2020/21 Hot Stove - What's Cooking?

[Brian Stark]

Phillies put an offer up to JT.

5/100 or so.

So much for his wanting 200 mil. He ain't gettin' that much.

Report: Phillies offer catcher J.T. Realmuto five-year deal over $100 million | RSN (nbcsports.com)

[NY FANG]

5/100 is less than I thought and I'd be surprised if that wasn't the low bar with a deal being higher. (Just quickly read it is "slightly more than 100MM per NBC).

If it ends up being the final deal, it would be interesting to see peoples first hind sight reaction to McCann and a JT being separated by only 1 year and 10MM per year 🙃

[NY FANG]

That comment about Springer and the 7/130 deal made me laugh.

He's got a 5/115 offer supposedly on the table, and Martino thinks that 7/130 makes sense?

Is Martino Italian for "not a mathematician"?

If 5/115 ends up being the number (I think it will go higher, but not significantly), then Mets are still in this ballgame!

[West Coast Mets Fan]

If 5/115 ends up being the number (I think it will go higher, but not significantly), then Mets are still in this ballgame!

Reports are he wants to play close to home. My geography is rusty but I think Connecticut is closer to Queens than Toronto. Does 5 yr $125M get it done?

[jeffmetsfan]

I think any Springer contract would be written with an opt out clause after Year 1 for a few reasons:

(1) it incentivizes Springer to play for another contract during 2021
(2) if Springer opts out, Mets have more flexibility to sign Lindor, Conforto or Syndergaard, players that are all still in their prime years
(3) Springer may be willing to accept a cheaper deal now if he knows he can re-try FA in a year from now when more owners may be able to pay him

So would 5 years $125M get it done with the opt out clause included. I think so.

[Brian Stark]

5/125 is the number.

Do it Omar!

[NY FANG]

If there is an opt out, I hope it's not after only a single year. Even if we forget about he draft pick compensation. You don't want to be on the hook for 5 years of guaranteed money with only 1 year of guaranteed return. And if that IS how it is structured, well then he better be giving a pretty nifty year 1 discount to make that extra risk worthwhile for the Mets.

5/125 I could live with. But do recognize, IF the Mets do not want to go over the cap this year, then that deal leaves them with 1MM buffer below the cap... that's it. 1 teeeeny tiiiiny million. This means no reliever. No trade deadline salary additions (without equal salary reducing moves)

[West Coast Mets Fan]

I thought if he opts out after one year the team is off the hook for the balance. The player is banking on getting a contract for 4 years exceeding what he is already guaranteed.

[jeffmetsfan]

Correct, if he opts out, we are no longer in the hook for remaining 4 years. So it's a win-win because we don't necessarily want to commit to Springer long term, but at least 5 yrs/$125M isn't too horrible.

[NY FANG]

sorry for the confusing language. I was saying you're on the hook if say he hurts himself, but if he opts out, you don't have to pay him. I was just saying I wasn't confortable taking on 5 years worth of risk for 1 year worth of benefit. I would give him an opt out for sure, but I'd make him pay for it in some way, and I would probably demand it be after 2 years.ie: takes a major haircut on the overall figure by accepting 4x100 with an optout after 2 or 5x125 without an opt out.

[Brian Stark]

The Jays offer is 100 million. I assume that is five years.

That means the 5/125 number SHOULD get it done. I'd take that in a hot minute for us.

[jeffmetsfan]

If the Jays are offering $100M I wouldn't go a dollar over that....if he wants to be a Met, take our offer.

[saxon]

All the good things that Uncle Steve is trying to do, will be nullified if we have Nimmo in CF again next season...IMO, there is no excuse for not signing Springer unless someone else makes a crazy offer at the last minute...

[Brian Stark]

The market has dictated Springer's number, and I agree we can't blow it away. I would go one mil more per year than what the Jays offer.

An OF of Nimmo/Springer/Conforto is very good.

