Reese Kaplan -- The World Has Other Infielders for the Mets

During the gray and ghostly Wilpon years there were many things you could count on happening.  There was the inevitable avoidance of the top free agents and trade targets readily available on the open market.  There was the systemic avoidance of anyone from outside the major and minor league editions of the 29 other affiliated major league teams. 

There was the slow speed with which they went after roster improvement.  Finally, there was the spending limit imposed upon the front office which made it an exercise in creative expression to announce proudly that three to four forgotten and unwanted free agents would equal the risk associated with one who actually had real star level talent.  

With a new regime climbing out of the rubble (with more front office folks to follow) it’s time to ponder whether or not the Mets will actually have the chutzpah to change any of the familiar and gut wrenching Wilpon moves that have become a part of our DNA (and psychotherapy).  The one in which I’d like to concentrate today has to do with broadening the perspective that talent can and does exist outside of 15 year olds playing in South & Central America and adults playing in the USA.  

While a great many people are obsessed with making Francisco Lindor get a United Van Lines tractor trailer truck to carry his goods to Queens, the fact is that you really have to give to get.  You’re going to have to sacrifice some significant talent to get the Indians to part ways with their All Star, Silver Slugger and Gold Glove shortstop.  Then the work is only one third over. 

You get him here but then you have to convince him to stay.  That’s job number two.  Then you have to create the right kind of extremely expensive contract for a great many years with or without escape clauses to entice him to put his name to the paper and become a Met for his prime time years.  

Making these moves are not as difficult nor as expensive as they seem on the surface.  After all, even with his poor 2020 abbreviated season, he averages a WAR rating over 4.7 per season.  If you factor in the $8 million per WAR standard, that makes him a ballplayer worth well north of $37 million per year.  It’s easy to make the argument that whatever you give up in talent and risk that he’ll sign the new contract is worth it given the output you can reasonably expect.

What if a somewhat lesser total output was available on the free agent market where the only issue would be price without sacrificing current talent and without the risk associated with a will he or won’t he sign a contract issue?  No, it’s not a question about D.J. LeMahieu either.   Who we’re here to talk about today is younger than Lindor and available to whomever has the deep enough pockets and the open mindedness to consider talent from across the Pacific.

Kim Ha-Seong is the Korean Baseball Organization’s version of Francisco Lindor.  He started his career directly from high school as a professional at just age 18.  Since then he has quickly grown into a regular who hits for power, drives in runs, steals bases, fields with the best that league has ever seen and he actually walks more than he strikes out. 

Those attributes are just what teams seek when referring to a five-tool player, and he actually is one.  His home run totals have continued to climb as the KBO has taken steps to suppress power by playing with the composition of the ball.  While a guy with 30 HR, 30 steal power with Gold Glove defense is enticing enough, it’s the ability to hit for contact while taking walks that really catches my eye.

Now many people feel that although he’s a primary shortstop in South Korea, the speed of the game is much higher in the USA and thus it may be that he’s better off at second base or third base in the Major Leagues.  Guess what?  The Mets have needs in both of those positions, too.  

As outlined recently, the KBO requires a posting fee for an MLB team to open up negotiations with Ha-Seong.  Now that fee is to me a fairly low-risk variable as it is not payable unless the man signs a contract.  If he does, just factor in the fee as if it was a contract-term extra fee added to each year’s salary.  Say, for example, the contract proffered to the turning-25 year old is for a five-year $40 million deal.  That’s $8 million per year. 

Even if his fee hit the maximum $20 million, that money could be spread over the course of the contract.  For the sake of easy math, assume his contract is in the amount projected by MLB.  So the $8 million per year really becomes $12 million per year once you prorate the transfer fee.  So for less than half of what it would cost to obtain Lindor and with no Jeff McNeil or others leaving the NY Mets roster, you get someone who is likely worth 3 WAR per season -- $24 million -- for half price. 

Now I ask the question, would a hopefully no longer xenophobic team be shrewd to consider all available options and not just the ones they read about regularly in the media?   Once again, no players leaving town, no risk about a free agent contract being signed, less than half of what Lindor would garner in his deal and a marketing opportunity to have their own Ichiro type who flourished when he was imported from Japan to the USA.  I’d seriously have to consider it.