2022 New York Mets off-season thread

[NJDevs4978]

A LH'er for the pen who isn't Joely Rodriguez...this guy had pretty good numbers against lefties in fact.  A bit older (34) and only arb eligible next year because he was in the Korean league for a long time.

[NJDevs4978]

Dang the Mets ponied up for Nimmo, 8 years, $162 million

They also finally got David Robertson lol (one year deal, $10 million)

For anyone who had doubt left about Cohen spending, this is going nuclear lol

Edited December 9, 2022 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Wow I’m sorry but that is complete insanity for Nimmo.  Ain’t my money but Jesus H…

Guess Robertson means bye bye for Ottavino? 

 

[NJDevs4978]

Don’t get me wrong - that deal for a slap hitter smells like a Jacoby Ellsbury type of contract, but if we’re really in fvck it all mode then I can’t even waste any angst over it. Besides, Nimmo really would have been hard to replace this offseason and our outfield prospect depth is nonexistent 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I do like Nimmo…just can’t believe he got that kind of coin.  And yeah if budgets aren’t your thing and you laugh at luxury taxes, you sign guys like Nimmo to deals like this.  
 

Mets are now operating in their own galaxy.  Maybe even their own universe.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

So I'm guessing that the Mets will be good for about 90 or so wins this year; to be clear, even if they kept the same team and rolled with them again, I'd expect about the same...felt like a lot went right for them to win 101 games (sounds crazy to say that when deGrom missed so much time (and of course Scherzer did too), but they got fine seasons out of guys like Bassett and Walker and others that I'm not so sure they would get again in 2023).  As we know, it doesn't matter how many games you win or what seed you finish anymore...just get in, hope you have guys that don't disappear come playoff time, and see what happens.

It's a tiny-window team...you can only buy so many guys...it's not like the Mets will ever have a $500 million payroll.  They'll need some cost-controlled kids to come up and perform soon.    

[NJDevs4978]

The problem with this offseason is what we knew it was going to be…when you have this many key free agents at once with very few in house replacements on the horizon then you kinda need to overspend to maintain a semblance of having as good as a team

Closer with a historic season - re-signed 

Best Met starter since ‘84-85 Doc - replaced with a $40+ million older starter 

Leadoff hitter and CF’er without an easy replacement - re-signed

And that’s to say nothing about Bassitt and Walker being replaced with Quintana and whatever else they bring in (Senga?), or the rest of the pen (Ottavino and Lugo out, Robertson and the Tampa lefty in). This offseason was always gonna be about patching it together until you can get reinforcements without - as Evan Roberts said - constantly having to play defense. The only realistic scenario of the Mets improving involves maintaining much the same roster plus giving guys like Alvarez and Baty a chance to add from within.

Edited December 9, 2022 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

39 minutes ago, NJDevs4978 said:

The problem with this offseason is what we knew it was going to be…when you have this many key free agents at once with very few in house replacements on the horizon then you kinda need to overspend to maintain a semblance of having as good as a team

Closer with a historic season - re-signed 

Best Met starter since ‘84-85 Doc - replaced with a $40+ million older starter 

Leadoff hitter and CF’er without an easy replacement - re-signed

And that’s to say nothing about Bassitt and Walker being replaced with Quintana and whatever else they bring in (Senga?), or the rest of the pen (Ottavino and Lugo out, Robertson and the Tampa lefty in). This offseason was always gonna be about patching it together until you can get reinforcements without - as Evan Roberts said - constantly having to play defense. The only realistic scenario of the Mets improving involves maintaining much the same roster plus giving guys like Alvarez and Baty a chance to add from within.

Yeah we pretty much agree, they need cheap kids to come up and contribute, real soon.  They're old and have been buying up older (but still productive, for now) players, to become this cobbled-together "right now" team.  So far it's felt like lateral moves and status quo this offseason, but yeah, when you're in the Mets' position (lots of free agents and not of a way to replace from within), it's either spend a ton to try to keep contending, or be willing to take a few years to build something affordable and sustainable (but asking your fans to suddenly become patient again, which wouldn't fly with a lot of the fan base right now)...sure, you could decide not to pony up for Nimmo, but you can only really do that if you have a legit prospect who's clearly ready to take his place...or see some other available free agent you feel is a better investment.  Neither type was available.  

