Last year, as justification of not pursuing either Bryce Harper or Manny Machado, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon said, “I don’t know how many teams have two $30-million players.”
In 2020 there are at least three. We have the defending World Series champion Nationals (Scherzer $35.9 and Strasburg ($35) and the 107-win Astros (Greinke $35 and Verlander $33). Plus the 2018 World Series champs (Price $32, Sale $30)
And not that the Mets had even one $30 million player at the time of the Wilpon quote.
Here is what troubles me. The Yankees just signed Gerrit Cole to a $ 324 million dollar contract. I would probably not sign a player to a contract like this. But, the Yankees saw Cole as the missing link to become a championship team. They went after him.
Meanwhile, the Mets continue their bargain bin shopping at the flea market and continue to drink the Wilpon cool aid. This is New York team, They should be prudent, but aggressive to improve. The Phillies even added Gregorious.
I just pray, that when the Cohen dust settles, they the Mets infuse energy and cash into roster building, with or without BVW.
I am concerned about my feelings on trades. With all of this chatter about Marte, I am concerned that we will trade too much young talent for him. I am really concerned that BVW will shop Lowrie and attach Nimmo to him in a salary dump.
I’d rather just keep Nimmo.
Agreed. Keep Nimmo; we know he is trending up. We don’t know that about Marte.
Nimmo wont be the only player in that deal….the Pirates will probably want a very good prospect plus Nimmo…especially because Nimmo is going to get expensive quickly.
I’d hunch a Top Prospect with a Saley dump might get that done…Nimmo would be one of the other Trade-ables for other parts
Anything Mr. Jeffy says needs to be discounted based on Mr. Jeffy saying it…use the discount percentage that you see fit.
So, we all know the Mets have a tight budget, once again for the umpteenth time. We also know that they finish in 3rd, barely, that two teams in the NL East made the playoffs last year, and that the Wild Card team won the WS. We also know that these teams are very competitive, spending significantly this offseason, and as our wonderful GM said, “aren’t getting any worse”.
Nimmo is controllable for 3 years, very affordably, is a LH bat with elite on-base skills. I don’t see why I would trade him for a more expensive 30+ CF, albeit a quality player, because he is RH and can throw a little better.
The Mets will need to compete for the division based on depth and bounce back years from their pen guys. Brodie, please do not dilute the controllable talent to free up what amounts to be small potatoes money. I’d rather sit tight right now, bargain bin, and wait for what we hope to be Cohen money, rather than have a smaller talent pool for the next regime to start with. Let the next regime start with as much depth as possible combined with a NYC payroll budget.
TJ: Nice summary of what could be a solid strategy.
I think we are all in agreement. Nimmo needs to stay. Marte could very easily turn out to be George Foster, with his best days behind him.
Also, giving away a good asset, just to dump Lowrie’s salary is foolish.
The Michael Wacha signing:
Can’t get excited because we all know the health issues he has had, resulting in limited innings. If it’s a depth signing, doing a favor for another CAA client, ok. If he’s expected to be the #5 guy, I’m not pleased. This signing is one that a second division team makes in hope of flipping it on July 31st. When a pitcher – just last month – had shoulder inflammation and missed starts, how healthy can he be? There seems to be an underlying tone this winter to stay the course on the bottom line, so I guess that means Porcello wanted too much money.
My point is that if there is another starting pitcher signing, then fine; try to hit a homerun.
Well, it’s pretty clear that 2020 is pretty much over. No big contracts. Let’s hope there no major shake up to the pipeline for some wildly misguided belief that the Mets are “almost there”. I think most people would place them in 4th in the east based on what we see just now. Signing Wacha for 1 year and passing on even the likes of Porcello says there’s not much plans. The Wilpon’s should be embarrassed by the Yankees, Phillies, Braves, and Nats. Maybe this accelerates the departure. Jake Marisnick, Michael Wacha, and Brad Brach…I’m guessing that’s not the off season folks were thinking about.
“I’m guessing that’s not the off season folks were thinking about.”
Well, if that’s the case … then they’re as clueless as those who were shocked that Wheeler got the contract that he did. It just means they weren’t paying attention.
