The Mets will soon embark on an offseason of decision-making that will determine their fate in 2022. Here are three players who are “keepers.”
The Mets should be – no change that – must be one of the busiest teams in the major leagues this offseason.
While fans and writers can rue about the what-ifs, the should haves, and the if-only’s, the Mets front office must be in an accelerated mode from day one upon the conclusion of the World Series.
Or, I should say, what remains of a front office that became brutalized by the embarrassing departure of two general managers during the season.
The lone man standing is Sandy Alderson, and with his age and past health issues, team owner Steve Cohen has not one but two positions to fill before the Mets roster for 2022 can even be considered.
While Alderson can and probably will stay on in a consultant role, Cohen first needs to hire a person to be the Mets Director of Baseball Operations. Once that’s settled, the new director will then be tasked to hire a General Manager.
I’m not going to get into the who question for either position as it strays from the purpose of this article, which is to accent the numerous player personnel decisions that confront the team.
Three Tiers Of Decision Making
There are three tiers to the process, and it’s arguable which one should take precedent over the others, but essentially it melts down to this.
The first group of Mets is those eligible for arbitration. According to Spotrac, the Mets have eleven players in this group.
Notables like Pete Alonso, Edwin Diaz, Dominic Smith, Seth Lugo, and Jeff McNeil.
In each case, the Mets will need to devote time for research and negotiation with the player’s agent, a process that usually works and avoids an arbitration hearing when dirty laundry tends to be aired on both sides. To accent the point, though, this all takes time and staffing.
The second sphere of activity facing the Mets front office is the trade and free-agency market, two areas where the team is likely to be very involved.
Again, we’re talking time devoted to evaluating their players as to which are expendable and who has more excellent value in the Met’s return from another team.
Additionally, there’s also time spent on the phone with agents and other general managers to negotiate a trade, plus attending the Winter Meetings that will convene this year in Nashville.
The final group, which this article concentrates on, is the fourteen Mets eligible as free agents for the 2022 season.
Like the players in the arbitration group, they are diverse and must be handled individually.
Dellin Betances, Javier Baez, Jeurys Familia, and Jonathan Villar are among the fourteen free agents.
While an argument can be made to re-sign any of the 14, I’ve narrowed the list down to three, and these are the ones the Mets need to make every effort to resign.
Here’s What Readers Are Saying…
George R Mathews Your Mets will probably be run by Billy Beane and managed by Bob Melvin next year. Prepare for Moneyball 2…. with money
Mark LaFosse I hate to see any of our Mets players go, but man, management needs to do whatever it takes, to get this club back on a winning track, IMHO I think Rojas has to be the 1st one to go…
William Kelly Spend Baez money else were bye smith boys Familia can get two corner outfielders for 3 years apiece at 10 million a year instead of Baez
Raul Ayala Every year the same old shit I’m getting tried of this when are the Mets going to keep their word and stop talking people as fools and do the right thing in 59 years old and been hearing the same old shit wait for next year
WIzdom A Cappella Steve, as always your writing here is solid, thoughtful, and informative. Thank you. As far as the Mets free agents, Syndy and Conforto should receive Qualifying Offers although I doubt that either one will accept. Yet they might still return. And a reasonable attempt to sign Baez should be made though he will likely end up elsewhere. Familia and Betances should not be considered as options.
Kristopher Dennis The article ignores what the front office structure was supposed to be and suggests Sandy would stay on as a consultant. The author neglects to acknowledge that he is team president under contract and when he came aboard he want to get a president of baseball operations and GM under him. Due to time constraints and availability didn’t happen but they will again go this route. Points are well taken.
Anthony Pesca 2 huge unknowns…collective bargaining agreement & what will steve cohen really be like as an owner. Of course, he wants to win but after paying a few billion for this club, I’m guessing getting Citi Field to sell out every night is probably pretty high on the list as well. No telling what he’ll do. I don’t think any big FA or big contract looking to be moved is off the table. Max Scherzer who said he didn’t want to come to NY might change his mind if offered 2 yrs $80 million for instance. The Steve Cohen era is just getting started.
Anthony Pesca Frankie T Inzinna speaking of Pillar, he could be a good keeper as 4th OF & for leadership but this team needs a true CFer playing that massive Citi Field outfield. Nimmo, even though has a subpar arm, would be above average in LF & let him do his thing at the plate & hope he continues to become a longtime solution like a Nick Markakis type.
Bob Lovinger Steve Contursi nice job in this assessment. I’m a fan of Conforto, but in my opinion, it may be time to move on. Right field is an important offensive position and even at his best, he’s very inconsistent and strikes out a lot. They probably can do better with that money. My opinion on this could change if they don’t bring back Baez. Alonso and Baez contribute too many strikeouts in the middle of the lineup. Having Conforto there as well is too much a black hole.
Closing Published Comments And Final Thoughts
Due to restrictive page length, this closes published comments. The discussion was wide, open, and passionate. Thanks to all.
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