PIITB by JD- Mets Updates

 Mets Updates- PIITB By JD

 

The Mets have made a flurry of moves (many minor league) the last couple weeks. None overly notable, but as we have been told this whole offseason, the direction it heads revolves around Yoshinobu Yamamoto. 

 

    In terms of major league signings, the Mets signed Jorge Lopez to a one year contract. Lopez was an All Star is 2022, pitching to a 2.53 era across 71 innings. He struggled mightily in 2023, pitching to a 5.95 era across 59 innings. Stearns is taking flyers on these types of players to fill out a team. Lopez will have to prove himself to earn innings on this team. He provides a lot of upside. 

 

    The Mets also signed, Michael Tonkin to a one-year 1 million dollar deal. Tonkin is another flyer. I am not quite sure what the Mets see in Tonkin. He pitched to a 4.28 era this year after not being in the league since 2017. His underlying metrics do not suggest improvement is coming either for the 34 year old. Stearns must see something in him to take a chance on. His sinker stays in the top of and middle of the zone and his slider hangs often. He has a good sweeper in limited sample. Hopefully the Mets new pitching lab can unlock something for him. 

 

 

Injury update:

Ronny Mauricio tore his ACL recently in a winter ball game. I wish him a speedy recovery. 

 

    The Mets will have to look to Baty and Vientos to fill in. This essentially handing the keys to Baty, now he has to prove himself. He won’t get 3 months of leeway but he deserves a shot at the job. I do not believe it is wise to look for a long term external 3B option (Bregman or Chapman). 

 

 

Now for Yamamoto:

 

There is not a crazy update on Yamamoto. It appears its come down to the Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets. According to several reports these are the “favorites”. Recently its been reported the Dodgers and Yankees are above the Mets. The Mets were never really in the picture until recently. Andy Martino reported the Mets had always been underdogs here and the fact that they are in the picture is good.

 

It appears to me that the Dodgers are going to land Yamamoto, as they landed Ohtani this week. Why wouldn’t he go there? I imagine he is getting a similar amount of money and is playing with Ohtani, Betts, and Freeman. This seems like a no brainer if I am Yamamoto. Obviously I want him to be a Met, but this is more than about dollars. 

 

 

 

Looking ahead:

 

Some reports indicate the Mets could pivot to Snell and have been linked to Montgomery already should they not land Yamamoto. I would not like to sign Snell. He does not fit the Mets vision for the long term given his inconsistency. Granted the only 2 seasons he threw at least 180 innings he won the Cy Young, it’s only 2 seasons. The rest he has not topped 130 innings. 

He seems like a Carlos Rodon part 2 situation to me. I would much rather the Mets sign Montgomery. He is going to get overpaid and is older, but he eats innings and can do it in New York for sure. I would prefer to cap a contract at 5 years for him, but given the lack of good pitching this offseason I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get 6 years.

 

As for DH, my ideal candidate is JD Martinez as the full-time DH. He had a great year with LA last year and is going to sign a one-year deal somewhere. I see no downsides to JD, other than he can not field. The other option I see is Justin Turner.  Especially since Mauricio is down, Turner can DH and in a pinch man third. He has lost a few steps for sure and his fielding is not great, but in an emergency, he could step in. 

 

 

 

We’ll see where the reason of the offseason takes us, right now is is a wait-and-see game on Yamamoto before further updates.