When the season ended, I was convinced that we would be shelling out at least one $100 million dollar contract. We needed to. To acquire the true talent that can help improve this Mets team, they have to shell out the big bucks. Players like Jacoby Ellsbury and Shin Soo Choo won't come for any less. But after listening to Sandy Alderson and looking over the layout of this team, I have changed my outlook. The Mets don't need to fall into the $100 million dollar contract trap; at least I am still trying to talk myself into that believing that.
The Mets need to refrain from dishing out contracts like this for a couple of reasons, most notably the fact that one player is not going to change the culture. There is no Will Myers or Mike Trout in this free agent pool. Fellow contributor Craig Brown pointed out that we need some money in the future to hopefully lock up players like Matt Harvey or Zack Wheeler. Most of all, the Mets can't be burned again. The last thing this developing team needs is to bog down with heavy pressure of too many ineffective contracts. Flexibility in a major league salary will allow for improvement through trades and international signings. The ebbs and flows of money coming through Flushing will hopefully return to a more effective pace.
Many people, including myself, have stated on more than one occasion that the creation of this year's Boston Red Sox is the consummate blueprint that will be followed. Frugality will be encouraged and "smart spending" will be the term you'll hear over the offseason. However, the Mets can't always shop at garage sales and flea markets. This team won't survive with six million dollar men, even if one of them is Steve Austin. Jhonny Peralta and Curtis Granderson could be the answer to that problem. Two players for the price of one Jacoby Ellsbury. Seems like a sensible idea in theory.
Will it solve everything? Probably not. This team needs to improve in a lot of areas and I can't see them filling all the gaps in one short offseason. It also doesn't help that their best pitcher is on the shelf for all of 2014. But again, this is the first step. The signings that happen this winter will set into motion the future that we've always talked about. Hopefully, the "smart spending" will bring about some success.
3 comments:
I'm surprised you expected Sandy and Company to spend $100mil on one player. He's only done that once, under special circumstances and orders from the guys upstairs.
In essence it means we probably will not offering more than 5 years $20MM AAV to any this season.
That doesn't mean we won't sign Choo is his price is say 5 yrs/$80M.
The $100M is more of a limiter of length of contract then it is value of contract.
Drawing the line at $100 million is Sandy's way of saying that he is reluctant to tie up $20 million or more of payroll in any one player when there are so many holes to fill. We all know he is naturally opposed to long term deals, and rightly so. But this is about conserving resources and putting the best team on the field rather than putting all our eggs in one basket.
Hypothetically, the Mets would be better off signing Granderson (3/$45) and David Murphy (2/$10) with a combined AAV of $20 million, than they would giving the $20 million to Choo and still needing another outfielder. If they could get 2 quality outfielders for $20 million it would leave more than enough to sign Peralta (3/$30) plus a bench player and a #5 starter or reliever.
Post a Comment