Walker accepted $17.2 million qualifying offer.
- November 30: Re-signed Cespedes, traded Logan Verrett to the Orioles for cash.
- December 15: Signed Cory Burns and Ben Rowen to minor league contracts.
And that's it. The Mets have made literally zero additions to their MLB roster this offseason. All they've done is bring back four players (Bruce, Reyes, Walker, Cespedes) who were with the team in 2016. I imagine this has been a pretty boring offseason for Mets fans, especially the last six weeks or so.
Since the Cespedes deal, most Mets hot stove rumors involved either their search for bullpen help or their attempts to trade a spare outfielder. Indications are those two efforts are not mutually exclusive. The team needs the savings from the outfielder trade to add a reliever(s). Bruce, Walker, and Cespedes soaked up all their extra cash.
Clearly, Bruce is the outfielder the Mets want to trade. Cespedes isn't going anywhere, Juan Lagares is by far the team's best defensive center fielder, and trading Michael Conforto a) would be foolish given his offensive potential, and b) wouldn't save the team any money since he makes something close to the league minimum as a pre-arbitration player.
It comes down to Bruce or Curtis Granderson, and the latter is not only more productive, he's also capable of playing center field if necessary. I'm guessing if you gave general manager Sandy Alderson a truth serum, he'd say he wishes he would have declined Bruce's club option. The team picked it up because they weren't sure Cespedes would return, however.
The problem now is there are few trade suitors for Bruce. The Blue Jays (Jose Bautista), Phillies (Michael Saunders), and Orioles (Seth Smith) stood out as the most likely landing spots, and they all recently added outfielders. The Rangers and Giants are possible trade partners, but there has been no traction in talks, as far as we know. The trade market for Bruce is basically dead.
The bullpen market, on the other hand, is alive and well, even after big names like Chapman and Kenley Jansen came off the board. Greg Holland is the best reliever still on the market, though quality setup men like Joe Blanton and Sergio Romo remain unsigned as well. Boone Logan, Jerry Blevins, and Travis Wood are among the small army of available southpaws.
At the moment, New York's bullpen shakes out like so:
Closer: Jeurys Familia
Setup: Addison Reed
Righties: Hansel Robles, Erik Goeddel
Lefties: Josh Smoker, Josh Edgin, Sean Gilmartin
There's been talk the Mets may use Zack Wheeler in relief to control his workload early in the 2017 season. He hasn't pitched at all since 2014 due to Tommy John surgery and subsequent setbacks. Still, even with Wheeler in the bullpen, there's plenty of room for improvement.
Also, keep in mind Familia is very likely to be suspended under the league's domestic violence policy. He was arrested in late October, and although his case was ultimately dismissed, MLB can still discipline him. Chapman was suspended 30 games last year despite not being arrested or charged with a crime. Thirty games seems like the bare minimum for Familia based on the precedent set with Chapman.
Familia's suspension will push Reed in to the closer's role and presumably Robles in to setup duty. So again, the need for another bullpen arm is obvious. Holland would be the ideal add as Familia's replacement closer and later his setup man, though he might be out of the Mets' price range. It's also possible Holland will look to join a team that can offer the closer's job permanently.
I suppose the perfect world solution would be trading Bruce for a reliever, thus killing two birds with one stone, but at this point Bruce's market is so quite the Mets may be lucky to get anything more than salary relief in return. Mike Puma of the New York Post hears the team is unwilling to eat money to facilitate a trade:
To this point, the Mets have been unwilling to swallow a portion of Bruce's remaining contract to facilitate a trade. But Alderson may have to rethink that philosophy as his trade options dwindle. Even so, the Mets could begin the season with Bruce, a tactic similar to one taken by Alderson in 2014, when he couldn't find a trade for Ike Davis in the offseason or spring training. Davis was ultimately traded to the Pirates in April.
Also, for what it's worth, Alderson told ESPN's Adam Rubin the club's payroll is "tolerable" right now, which could indicate they have the financial wiggle room to add a reliever without trading Bruce. At this point though, if the Mets could afford a reliever, they probably would have signed one already. Or at least been more heavily involved in the market.
Baseball has a way of sorting these logjams out. The Mets may have extra outfielders now, but one injury in spring training would change that. The bullpen could fix itself as well -- perhaps Wheeler emerges as a reliable late-inning guy -- though counting on that is always risky. Bullpens are known to be volatile. Veteran outfielders are another matter.
The Mets can continue to be patient for the time being. Spring training is still three weeks away and Opening Day is 10 weeks away. They can monitor the outfield trade market and the reliever free agent market, and pounce should something make sense. For now though, it sure seems the club's inability to move Bruce is preventing them from adding to their bullpen.
