The Mets have reached out to Rafael Furcal, according to multiple reports. Let’s put that on the list of things I’d never thought I would write. But, there is something of note to take out of this.
This doesn’t mean that Rafael Furcal is the top priority for the Mets or that he’s their only target, as some in the social media world have alluded to. Sandy Alderson is evaluating the market. He’s putting price tags are certain assets, attempting to figure out what it’s going to cost him to bring in talent. Rafael Furcal may never get a contract offer from the Mets. Alderson will talk to a bunch of talent that he will never fax a contract over to. This is what GMs do at the start of the “hot stove”.
We are two days into this whole circus of players signing and teams talking trades. Sandy Alderson is trying to get ahead of the curve as best he can, in order to make the best signings possible. Figuring out what a guy like Furcal wants and will command can help him put figures to Peralta and Drew. And with that knowledge, Alderson can figure out what he can and cannot do this offseason (although he probably has a good idea already).
Alderson knows that Furcal can’t be his marquee signing of the off-season, he’s a smart man. But with everyone trying to be the Red Sox this winter, creativity can go a long way to improving a ball club. That’s what got the Red Sox to where they are, by creative signings and deals. Alderson is trying to do the same.
The more time Alderson waits around for the market to come to him, the worse the 2014 Mets will be. He knows this, and is trying to attack the market head on. By doing this, he can get a gauge on what he needs to do in the trade market in order to make the team better.
Rafael Furcal is just one of the pieces of the puzzle of this free agent market that Alderson needs to put together. As soon as the puzzle is complete, Alderson can get to work making the 2014 Mets better. It’s two days into the off-season; a little perspective can go a long way. Give it time and Alderson will start making moves.
I’ll take Furcal if we have Beltran and CarGo in the outfield corners
Jhonny Peralta: is coming off the last 3 years averaging a 3.7 PED enhanced WAR. Almost 32 YOA coming with a salary of $7M.
Stephen Drew: (QO)has averaged a 1.5 WAR the past 3 years and will be 31 YOA coming off a 9.5M salary. MLBTR predicts 4/48
Peralta although older, may be the better value, with no loss of draft pick, and the better player.
Gregorious or Owings from Arizona is a possibility. Is it fool hardy to rely on a rookie shortstop and catcher? It is the cheapest route.
Alexi Ramirez is 32 YOA and is tied up until 2015 (2016 option) at $10M per year. Avg 2.9 WAR over past three years.
Eric Aybar 30 YOA at 8.5M until 2016. Avg 3.0 WAR annually over the past three years. Good value and younger than
Ramirez.
I understand kicking the tires on Furcal but he is a last resort option.
It’s been said that Alderson has not read the market well the last few off-seasons and did try to let the market come to him. It’s even been said he’s too old school and doesn’t understand today’s FA market. I don’t necessarily agree with that, but I can see how it could be perceived that way. I’m of the mind that he had a plan and not much money, thus the off-seasons we had the last few years.
That being said, he really does need to be (reasonably) aggressive here.
I agree on Sandy possibly being too old school, but this is his offseason to prove us all wrong. We’ve been waiting for three years for this offseason. Time for Sandy and the Wilpons to put up.
Only if Furcal is replacing Q as our backup SS and Tejada is not the starter.
You don’t sign a player like Furcal to be your back up since he’s had issues staying healthy since 2008. Tejada fits that role better.
Why waste the time and energy on a 36 year old shortstop who had injury issues last season? Over the past 5 season Furcal had only 1 season where played in more than 100 games. It’s a high risk move with zero benefits. If he plays well, he’ll sign somewhere else the following season. If he plays poorly then you’ve wasted an opportunity to upgrade the position. Sign Peralta to 3 years and Tejada can back up shortstop and second.
Looks like the Mets are also reaching out to Corey Hart. Another free agent who missed all of last year.
That combined with this quote from mlbtraderumors “In today’s mailbag, a reader asks MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo if Jacoby Ellsbury or Shin-Soo Choo could be realistic options for the Mets. After speaking with a number of people both inside and outside the Mets organization, DiComo came away with the impression that no one expects GM Sandy Alderson to do anything of that magnitude.”
Leaves me to believe the Mets are hoping to find bargains in the free agent market…
When the Mets finish the season averaging less than 20,0000 fans attending maybe then something will give. If Selig was not a friend of the Wilpons you can be damn sure he would of forced them to sell the team in the “best interest in baseball.” What a joke this team is becoming. Why sign a player who didn’t even play 2013 due to injuries? That pretty much sums up his confidence in the outfield and first base. Who’s fault is that? The buck stops at the GM good or bad.
Furcal = tommy john surgery
Cory Hart = multiple knee surgeries
Did he learn nothing from Marcum’s miserable experiment?
One of the key post season successes is keeping a team relatively healthy, a thing this staff cannot seem to do. And here we are, shopping on the Island of Misfit Toys.
In the end, I’m happy to saddle the team with a few long term deals for the right guy. But they better be good. Right now in a fairly weak FA class where mediocre people will get way over market deals, and the top FAs will really be over market, it does make me wonder whether digging in now is the right move, especially with a club still on the downside. He does need to get someone in to get fanny’s in the seat, but let’s not pretend 2014 is the start of the good days.
Maybe we can re-name Citifield to Field of Broken Dreams. Add Kevin Youkillis to your list of potential rejects the team is inquiring about.
Lets hope this is just a starting point … We move up in terms of talent and realistic possibilities of actually signing the FAs we speak with. We need to also keep an eye on moves being made by the Brewers, the Angels, and the Rockies. All those organizations could be looking to be active in the trade market.
I don’t understand why fans are freaking out at every single report that comes out now. Such is the life of MLB offseason in 2013 when every single little discussion is reported by the media.
You can enter a store, pick up an item and look it, and put it down and not buy it. There’s nothing wrong with doing his due diligence on every free agent, even if he’s not seriously interested, it’s his job.
Corey Hart did not play last year. Don’t you think it would of been a better idea just to keep tabs on his year long progress from micro knee surgery? instead of inquiring on his health now? Don’t you think the front office should be concentrating on signing at least 1 impact player and not have leaks go out about Furcal and Hart? Makes the Mets look like they’re basement bargain hunters when they haven’t even spent a dime on anyone yet.