Recently I turned to my friends in the Mets blogosphere and asked them the following question:
What was the most surprising thing to you about this offseason for the Mets?
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Howard Megdal – Plans to go to Surprise, Arizona for Spring Training
Most surprising thing? That the Mets really will enter 2014 with the shortstop and first baseman they so willingly, publicly criticized in 2013. Of course, they still might jettison them both, but I’m surprised it’s gotten this far.
Mack Ade – Secretly wishes for a surprise birthday party
Well, in a general sense, I expected the Mets to make more moves especially by trading some of their secondary rotational pitching talent to add some high end positional player depth at the AAA/AA .level.
I fully understand the reluctance in losing the to draft picks by signing people like Stephen Drew, but what I don’t understand why you want to lose a draft pick for signing someone for one year. You have a shortstop problem and it looks like it will remain that way through at least 2016. Doesn’t that mean a three year deal is a good thing?
I’m also surprised that Sandy Alderson seemed to take the free agent process for granted again. You have to be ‘in it to win it’ when you play the FA game and you can’t honestly expect players like Jhonny Peralta or Mike Napoli to sign a one or two year low end deal with you when other teams are willing to pay the ‘going rate’.
Jon Springer – Is always surprised when his box of Crunch ‘n Munch has no toy prize
I guess I’m surprised that more hasn’t yet happened on the trade front. It seemed to me that given the Mets’ redundancies and needs a trade would almost have to happen, and I still think it ultimately will. I’d like to think it’s because Sandy’s driving a hard bargain for us and will wear his counterparts down before the bell rings. Coughing up the powerful WFAN signal to the Yankees without as much as a fight I suppose isn’t surprising given the way the Mets do biz these days, but a terrible thing to have to swallow.
Greg Prince – Says surprise three times, like Gomer Pyle
The surprise of commission was the signing of Bartolo Colon, which seemed to come out of nowhere, except that he was an Oakland Athletic, and the Alderson group seems to favor players who played for franchises where its key executives used to work. That, I assume, is why we wound up with Chin-lung Hu, Brad Emaus and Mike Baxter. The fact that there were no Colon rumors floating around made the signing all the more delightful, let alone surprising.
The surprise of omission was, as of the eve of Pitchers & Catchers, not obtaining a starting shortstop. I thought they’d make a genuine (or jhenuine) run at Jhonny Peralta, but he got away from them fast and, to date, they haven’t exactly moved to scoop up Stephen Drew as he bounces through the deepest part of the hot stove infield. Given their barely disguised contempt for Ruben Tejada, I’m a little stunned he enters Spring Training as the de facto Opening Day starter. Though evidence points against it, I’d be surprised if we don’t see Wilmer Flores given a chance to show he can play there (it must be February if I think that’s a good idea). There’s something about not upgrading at that position that signals an unseriousness to the Mets’ 2014 intentions…which might be a prudent reserve of resources given where Matt Harvey is this spring, but it’s a little disappointing.
Ike still being here, on the other hand…somehow I’m not shocked.
John Coppinger – Was very surprised not to run away with things in the Celtic Pride league
I’d say the Colon signing, because that came out of nowhere for me. But the Mets frequently sign older players to fill important roles … so that’s not it. I’d note the fact that the Mets basically came out in October/November and said that they were going to get a new shortstop, and then, y’know, not get a new shortstop. But this also falls in line with recent history, so that’s not it either. The potential of losing the radio team surprised me more than anything with the baseball team. But again … Jeff Wilpon potentially doing something stupid? That’s not a surprise … that’s just a day that ends in “y”. I guess as you root for this team for 40 years, you learn that nothing surprises you anymore.
James Preller – Consistently surprised when the bad guy is unmasked in Scooby Doo
It’s so hard to pick only one. It was surprising that Sandy could not trade Ike Davis for a quality power arm. Ha, kidding! The surprise was how badly Sandy bungled it from a PR perspective. It was amateurish, like watching “The Gong Show.” In other news, it was surprising how management transformed its message regarding Ruben Tejeda from lazy bum at a position the team clearly needed to upgrade to . . . “Never mind, folks!” I was surprised by the dollar amount and the promises made to Chris Young. But the biggest surprise to me was the two-year deal for Bartolo Colon. With Jenrry Mejia and Rafael Montero and, to a lesser extent, Jake deGrom, ripening on the vine, I figured Alderson would be content to fill-in with low-cost veterans as insurance policies. But signing Colon was a statement move, with an emphasis on the present, and it completely caught me by surprise. I still have mixed feelings about it, but I appreciate the risk and understand the strategy. Let’s hope he got this one right.
I almost forgot to mention: Bobby Abreu contract offer! It’s nice that the world still has the capacity to surprise us, I guess.
Chris Walendin – Saw the surprise in The Crying Game coming from a mile away
The most surprising thing to me about this Mets offseason is that both Ike Davis & Lucas Duda are still on the team. (The second most surprising thing is that I’m surprised by this.) In all seriousness, though, I really thought they’d find a taker for Ike Davis (or Duda, though I thought Davis was more likely to be on the move). I wasn’t expecting much back in return, of course, but I was pretty confident back in October that they wouldn’t both be in camp.
*****
There’s been a ton of surprises this offseason. But the thing that floored me the most was the release of Justin Turner and then trashing him on the way out the door for not hustling. Getting rid of him was the right call and he certainly jogged to first base on some grounders. But I just assumed he had reached Luis Sojo, team mascot status with the Mets and would be here as long as he wished. Now if we can do away with the pie-in-the-face routine, so much the better.
