Happy New Year!
The calendar has flipped over to 2015 and there are only 48 until Pitchers and Catchers report (or 47 depending on when you read this, or like 30-something because so many players show up to camp early).
The Mets signed Cuddyer to a two-year deal and a Mayberry to a one year deal this off-season. In addition they acquired Sean Gilmartin in the Rule 5, they lost Logan Verett in the Rule 5, and traded Gonzalez German to the Yankees for cash.
They have also made series of normal minor league moves including resigning Scott Rice and signing Brandon Allen, Alex Castellanos, Johnny Monell and Kyle Regnault.
The team has also had normal attrition including Daisuke Matsuzaka, Bobby Abreu, Juan Centeno, and Andrew Brown.
Looking at the Mets in a vacuum would not help paint a picture of if the Mets are actually better off right now than they were at the end of October. The Braves have started to sell their pieces and make a farm system, the Phillies have started to do the same. The Marlins have made some positive news and the Nationals may have one of the best 25-man rosters in league that is exasperated when compared to the rest of the NL East.
Because of the vacuum in the NL East, signing Cuddyer to an everyday role and Mayberry to a bench role mark improvements for the Mets. Many sources have also come out to complement the talent in the Mets system. So things do look good for the Mets.
There are moves the Mets could still make, and for the Mets it all points to shortstop. Wilmer Flores is average, and that seems to be the problem for the Mets. All of the “cheap” options on the market and even some of the riskier ones (Kang) don’t project to measurably better than Flores. I’m all for the Mets spending money like a big market, but only in areas where it make sense.
There are three shortstops on the market that I would look into if I were the Mets, three of them more seriously, and they are all costly options:
- Tulo: Will cost a lot money, huge injury risk and a lot of prospects. But if you don’t trade from depth, when would you trade?
- Zobrist: Probably not the best defensively, but gives the Mets a lot of options. Will cost the Mets a lot of prospects and then needs to be extended (or dumped midway through), presents a risk because of that
- Mocando: Huge, Huge prospect from Cuba. On top of the normal risks (like prospects not panning out), he will cost the Mets also a large amount of money and handicap our ability to work on the international market and won’t be ready immediately.
I’m starting to doubt any of the above will happen, but it will make the team so much better if one of them does. We trade from depth to get something we need, we take a risk but a team in New York should be able to absorb risk.
Without any shortstop move, I still feel the Mets will be competitive. However the first SS on the list will make the Mets and immediate contender, the second one most likely to extremely likes makes the Mets competitive and the last one might not impact at all in 2015 but could make the Mets a threat for a long time come (or not at all, because of prospects).
Let’s see see what Sandy does in January! Let’s Go Mets!