Ask Mack - 5 FAs, Duda

Ask Mack – 5 FAs

Steve Wilson asked – Mack, what five free agents would you go after in the off-season?

Mack – Hmm. Sadly, it’s not easy to answer this question. I’m sure the Mets are going to renew both RA Dickey and David Wright’s contracts for 2013, which limits the team in participating against the mega-spenders like LAD. Sandy Alderson has hinted that the 2013 salary will come in “around $100mil) but there’s a bunch of Arbitration guys (Daniel Murphy, Ike Davis, Bobby Parnell) the Mets have to deal with. By my estimate, that would bring the payroll in at $79mil, if you dump or lose Andres Torres, Ramon Ramirez, Ronny Cedeno, Scott Hairston, Tim Byrdak, and Chris Young.

This leaves you $21mil to enter the free agent market with.

Your immediate area needing improvement is in the outfield (can we resign Fernando Martinez?). The expected free agent list (http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/04/2013-mlb-free-agents.html) includes:

LF:

Jay Gibbons (36)

Jonny Gomes (32)

Scott Hairston (33)

Josh Hamilton (32)

Willie Harris (35)

Brad Hawpe (34)

Eric Hinske (35)

Conor Jackson (31)

Reed Johnson (36)

Andruw Jones (36)

Austin Kearns (33)

Carlos Lee (37)

Fred Lewis (32)

Ryan Ludwick (34) - mutual option for 2013

Juan Pierre (35)

Juan Rivera (34) - $4MM club option for 2013 with a $500K buyout

Delmon Young (27)

CF

Alfredo Amezaga (35)

Rick Ankiel (33)

Michael Bourn (30)

Melky Cabrera (28)

Mike Cameron (40)

Curtis Granderson (32) - $13MM club option with a $2MM buyout

Scott Hairston (33)

Angel Pagan (31)

Corey Patterson (33)

Cody Ross (32)

Grady Sizemore (30)

Ryan Spilborghs (33)

B.J. Upton (28)

Shane Victorino (32)

RF:

Lance Berkman (36)

Matt Diaz (35)

Kosuke Fukudome (36) - $3.5MM club option with a $500K buyout

Willie Harris (35)

Torii Hunter (37)

Andruw Jones (36)

Ryan Ludwick (34) - mutual option for 2013

Xavier Nady (34)

Juan Rivera (34) - $4MM club option for 2013 with a $500K buyout

Cody Ross (32)

Ryan Spilborghs (33)

Ichiro Suzuki (39)

Nick Swisher (32)

This is a pretty lean list of old guys, but I’d go all-in for Bourn. Cabrera would be an interesting pick, and Swisher would pull headlines in NYC.

But it’s not just going to take money here. The agents hate this owner, the players know they may be years away from a World Series game, and the fans are going to be brutal next season.

The Mets have to sign a credible, every day outfielder, preferably a switch-hitter. They simply must.

Relief Pitching

Alderson spent most of his 2012 FA money in the pen and it didn’t work. He’s going to have to revisit that again.

Nelson Figueroa stands out to me… err… just kidding… the Mets need an innings eater here who can go long every four days. That’s an ex-starter.

I also would resign Pedro Feliciano after the Yankees and bring Dontrelle Willis into camp with an incentive laden minor league contract… but that’s just me


Erik Hudson asks - 

Any idea why they recalled Duda now, vs next weekend when rosters expand?  It didn't seem like he was tearing the cover off the ball in AAA.  Is it more sending a message to Valdespin?

I heard that team officials were shown a picture that some washed up old Mets blogging dude had put up on his site showing Valdespin not giving  a shit about the fact that he cost his team a loss, but what do I know?