Last year the Mets had their highest Opening Day payroll in team history. This year’s OD payroll zoomed past that once expected arbitration figures were counted. Why people thought that because they still had XX amount of dollars before they hit the CBT threshold that they would spend that money is beyond me. There’s nothing in the post-Madoff history of the Wilpon Mets that suggested that they would do that.
Thinking that the Mets were going to spend big on importing new players this offseason (without dumping payroll) was as likely as Tomas Nido hitting a triple.
Yep. I’ve been saying for months payroll is a total lock down. Yet the idea of Rendon and Wheeler and… is always just a heartbeat away.
Macha-Marisnick-Brach is no doubt the moves of a prentender, not a contender, regardless of how much spin. That said, the offseason is far from over.
Since 2012, the Mets have had anywhere from the 13th to 21st ranked payroll. Whether 2018 was an all-time high Met payroll or not is irrelavant. The industry is clearly flush with cash, and MLB revenues are growing faster than the rate of payroll increase.
Lastly, I’m no insider but I’m not sure about all these accountants tracking the payroll and the tax threshold. David Wright has been out of the game for two years, there was a settlement of his contract that involved insurance and his new role with the team. We are counting his original contract salary as part of the 2020 payroll? If these are truly the limitations, how in the world could the Cano acquisition have been approved? Only if the though was that it would help raise the equity of the team for a sale, and the new owner could deal with the payoll implcations.
OK…. I’m waiting for some moves, but it’s still December.
The Nationals just spent a ton of money to keep a great Pitcher—I don’t count that as an Add for Them. They are very top heavy and Bench Week—this will make that worse. If they don’t sign Rendon, they are worse.
The Phils are Scary…. maybe they sign Porcello for a Year? Didi for a one year and Wheeler for 190-200 innings is a smart stroke for the Phils. If McCutcheon gets back……..
Braves…scary Talent….. Astro’s Like
Add another team to the multiple $30 million players with the Angels signing Rendon.
Trout – $37.7
Rendon – $35 (assuming it’s distributed equally, which certainly may not be the case)
Oh, and Pujols will earn $29 million in 2020, too.
You have to take the Nats off your list. Per the norm for the Nats, a ton of the Scherzer and Strasbug contract is deferred so they are nowhere paying out 30+ mil per year
So, Porcello and Wacha? And these two are on one year contracts to build their value, so you know they want rotation spots. Ok… Seems like an extra arm may be available. Matz?
Also, on the news of Dominic Smith being added to Lowrie’s full contract and shipped to the Rangers, I don’t like that. So, you’re losing effectively Smith’s five years of control to not add anything to Lowrie’s deal? Why did you even sign Lowrie? Last year there was Todd Frazier around as well. Just stupid. What’s dumber, the Cano trade or Lowrie’s signing? Not what is more damaging, but what’s dumber? Especially since the Mets already had Cano, certainly the Lowrie signing was dumber and made by a guy that just did favors for CAA clients.
Just throw money into Lowrie’s deal and keep Smith, Trade Smith for something worthwhile.
Lots of Arms, and I don’t think any of them are going anywhere (unless Thor for Mookie).
I wonder whether Matz-Macha-Porcello might have Fluid Roles. I’d be especially interested to see Matz out of the Bullpen. Limit his approach…simplify and attack.
For teams treating the luxe tax threshold like a hard salary cap, a $30mm+ contract can mean more than 25% of payroll on one player. Two of them = 50%. This is where math is important. Given how much money MLB is generating these days and how much star players are commanding, that 205mm number is not realistic or sustainable and it makes it all the more improbable and impressive that teams like Tampa and Oakland are able to remain competitive.
The Angels now have more than $125mm committed to just 4 players all on one side of the ball and again won’t have enough money to assemble a competitive pitching staff.
The Nats now have a 100mm+ rotation with holes in the lineup and at key positions.
The Phillies have the bulk of their payroll locked up in a half dozen players with gaping holes at three positions.
The Red Sox and Cubs are looking to she’d rather than add players.
This is why, when you have cheap, controllable assets like Dom Smith and JD Davis you don’t give them away so fast.