The "build something affordable and sustainable" way is clearly not going to be the Cohen way any time soon.  At some point, you'd like to see a legit homegrown core come up (and I have no issue with big money being doled to a group like THAT), but for now it looks like core will be whatever the Mets can keep buying.  So far it's led to a 101-win season.  We'll see how long the Mets can contend that way.      

Edited December 9, 2022 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Kodai Senga signs with the Mets, 5 years, $75 million, with an opt-out after the third season.  I consider him a complete wild-card…I also imagine that’s probably it for Bassitt, with the Mets having Verlander, Scherzer, Senga, Quintana, and Carrasco in the fold.  Amazing the rotation turnover (3 new starters), but not all that surprising…we knew deGrom and Walker (who wasn’t given a QO) were gone.  Bassitt’s apparently looking for four years…we’ll see if someone gives that to him.

I don’t mind the Mets not having any starters locked up long term…how often do high-priced long-term deals for starting pitchers really work out (especially for late 20s - early 30s guys)?  Lots being said about how much the Mets are spending, but at least the highest AAV deals (Verlander and Scherzer) are very short-term.

The amount of money being spent in the Cohen era…damn.  He definitely walks the walk.

[NJDevs4978]

LOL they really are gonna start calling us the Manchester City Mets, or Barcelona whatever free spending soccer team you want to name. It’s nice in this new world when you hear rumors about a guy (Senga) and you can actually count on the Mets to deliver, it’s not like any number of other ‘sorry came in second’ teases we’ve had in franchise history, even at the start of the Cohen tenure with 2020 FA.

And he was as good as his word here too, funny how some people took that quote to mean we'd never go above $300 million while if you read it literally it means exactly what it says.  There wasn't a lot worth putting us over the threshold in-season last year, but now that we can throw around money this offseason...

Edited December 11, 2022 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Yeah it’s not like Cohen’s Mets are just among the big spenders…they are THE big spenders now.  Steve just doesn’t give a fvck…even the other high payroll teams shudder at the thought of hitting the higher luxury tax thresholds.  He doesn’t at all.

Of course, none of this guarantees championships…the Mets NEED to churn out prospects from within.  No matter how much money they can throw at players, trying to cobble together winners with lots of costly 30-somethings isn’t likely to pay off.  But if the Mets can develop some real young studs, at least they’ll be in the position to keep them, and sign them to deals that should involve a lot of prime years.

Edited December 11, 2022 by Colorado Rockies 1976

['7']

Senga I'm excited about. Not sure exactly what to expect...there is an injury risk with this guy he is not going to go out there and be the Japanese Jack Morris or anything. But watching clips of him his stuff is really dynamic, incredible movement to his pitches and he can reach back and hit close to triple digits when he needs to as well. He has been described as having some of the best stuff in the world

Kudos to Steve for getting it done...lets just hope we get good injury luck with him

['7']

15 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Kodai Senga signs with the Mets, 5 years, $75 million, with an opt-out after the third season.  I consider him a complete wild-card…I also imagine that’s probably it for Bassitt, with the Mets having Verlander, Scherzer, Senga, Quintana, and Carrasco in the fold.  Amazing the rotation turnover (3 new starters), but not all that surprising…we knew deGrom and Walker (who wasn’t given a QO) were gone.  Bassitt’s apparently looking for four years…we’ll see if someone gives that to him.

I don’t mind the Mets not having any starters locked up long term…how often do high-priced long-term deals for starting pitchers really work out (especially for late 20s - early 30s guys)?  Lots being said about how much the Mets are spending, but at least the highest AAV deals (Verlander and Scherzer) are very short-term.

The amount of money being spent in the Cohen era…damn.  He definitely walks the walk.

 

Agree this is likely it for Bassitt. Frankly I'm not sure the Mets even wanted him back or trusted him going forward after his comments about pressure and pitching in NY. I don't think he has the mental makeup or desire to be here either

 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

5 minutes ago, '7' said:

 

Agree this is likely it for Bassitt. Frankly I'm not sure the Mets even wanted him back or trusted him going forward after his comments about pressure and pitching in NY. I don't think he has the mental makeup or desire to be here either

 

One thing about the way these Mets are doing business; if they REALLY want you back (or want you period), they’ll do their best to make it happen.  The fact that they never really made much effort to sign Bassitt says it all.

Apparently Bassitt’s talking to the Phillies, who seem to love collecting ex-Mets pitchers.