Smith has to hope that the DH is adopted, and there are indications that it will. If not this year, definitely by 2022. The offense looks even more formidable than last year, and it was good in every part of the game except the one that's most important, actually crossing home plate.

The resigning of Stroman, the addition of Carrasco, and now the acquisition of Lucchesi for the back end of the rotation improves the pitching ledger. Bringing in May helps the pen, but we could still use another lefty. Hand was a name floated, but I think Springer ends that level of acquisition. I would LOVE to see Justin Wilson back.

If our off season is McCann, May, Springer, Wilson free agent signings and the Lindor/Carrasco/Lucchesi trades, that's a damn fine off season.

[NY FANG]

MLBtraderumors is reporting Jays have upped their offer to 115/5.

[West Coast Mets Fan]

ESPN is reporting Springer signs with Toronto 6 yrs $150M

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...al-sources-say

[Canadian Mets Fan]

That's a huge offer for a 31 year old OFer, even one of Springer's calibre. Not sure if I'd have gone there but the Jays need to overpay for FAs. Always have.

[NY FANG]

my guess is he didn't want to play in Toronto as NYC was clearly his preferred destination, so they had to completely overwhelm the Mets offer. They are also in the tough spot of telling their fan base they be aggressive, and now the fan base is clamoring about being tired of "just missed" on another FA or trade...

classic overspend for a 31 year old really good player.

[saxon]

This offseason after starting off promising is really starting to look like a typical Mets offseason. We have a good size payroll with 2nd tier talent. What have we really fixed? We still don't have a GM. We have a guy in charge that peaked as a baseball man in the 80's. We still have shitty outfield defense that is overly lefthanded, we still have the antimasker in centerfield, with a 1B/DH slated to the LFer. We have a DH at third and a weak fielding utility player at 2nd. We're still slower than shit because the one position that we fixed was one of the few that wasn't completely broken. Replacing 2 young shortstops with 1 in his walk year. We went for the number 2 available catcher with the lie that it was to address other issues on the team. 3 of our best talents on the team are in their final year of a contract as well.

[Brian Stark]

I feel somewhat like you, Saxon, it has been an overall disappointing offseason.

However, for business reasons, I do understand letting Springer go at that number.

IF and only IF Uncle Steve told Sandy "I approve going higher with Springer if that is what it takes" and Sandy said, "No, setting the market for that level of talent is not smart."

There are reasons to like the pass here, as badly as I wanted Springer, but damn, it sure leaves a bad taste in the mouth. "Same old shit" is the mantra, and while I still think things have changed, it's not the drastic sea change we may have hoped for initially.

Off season is still not over, though, we have to see what the final roster is before making that call.

[saxon]

The thing is how do we improve center field without Springer? Any trade chips that we had were used up on the Lindor trade and the Cano trade. Any of the free agent guys that are left are either left handed or are no better than Juan Lagares with the bat. And even if somehow you do get someone with a pulse to play center, is Nimmo in LF and a weak bat in center an overall improvement over Dom in left with Nimmo in center? Are the overall defense/offense performance at 2B/3B/LF/CF what gets you into the playoffs vs the Braves, Nats, Phillies in our own division? So far, I am seeing a team that could compete for the NL Central, AL Central or AL West title, but not a team that competes with the big boy divisions of the East or the NL West. Springer/ Lindor if Lindor got extended could have been like acquiring both Beltran and Delgado, but now with what we have knowing that Lindor, Conforto and Thor will likely be free agents in October, I am seriously concerned about the future past September.

Conforto, Springer, Lindor, Realmuto are all guys that could be franchise types of players, and now likely none of them will be here in 2022. Guys that we will likely have in their places and other positions are contributors, not stars of a championship caliber team. And on top of that we have no farm system.

[Brian Stark]

Our top offer was 6/125, which was higher than I would have gone. Jays blew that away at 6/150. Good for them, that's too much, period.

I hate that we lost him, but it is what it is. Plan B Bradley I guess.