2021 Rotation - Will Mets Get Insurance?

[Drucifer]

Mets Notes: Carrasco, Lugo

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by Connor Byrne
8 Jan 2021, 10:31 PM CDT

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Back to the Mets, who seem primed to move right-hander Seth Lugo back to the bullpen in 2021, Jon Heyman of MLB Network relays. Lugo has been highly successful as a reliever in the past, but he had a tough time last year after the Mets moved him into their rotation. They’re now largely set there with Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, Marcus Stroman and David Peterson in line to comprise their top four when next season opens. They’ll also get righty Noah Syndergaard back from his Tommy John surgery sometime during the summer.

[jeffmetsfan]

Definitely will be adding some depth arms to the equation. I look at Corey Kluber as the big target. I think it helps a bit that we just landed some of his ex-teammates in Carrasco and Lindor (players like familiarity). He is the type of guy that should be getting an incentive-laden deal based on games started/IP. I don't think any team gives him more than a 1 yr + mutual option. Other guys I like are Mike Foltynewicz, Jordan Zimmermann and Gio Gonzalez.

[Brian Stark]

I'd take a flyer on Foltynewicz, that kid was TOUGH when his head was not up his ass.

[Thomasam]

What about someone like Teheran, Archer or McHugh? There are a few guys for whom 2020 can almost get thrown out the window. None of them are Bauer (who I don't want anyhow) but given a showcase could give a half season in the rotation and then maybe shift to the pen.

[West Coast Mets Fan]

I'd like to see Kluber if he fits into Uncle Steve's budget.

[NY FANG]

What about someone like Teheran, Archer or McHugh? There are a few guys for whom 2020 can almost get thrown out the window. None of them are Bauer (who I don't want anyhow) but given a showcase could give a half season in the rotation and then maybe shift to the pen.

The issue there is these are guys that are auditioning for 2022. If pitching successfully, they don't want to "maybe shift to the pen". They want to go to a spot where short of non-performance, they are guaranteed a starting spot all year long.

[Thomasam]

Most likely, yes but the truth is we'll have injuries so I'm assuming it won't be a pen thing anyhow. With Kluber out maybe the market increases on some of the other fliers but I like the consistency of that group if you throw last year out. 2020 was just off in terms of everything from starting and stopping the season to immediate pennant races.

I'm sure it's more likely that any insurance will be minor league contracts with a chance to make it.

[Brian Stark]

Rumors are that Bauer could be had on a short term deal.

Yeah, that's still a thing...

[NY FANG]

a short term deal outside of the Mets budgets. He may get upwards of 30MM if he signs a 1 year deal.

[West Coast Mets Fan]

Personally, I think that is an overpay for a small sample size of excellence

[Brian Stark]

He has had:

One Cy Young year: 2020

One Cy Young potential year: 2018

Three good years: 2014, 16, 17

Two pretty crappy years: 2015, 19

Is that worth $30 million a year? Huge question mark.

[West Coast Mets Fan]

Trevor Bauer’s dark social media episode should disqualify him from Mets
By Ken Davidoff
January 23, 2021 | 6:09pm | Updated


As he fell on his sword this past week, performing a public mea culpa for the Jared Porter disaster, Sandy Alderson offered this:

“Suffice it to say, had we known about it in advance before Jared was hired, it would have been a disqualification.”

“It” was of course the disgusting revelation, reported by ESPN, that the new Mets general manager Porter had sent a series of unsolicited, lewd text messages to a female journalist from another country while he worked for the Cubs in 2016. Within 8 ¹/₂ hours of seeing the story, the Mets fired Porter for cause on Tuesday morning.

Moving on from that rubble, the Mets remain interested in free-agent starting pitcher Trevor Bauer, an industry source said, and they consequently are scrutinizing the not-shy Bauer’s voluminous work on social media.

That work, for the Mets, should be a disqualification.

The Mets must draw a line here.

In light of the discrimination claims filed against new owner Steve Cohen’s firm Point72 Asset Management, in the wake of Porter’s disastrous departure, the Mets can’t dig a hole any deeper when it comes to the question of their sensitivity toward women. They can find plenty of other ways to bolster their club, even if they want to stay under the $210 million luxury-tax threshold, without signing Bauer, who has set off red flags with his online conduct.

The most glaring example, one that I admittedly hadn’t fully digested previously, occurred in January 2019 when Bauer engaged in a Twitter battle with a female college student, whose name won’t be reported here in the interest of protecting her from further attacks. What began as seemingly playful trash talk quickly escalated into something much darker, as Bauer (who currently has over 414,000 followers on the platform) researched the woman’s Twitter timeline to find and retweet posts of her drinking alcohol before her 21st birthday.

In all, over a span of three days, Bauer tweeted at least 17 times either directly at the woman or at others while discussing her and the argument. Predictably, the woman has said that she endured considerable abuse from Bauer’s followers.

