On the eve of the 2015 regular season, the Mets announced that they have signed Gold Glove centerfielder Juan Lagares to a four-year, $23 million contract extension. This move has been hailed far and wide as one of the more intelligent maneuvers the Mets have made over the past several years, buying up all his arbitration years, and an option on his first free agency eligibility. Over on Baseball Think Factory, the consensus is that this was a good deal for the team, even if Lagares doesn’t improve at all with the bat. One commenter even went as far as to state that Lagares would have to sink to “below 4th OF status for this to be a bad deal.” We haven’t heard adjectives like this bandied about since the start of the Sandy Alderson regime. Heady stuff, indeed.
As with any financial matter concerning the Mets, though, there are doubts about ownership’s stability. Let’s face it: the Wilpons have given us no reason to trust them when it comes to money. Every potential big-money deal – even one as team-friendly as this one with Lagares – is looked by the fans out of the corner of their eye. Can they really afford to do this? Is this going to hamstring them from being able to make improvements in-season? Will Alderson have the flexibility he needs to add payroll if that becomes necessary? What about the debt? What about the balloon payments coming due in June? There has also been talk of a similar extension for Lucas Duda. Piggy-backing this on the Lagares signing, some see this as the long awaited sign that the Wilpons are finally out of the weeds. It remains to be seen.
From here, it looks like the real test will come mid-season, as the team approaches the trade deadline. Let’s say the Mets are in the thick of the playoff race, as we all hope and as we’ve been told for a year. Let’s say they’ve accomplished this with very little production from the shortstop spot. Let’s say a big-money, veteran, offensive-minded shortstop from a team out West that’s fallen out of contention becomes available – the urge to name names will be avoided here. Let’s say that team from out West is pining for some young pitching. Will the team have the financial wherewithal to pull the trigger on a deal like that? Will they have the will and the resources to be able to make such a big-ticket haul?
You can’t blame a Met fan for being skeptical.
Follow me on Twitter @CharlieHangley.
If the Mets are in the thick of it at the trade deadline then they will probably invest in order to maintain the fans interest and keep the revenues flowing until the end of the year.
If the scenario you describe concerning Tulo occurs then the Mets have to jump all over it. Tulo cost $20M and losing Murphy and Colon tallies $19M. If Flores is hitting great then the Mets just move him to second base.
Charlie between Murphy, Colon and Gee coming off the books that comes out to a savings of over 25 million dollars. They have the depth so parting with one of the kids should not be a hindrance to a wild card and the potential that comes with it. You can apply a portion of that money for your upgrade of TT at SS. You see I made no mention of the player you’re referring to.
My initial reaction to this was “great!” The Mets are doing what good teams do now (well, most teams) and have been doing for a while. That is, locking up their good, young players sooner rather than later for reasonable contracts before their value (potentially) skyrockets.
My next reaction was a bit of sadness because I realized the Mets last did this with Wright and Reyes years ago, and it was only so long ago because the team hadn’t really developed anyone worth this kind of move. Niese would be the lone example, I guess.
Off-topic: I see that scroll about Colon being “roughed up” in his last outing. Now, I am not a fan of Bartolo nor do I like the contract. I wish he could just disappear, frankly. But I saw parts of that last outing. Heading into the 6th, across 5 innings, he had given up one run. In the 6th, he was pulled after a weak jam shot fell a few feet beyond the reach of the SS, scoring the 2nd run, runners at 1st and 3rd.
He was hardly “roughed up.” At the same time, he’s a guy who is going to give up hits and, I think, pretty consistently allow teams to score runs. Last season he received, I believe, the 4th most run support in the NL. Thus, 15 wins and the bright sheen on his 2014 season.
I don’t think he wins 10 games this year. Not because he’s awful, but because he’s not that good. And he may not last through July. Right now I think the Mets are holding back 3 better options. We have established that Dillon Gee will be on a short leash. I wonder how long it will be for Bartolo Colon.
But he will not be facing the number one pitcher from other teams as well. He should eventually be brought down to the number 4 spot after Niese. It doesn’t matter if he stays in the number one or 4 spot James you’re going to see another 4+ERA and maybe 10-12 wins Surely the Mets must believe that Montero could do just the same for 11 million dollars less! problem is no one is going to take Colon at that bloated salary.
If I ran the Mets universe I would consider moving Colon into Darrin Oliver’s old role and add Raphael Montero to the Ro. Actually I wanted to see that last year, with Harvey recovering and some of the immediate pressure to win off.
Another offhand thought I had about this time last year was that Montero could well put up better numbers five years into his career than Zack Wheeler would. With Wheeler’s injury that quasi-prediction is starting to look viable again; but only if Raphael gets his chance
I feel like this organization has both Syndergaard and Matz higher in the pecking order; I think they will get the chance to start consistently before Montero — who, I think, will either be in the pen for the Mets and/or eventually traded.
Gee might be keeping the seat warm, but it’s not for Raphael.
James that’s so sad and indicative of this organization. Montero who has so much more upside than Gee and is under team control for how many more additional years? I know Gee’s salary at 5.3 million is affordable for the Mets. But there are far more better and cheaper options who have the potential to win 15 games or more consistently. Maybe that’s why we keep hearing rumors about Gee being traded still today. By the way if Gee just pitches to his average numbers with his pit stops on the DL, he’ll probably make 7 or 8 million or more next season for going 12 and 10.