*****
Thanks to Howard, Mack, Jon, Greg, John, JP and Chris for participating!
I was surprised everyone and their mother wanted Stephen Drew on the team so desperately.
Joura I would have thought you would have picked releasing all the LOOGYS. Or did you see Byrdak and Carson and Feliciano all not being on the team heading into spring training?
I was definitely pleasantly surprised that all three are gone. But the fact that they trashed Turner put that one over the top for me.
Still no S/S,which was “high” on the list of need I am surprised at most, and ticked off at so little effort to get one?
Three surprises:
1. The Mets failed to trade Ike Davis for Troy Tulowitzki.
2. The Mets passed on Tanaka to sign Matsuzaka.
3. That some Mets fans believe that this is a better than .500 club.
Bonus surprise: Sandy Alderson hasn’t put out a contract on jeff wilpon.
It has to be Colon. For a team with Harvey, Wheeler, Niese, Hefner, Gee, Mejia, Montero, Syneergaard available next year, it was a pretty stupid decision to pay Colon for 2 years at that much money.
I was surprised at the Colon signing but I don’t think it’s stupid.
Arroyo got 2 years, $23.5 million and he’s a few years younger. Here’s how he and Colon have done the past three years:
Arroyo – 603 IP, 4.19 ERA, 94 ERA+
Colon – 507 IP, 3.32 ERA, 119 ERA+
The Mets needed quality innings to replace Harvey. Arroyo’s edge in durability is not as important as Colon’s edge in quality. If Colon can come close to repeating his 2013 season, the Mets have a tremendous trade asset. And if he doesn’t, at least they’re paying less money to him.
I thought you were preaching early in the offseason that the Mets didn’t need to spend more than a few million on a 5th starter?
1 year, i would understand. Would even understand 1 year + an option. But 2 guaranteed years? Makes no sense to me. In order for us to actually need Colon next year, we need setbacks/regressions with 4 of our 8 starters (and that’s not counting guys like deGrom, Gorski). The Met have had bad luck recently, but that would be historically unlucky.
Considering the Mets were able to acquire him for 2/20, i don’t think many other teams value him highly. The only way we could get something for him is if he pitches well and we deal him at the trade deadline for a desperate team. If he’s still on the team at the end of the offseason, teams will probably value him lower than this year even if he has another good year as he will be a year older.
You are correct – I did not want the Mets to spend on a SP.
But I still don’t think signing Colon to the deal they did was stupid.
I am surprised that Major League Baseball didn’t force the Wilpon’s to sell when it came to light that the Met loan restricted the team payroll the past few years. I am even furthur surprised that the MLBPA didn’t file suit because of this. How can there be a collective bargaining agreement between the players and the teams when a third party ( a bank) can restrict and supress the salary that the players negotiated for in good faith? Something is not right here.
That’s assuming MLB wants the Mets to spend money, which I can’t believe is the case. Their payroll is high enough that the MLBPA can’t say anything, which is all they care about.
The Wilpons have trouble, but nothing that’s going to force a public disclosure of their finances, like what happened with McCourt and the Dodgers. That’s what MLB will bend over backwards to avoid happening.
But can a third part restrict the spending that two other parties agreed to in a collective bargaining agreement?
What spending do you think MLB and MLBPA agreed to in the CBA? I’d be willing to bet money that there is no “big market” minimum. I think what got the Marlins in trouble several years ago is that they received revenue sharing and didn’t put that money into the team. Since the Mets pay revenue sharing, that’s not a worry.
A bank in it’s loan terms stated the Mets could not sign players to certain contracts. That is the contract between the Bank and the Mets.
The Collective Bargainig agreement between the Union and MLB is an agreement that already has a negotiated clause that inhibits salaries by imposing a luxury tax. Therefore, restricting salaries is a negotiable item in the CBA. A third party, the bank, not a party in the CBA has restricted a negotiated item in the CBA un be known to the player’s union. Now that it has come to light, the player’s union has a very winnable grievance. The arguement being that a third party (the bank) has imposed a restriction on player salary that is not within the context of the CBA. As a former labor leader I am confident that this is at least grieveable and likely winnable.
It has nothing to do with big markets but the principles and negotiable items in the CBA. Brian at this point the readers most be bored to tears on this contract law dissertation.
I don’t think it’s winnable.
But let’s say that it is. Why hasn’t the MLBPA filed suit yet?
And in the theme of the article, that is why I am surprised!
This afternoon, Alderson denied reports of payroll restrictions imposed by banks issuing loans to the Mets. (of course because it violates the CBA)
It is now up to the reporter, Josh Kosman, of the NY Post to substantiate his story.
The players union can’t file a grievance without this evidence and MLB is not going to voluntarily offer it.
Aside from the insane interest in Drew, who would not have any manifest change at short or the team record, it’s the unbridled optimism and talk about the post season when no moves have been made that do any more than achieve replacement of what was lost, and really not even near that much.
[…] I forget, I noticed our friends at Mets 360 had another roundtable that you participated in, asking what people thought was the biggest surprise of the offseason. […]
Interesting the union didn’t know about the alleged loans that restricted payroll. Also interesting that the Mets deny they exist but are very specific in their denial wording. http://m.espn.go.com/mlb/story?storyId=10550245