Speaking of those, remember when Noah looked like a guy who would eventually get a nice deal?  Wouldn’t surprise me if he takes another one-year deal somewhere.  He’s no longer a guy who excites.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Bassitt to the Blue Jays for 3 years, $63 million.

On one hand, I'm not going to pretend that the 2023 rotation will be as good all-around as the 2022 rotation was...but that being said, who can even say if the 2022 group was brought back entirely intact that the 2023 rotation would have been as good as the 2022 rotation?!  Pitching is so year-to-year now.

So to sum up, am I upset about losing deGrom, Walker, and Bassitt?  Not really, because I didn't necessarily trust any of them for 2023 (for different reasons in each case, but still).

Am I happy with their replacements?  I feel like Verlander has a better chance to make 25+ starts than deGrom does.  Senga and Quintana don't feel any more or less sure than Walker and Bassitt.  But that's pitching in MLB right now...feels like there will always be question marks no matter who you pick up.  I'm definitely not against anything the Mets have done here, which is good enough for me. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Rumors that the Mets might be looking to deal off Carrasco...not to save coin, but because they feel that Peterson or Magill might be a better fit, and that the Mets are in position to take advantage of a now-thin starting pitching market by getting something for Carrasco that can fill a need elsewhere.  I'm definitely not against the idea...I'm not that big of a believer in him. 

[NJDevs4978]

After rumors of Correa to the Mets, he goes to the Giants on an insane deal. Given how we’ve played the rest of the offseason with short term deals (not to mention having to move him or Lindor off of SS) I’d have been surprised if it was anything more than playing ball with Bora$ to up his price from the Giants.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

On 12/11/2022 at 7:27 PM, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Speaking of those, remember when Noah looked like a guy who would eventually get a nice deal?  Wouldn’t surprise me if he takes another one-year deal somewhere.  He’s no longer a guy who excites.

Yep…gets a one-year deal from the Dodgers for $13 million.  On his third team already since leaving the Mets.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Mets sign this guy:

Omar Narváez Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

It's an OK signing, but I think this reeks of the beginning of the end of James McCan't Hit.  Good riddance.  Narvaez will be a stopgap until Alvarez is ready to rock.

EDIT:  Narvaez isn't much of a hitter either...in 2021, from 6/16 on, he put up a .649 OPS...last year it was .597.  Not good. 

Edited December 16, 2022 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Seth Lugo heads to the Padres on a two-year deal.  Sucks to lose him, but kinda felt like it was only a matter of time...don't think he's ever been that happy with his role here.  

[NJDevs4978]

4 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Seth Lugo heads to the Padres on a two-year deal.  Sucks to lose him, but kinda felt like it was only a matter of time...don't think he's ever been that happy with his role here.  

Yeah I was a little surprised when he was all emotional and acted like he was a goner after the last playoff game until I heard the reports he was fishing around to get a chance to start, which obviously wasn't going to happen here.  Good luck to him, though I suspect it turns out one of two ways - either he gets injured or ineffective.  Sort of the latter-day version of Aaron Heilman, who found a niche as a reliever but always wanted the extra cache of being a starter.  He never really did get that second chance to be a starter the way Lugo is.

Edited December 20, 2022 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Lugo is one of those guys who doesn't realize (or simply can't accept) that he's more useful as an average-to-above-average reliever than a starter who really hasn't been all that effective in that role:

Seth Lugo Career Pitching Splits | Baseball-Reference.com

MUCH better numbers as a reliever.

 

Also, check out his numbers away from Citi...yikes...

Edited December 20, 2022 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Would be surprised if this was true...Mets aren't exactly insanely deep, as far as prospects go and having them to offer in "right now" moves.  Can't imagine a guy like Hendriks would come cheap (not to mention why would the White Sox trade him?  His contract is reasonable and the guy's been a beast the past four seasons):

MLB rumors: Mets eyeing Liam Hendriks trade to pair with Edwin Díaz; Orioles' Jorge Mateo getting looks - CBSSports.com

[NJDevs4978]

Not that crazy about the second year but he was good last year, they needed another arm and we’re in a post reality world vis-a-vis payroll so what the hell

But TBH the price itself isn’t bad anyway 

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Ottavino def has that "good one year, maybe not so good the next" kinda vibe to him, but yeah, deal is pretty reasonable.