Reese Kaplan -- A Good Signing and a Better Salary Dump

 

Well, it’s been a whirlwind of rumor and activity lately for the Mets!

First came the acquisition of lefty reliever Aaron Loup.  As an effective sidearmer who gets out lefties with aplomb and holds his own against righties, he’s a good consolation prize for the closer Brad Hand who will find out whether or not he’s a fan of Capitol cuisine. 

It’s understandable that Hand wanted to continue in the role in which he’s excelled for the past several seasons since converting to the bullpen full time.  With Edwin Diaz having turned in an amazing season last year for the Mets and the fact he earns a small fraction of what Hand does, it didn’t make sense for the Mets to push hard to try to miscast Hand the same way they did with Jeurys Familia.

The other thing to bear in mind is that not only is Loup a lefty, but he’s also a VERY different look for opposing hitters to master.  How many of you remember the righty version, Jeff Innis?  He pitched for the Mets for 7 years from 1987 through 1993.  During that period he racked up a lot of appearances, including a high of 76 games in 1992.  Even if you include his injury-plagued season in 1993 that ended his career with a poor 4.11 ERA, his performance level for his entire career was just at 3.05.  

They haven’t released numbers for the Loup loot, but given what he’s earned in the past and factoring in a slight bump for his fine 2020 campaign, most folks are speculating in a deal less than 25% of what Hand would have cost.  It was a good move.

Of course, that wasn’t the only move the Mets made this week.  Steve Matz apparently wore out his welcome despite all the feel good stories about how he would improve with his off-season catching partner, James McCann, now on the Queens payroll.  He was awful last year, holds a significant losing record over the past few seasons and has suffered a number of stints on the IL due to an assortment of pitching arm maladies.  At age 29 he had had plenty of time to make good but has not really done so. 

If you analyze the deal a little further, it calls to mind the end of the 2017 season when the Mets unceremoniously sold off Jay Bruce, Addison Reed, Neil Walker, Lucas Duda and others in what were clearly cash-infusion deals getting other clubs to pay their remaining salaries.  No one the Mets got back in any of those trades amounted to much, but the goal was payroll savings, not improving the ballclub. 

Look now at the Matz trade and the three younger players the Blue Jays gave up in exchange for the veteran lefty.  None of the three righties were in the Toronto Top Ten lists for minor leaguers and although there’s been some occasional positive news on all of them, it doesn’t suggest the Mets made a steal here.  No one is dancing in the streets about who they acquired, and it is very reminiscent of the 2017 trade deadline dumps.

The one key difference this time around is that the money saved will be applied to bring more significant resources to the Mets.  The Matz departure means $5.2 million is flying north of the border.  If they can find a taker for Jeurys Familia, then another $11.66 million will fly the coop.  That nearly $17 million gone from payroll can help finance the cost of an athletic center fielder or a loudmouthed pitcher.  It could also pave the way for more trade transactions to take place that bring back salary which is offset by ridding the team of current obligations to people who were not considered part of the core.

As an example, the much ballyhooed trade to bring back Sonny Gray and Eugenio Suarez from Cincinnati would add $10.166 million for the hurler and $10.78 million for the third baseman.  Think that one through for a minute.  If the Mets can dump $17 million in salary for two unwanted players and bring in two wanted and needed players for less than $5 million more, that’s indeed smart front office procedure.

No one knows what to expect from newly minted acting GM Zack Scott nor do they know how to interpret the whole GameStop thing with Steve Cohen.  However, there are still a great many holes to fill on this team and people need to realize that putting all your eggs into one Cy Young Award winner’s basket is not the only path available.