Reese Kaplan -- Mets Should Make a Black Friday Purchase Across the Pacific

On a Black Friday edition here at Mack's Mets it's time to talk about what holiday gift would be most welcome to the New York Mets.  Some want a Cy Young capable pitcher, some want a new manager who will help get the team on a road to success.  One thing Mets fans almost never even consider is bringing in a top rate foreign ballplayer in his prime since the Wilpons were both reluctant to spend and seemingly xenophobic.  

Yes, they would field guys like Masato Yoshii or recycled players like Hideo Nomo or Yoenis Cespedes that OTHER teams brought to the USA, but unless you count their quest of Kazuo Matsui as their one and only attempt, the club simply wouldn't look to the posting fees and contract requirements necessary to secure unproven players.  In Matsui's case, the boys in blue and orange committed $20 million split over the course of three years.  While that's not pocket change, it's nowhere near what others from offshore earned in their American debuts.  

This year under new ownership the Mets have a crystal clear opportunity to set a new stage for looking worldwide for the best of the best talent to fortify the roster.  With Michael Conforto leaving right field vacant after his six years in a Mets uniform, they most definitely have a vacancy to fill.  What if there was a right fielder available without compensatory draft picks assigned to him and who has received accolades not only for his bat but also for his glove?  What if they found a general manager who was instrumental in bringing Shohei Ohtani to the USA?

Well, folks, Seiya Suzuki has already been posted by his Hiroshima Carp baseball team of the Nipon Professional Baseball league in Japan.  He's a couple of years older than was the two-way star Ohtani, but his stat sheet is enough to make most clubs drool.

While he started playing ball for Hiroshima at the tender age of 18, he didn't become a regular until he turned 21 in 2016.  That year he hit .329 with 29 HRs, 95 RBIs and 17 stolen bases.  For a player so young, those numbers were indeed impressive while they tried to figure out where he should play.  He shifted around from shortstop to third base to right field during his Japanese career.

At age 22 he produced similar results and at age 23 the power increased while the batting average stayed well above .300.  His last season in 2021 he really kicked it into gear with 38 HRs, 88 RBIs and a .319 average.  He actually drew more walks than the number of times he struck out.  Did I mention the Gold Glove defense while recovering from a long term knee injury, too?

So that brings us back to the Black Friday gift for the Mets franchise.  As a player turn age 27 he would likely be looking for a deal of at least 6 years and probably to the tune of $120 million or so in magnitude.  Whether or not he can achieve that level of compensation depends primarily on how teams evaluate his knee and whether or not anyone is willing to spend the extra money necessary to make it happen.

What extra money? Well, to draft a player from NPB to play in the USA's MLB you need to compensate the team that posted him.  The rules are a little complex but what it boils down to are percentages of the salary package going back to Hiroshima.  An example from the MLB website states:  "For Major League contracts with a total guaranteed value of $50,000,001 or more, the release fee will be 20 percent of the first $25 million plus 17.5 percent of next $25 million plus 15 percent of the total guaranteed value exceeding $50 million."  They further illustrate a sample $100 million contract costing an additional $16.9 million back to the posting team above and beyond the $100 million paid to the player.  

To complicate matters further, there are restrictions on foreign-born players and the limits clubs can spend in that regard.  The Mets have done precious little in fortifying their roster from Asia or Cuba in the past many, many years, so they have a pool of money for foreign players available.  Now whether or not they choose to use it is quite another matter.  

In any case, an expensive Black Friday special of a younger ballplayer with superior offensive and defensive skills to replace Michael Conforto would not only taste very good but would signal to the Mets fan base and media alike that things are not how they once were.  Apparently the Mets, Rangers and Mariners are considered the leading contenders to make this Suzuki their route to success.