Through his representatives, Bauer released a statement (first provided to The Athletic) reading, “I have been made aware that some of the interactions related to a specific Twitter exchange may have had a negative impact. That was not my intention. I will wield the responsibility of my public platform more responsibly in the future.”

Every team in pursuit of Bauer will count on that. If provoked, the right-hander often responds with a phrase like, “Let me send some more followers your way.” When that goes to a familiar entity like retired ballplayer Aubrey Huff (an even more nuclear online personality than Bauer), it can be construed as silly braggadocio. When it gets launched against a less-known person, particularly a woman, as it has, it can be interpreted quite differently. As a call to action. So that should cease.

“I don’t shy away from confrontation and am often quick to defend myself, but I am by no means a bully and I take great offense to my character being called into question,” Bauer said. “I understand what comes with having a following on social media but I have never asked for nor do I condone anyone making threats or lewd comments on my behalf.”


Bauer needs to go even further than that. Even before he lands this upcoming contract, he can afford to hire someone to comb through his Twitter account and condemn and block anyone who attacks others in his name. Because it’s clearly a real phenomenon.

You can look in my body of work and find that I supported the Mets’ decision to bring back Jose Reyes after his domestic-violence suspension. If you want to call me a hypocrite, I get it. Yet at this point in time, given what has transpired in their world just since the 2020 season concluded, I think the Mets are not the team to count on Bauer to honor his apologies.

“We need more diversity at the Mets,” Alderson acknowledged this past week, and the best way to attain that is through mindfulness on all fronts. By proactively steering away from potential crises. By choosing options that will make the Mets not only great but also exemplary.

Signing Bauer, right now, would push the Mets farther away from such a goal.



https://nypost.com/2021/01/23/trevor...him-from-mets/

In the wake of the Jared Porter debacle, Davidoff makes some valid points

[NY FANG]

Personally, I think that is an overpay for a small sample size of excellence

definitely a HUGE overpay when comparing to other AAVs. The thing is contracts all have 2 factors. Money and Time.

For a player, both Money and Time = assurance. For a team, in any single year, normally, the extra money of a 30 vs a 25MM contract isn't THAT big of a hurdle, but time? Time = Risk. Time exacerbates contracts based on a short sample size. Time allows for greater chance of injury. Time is a lost opportunity cost by affecting the ability to make a move next year or not. Time is when a player exits their prime. Time on a bad contract is the killer for a team.

So as we talk about AAV, yes, 30MM is a HUGE overpay. But when adding in a team's risk? An extra 5MM - 8MM might be worth every penny.

[Brian Stark]

Bauer's Twitter crap, to me, is literally nothing at all.

The incident that Davidoff pointed out to me is nothing. He (Bauer) did nothing but point out what the person DID. Not what he (Bauer) would like to DO to HER. Additionally, what Bauer did was totally public and out in the open, not hidden like Porter's actions were. To me personally, it's not a comparison of apples to apples or even apples to oranges. Its more like apples to lettuce. The only similarity is that someone's feelings were hurt.

Does that mean I would not want him on my team at a decent rate? Absolutely not. I don't see where he has done anything awful. Unadvisable maybe, but awful? No.

Porter acted like a lecherous stalker. It may have been a one time thing, who knows? However, he has to deal with the consequences.

Bauer has said some provocative things, but nothing that rises to the level of anything Porter did, again in MY opinion.

My only objection to signing Trevor would be based on solid,, logical, baseball reasons, not something he said when in a Twitter "fight" with some Millennial.

[West Coast Mets Fan]

Bauer's Twitter crap, to me, is literally nothing at all.

The incident that Davidoff pointed out to me is nothing. He (Bauer) did nothing but point out what the person DID. Not what he (Bauer) would like to DO to HER. Additionally, what Bauer did was totally public and out in the open, not hidden like Porter's actions were. To me personally, it's not a comparison of apples to apples or even apples to oranges. Its more like apples to lettuce. The only similarity is that someone's feelings were hurt.

Does that mean I would not want him on my team at a decent rate? Absolutely not. I don't see where he has done anything awful. Unadvisable maybe, but awful? No.

Porter acted like a lecherous stalker. It may have been a one time thing, who knows? However, he has to deal with the consequences.

Bauer has said some provocative things, but nothing that rises to the level of anything Porter did, again in MY opinion.

My only objection to signing Trevor would be based on solid,, logical, baseball reasons, not something he said when in a Twitter "fight" with some Millennial.

I get Bauer's error was not on the same level as Porter's. It speaks to the culture you are trying to create when you take into consideration what Bauer did on Twitter. 17 texts in a short period of time could be considered bullying. If the Porter situation was not so fresh in the news no big deal. Since it is, I think it should be taken into consideration. I don't know if I would make it a deal-breaker, but certainly, take it into consideration.