The Mets seem to be getting close to signing OF Curtis Granderson to a multi-year deal. I simply don’t know how I feel about this. He does represent the most power on the market this free agent season and he did hit more home runs in the combined years of 2011-2012 than anyone else in the league… and Greg Rybarczyk superimposed his 2012 home runs over a chart of CitiField which confirmed that most of the homers he hit that year would have also gone yard in Flushing. Rich MacLeod did his due diligence and he estimates that Granderson would have averaged 36.5 HR if all games ('10-11) were at Citi.
I do want to put to bed one of the corner outfield positions and signing Grandy for three or four year would do that for left field. I’ve got Juan Lagares entrenched in center now and I still think Cesar Puello will be worth the wait in right. We can speculate all we want about players in the system but currently only Brandon Nimmo looks like some form of major league lock… and that won’t be until around OD 2017. An early signing of Granderson would allow Sandy Alderson to jump over the shortstop, meet with Scott Boras regarding the five billion dollars he wants for Stephen Drew, and then could move on to targeting Jhonny Peralta in the 3-yr/$36mil range.
Then I guess Alderson could move on to signing a back-end starter to strengthen the rotation for the first half of the season.
OF Curtis Granderson… SS Jhonny Peralta… SP Scott Kazmir… C Travis d’Arnaud… CF Juan Lagares… 3B David Wright…
Is this supposed to make me happier?
Sandy Alderson blew into town Monday night with a one-liner for the beat reporters (“I was upstairs stacking our money… don’t get excited, they were just fives.”) and a sober declaration (‘definitely not this year’ spending $100mil on one player). He estimated that he had around $30mil to spend in Orlando, which wouldn’t involve any additional payroll he could take on via trades. Everybody in the gaggle laughed at the appropriate time, but I’m sure there would have been a different response from a typical fan based #Twitter crowd. This just isn’t a funny matter anymore and I wish Alderson would stop trying to compete with his promotional lackey, Jay Horwitz, as to who has the best one liner on Twitter these days .If I wanted jokes I would go to a comedy club.
If Granderson is the light at the end of the tunnel then I'm going to jump on the fire Sandy bandwagon.
ReplyDeleteI just don't think you are going to like the way this ends... who do you think David Wright is trying to talk into staying in NYC?
ReplyDeleteGranderson says he wants to sign with a winner. That crosses us off.
ReplyDeletePeralta would be a fine addition if other moves are made...especially with Drew's demands. The guy hits in the bottom of the lineup and wants what?!
So now we're signing Kazmir? What's he looking for?
It would be a nice full-circle moment if the 2015 rotation winds up:
SP1 Harvey
SP2 Syndergaard
SP3 Niese
SP4 Wheeler
SP5 Kazmir
Yea, I've been reading about Wright reaching out to Granderson. I just have this Jason Bay feeling about him.
ReplyDeleteI just used Kazmir as an example.
ReplyDeletePeralta would cost the Mets around 3-yrs, $36-39 mil and fit perfectly into the plans of turning over the position to one of the kids in 2017...
I'm just so unexcited about all this right now...
I think Granderson is a huge upgrade. I'd love to see this happen. A 35HR guy, good D, a good guy all around and a ballplayer who has proven he can play in NY. To me that's big and something lots of guys like Jason Bay never showed. This would really change the perception of this team fast.
ReplyDeleteI think Granderson is a huge upgrade. I'd love to see this happen. A 35HR guy, good D, a good guy all around and a ballplayer who has proven he can play in NY. To me that's big and something lots of guys like Jason Bay never showed. This would really change to perception of this team fast.
ReplyDeleteGranderson is a proven version of Ike Davis -- a lefty slugger who strikes out way too much. He does add a dimension of speed, though that should be declining with age and injuries. $45 million for 3 years? It sounds a bit pricey, but probably where they have to go given the dearth of talent available. I can't believe I'm typing this, but is it worth one more shot for Davis when he's not counted on to be the only lefty power source? On the other hand, Duda has been more consistent with power though not at the same aggregate level as Davis' one hot stretch during 2012.
ReplyDeleteThe 3/$36 for Peralta seems high. I'm thinking no more than 3/$30. He was making only $6 million before being caught with PEDs. I can't see him being rewarded with a 100% salary increase for better living through chemistry.
Pitching? I don't want to see them spend major money on anyone assuming Montero or Syndergaard will be here in June to join Mejia in the rotation. Gorski and deGrom are your backup options. That means a Dice-K, Harang, Kazmir, etc. is about as far as you should go for starter number 5.
Mack,
ReplyDeleteWhere are you hearing that they are getting close to a deal from?
The Mets don't have to go crazy, they just need improve enough to compete for a wild card. Sign either Cruz or Granderson, Peralta, Kazmir, Byrd.
ReplyDeleteThat's it.
Cruz/Granderson 13/15M?
Peralta 3 years 30M?
Kazmir 2 years 12M?
Byrd 2 years 10M
So about 35M increase. BUT LETS NOT FORGET that any of these players are trade bait around the all star IF the Mets look dead as usual. So its not like the Mets would spend 35M and be stuck with these players unless they are actually competing.
Is it too much to ask for the low life Mets to have a payroll of 90/100M
Hey Mack, if the Mets were to think outside the box and sign Brian McCann, would they be able to entice Texas with d'Arnaud and Montero for Profar?
I can imagine that would be the best offer for Profar.
ReplyDeleteI know we like Montero and he's our best trade piece. But there are people out there who think he's a 8th inning guy long term. Not sure how many people think that but some do.
Profar is the #1 prospect in the game. He's a shortstop with power. VERY VERY VERY valuable.
Joe -
ReplyDeleteI just don't think that d'Arnaud has any trade value right now - injuries, slow start last year, etc.
Kevin -
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Montero.... but he has one pitch. That's all.
How they hell was he so successful in Las Vegas with only 1 pitch?
ReplyDeleteKevin -
ReplyDeleteOf course, he throws other pitches, but only his fastball is currently thrown at a major league level. His 2-seamer is around 90-93 with great command and decent movement. In AA, he threw his fastball for strikes 72% of the time... and remember... it has a serious amount of sink
His slider and change-up are so-so
Mack, I love Montero too. Although his fastball is outstanding, I think he has a decent slider and changeup too. If he can pitch to a 3.05 ERA, 1.24 WHIP in the hitters paradise of the PCL, he should do OK in the majors. If given the chance, I believe he could win a spot in the opening day rotation, but I fear he is trade bait this winter.
ReplyDeleteHerb, IMO, he still needs to work on his secondary pitchers, not only on location but mixing.
ReplyDeleteHowever.... his FB right now could make him a successful 8th inning guy.
I don't think he will ever get a chance to pitch in the Mets rotation if everyone stays healthy.
I can't help feeling that Granderson will be a mistake.
ReplyDeleteto me, it only makes sense if they sign another 'bat' - right now, the team still hasn't replaced the Byrd numbers.
ReplyDeleteThe secret of improving a team is replacing a player with a better one.
So, the question is... is Granderson better than Byrd?
I would rather Byrd for two and $16 mil than Granderson for four and a whole lot more. I feel like Alderson may have shied away from Byrd for PR reasons - didn't want to look like he was re-upping last year's team - but I feel like Byrd was a more well-rounded player than Granderson is likely to be, and his contract will be a lot less of an albatross.
ReplyDeleteso, a 33-year old Granderson is a downgrade to a 36-year old Byrd?
ReplyDelete