Yesterday, the Mets made a long-awaited offseason splash, signing erstwhile Colorado Rockies’ outfielder Michael Cuddyer to a two-year free agent contract. The move certainly blind-sided a number of members of the MSM and more than a few fans – including this one. The surprising part is that a Cuddyer-to-the-Mets scenario seemed dead in the water, as the Rockies had extended him a qualifying offer, the 2014 version of which stands at $15.3 million for one year. Presuming he would want at least that for one year and with the offer attaching the loss of the Mets’ first round draft choice — #15, if you’re scoring at home – that would have appeared to have been that. Factoring in his advanced age and injury history – a mere 49 game appearances in 2014 — Cuddyer would seem to have been a prime candidate for the “Look Elsewhere” file. Your intrepid columnist was decidedly unhappy with the signing, for all the reasons above. On reflection, however, Sandy Alderson and the Mets appear to have played this one correctly.
First of all, the contract is less onerous to a ballclub than one of those qualifying offers. Cuddyer signed for two years, $21 million: $8.5 for 2015, $12.5 for ’16. Even the Mets can handle that – in a vacuum. Secondly, he’s what the MSM likes to call a “professional hitter.” Heck, the guy is only a year removed from winning a Batting Championship. He’s also one of those clubhouse-leader types, supposedly, and a buddy of David Wright’s. If he can still hit, run and field, those things are gravy. Of course, the very good news is that the Mets didn’t have to surrender any of their young pitching to improve their offense – a talking point of the early-offseason. This signing might also show us a few other things, as well.
Friend of Mets360 Howard Megdal wrote a piece in Capital New York this morning, wondering if this might be a signal that the Wilpons truly are back in the game, of if this might be the move of the offseason and some scrambling might be necessary to keep the team’s payroll suppressed. Context, of course, will come from the team’s subsequent moves, if any. The Mets could conceivably head into April with Wilmer Flores at shortstop and Daniel Murphy at second base, same as late last year. If that turns out to be the case, the offseason will go down as an abject failure – another pennypinch, which will result in another .500-at-best season. From here, they just can’t be finished – though that has been said before. So, here’s the bottom line: the Mets will eventually have to part with some pitching to bring in a quality shortstop – nothing against Flores, but his defense is lacking and the team can’t afford that on both sides of second base. Let’s see if ownership has the wallet and the stomach to make such a move. If that becomes the case, the Mets just might be able to call themselves a playoff team in 2015 – no less a personage than former tormentor John Smoltz said as much on the MLB Network last night.
So here’s a hearty welcome to Michael Cuddyer and what he could represent. He’d better not have come alone.
Follow me on Twitter @CharlieHangley.
If he hit’s 270-290 with 75-85 ribbies, he’s a Leader….. otherwise, he’s an Old Player.
Charlie,
I want to be persuaded that it was a good signing.
Does this help?
My reservation is the same, age and injuries.
Also, there is something else to consider:
Sandy.
Who makes the line up?
How can a player go so very long and still get at bats?
Chris Young.
Curtis Granderson.
They were played because of their contracts, not because of their bats.
I dunno.
This doesn’t set right with me. I hope I am wrong.
I’d like to see Matt Reynolds get a shot at SS.
I’d like to see Daniel Murphy at 2B with a contract, however, if Dilson Herrera is the real deal, Murph should be strong trade bait. I think he is a “club house guy”, like Cuddy, but if he is to be traded, he could be used to seek out an outfielder.
Granderson won’t hit above .220 for the year, and with the right field fence moved in, maybe we get a few more homers. For the money, it is a terrible signing.
I know that right now there does not appear many alternatives but 2 years, $20 million for a 36 year old who played in so few games last year, and who hit fingers in the thin Colorado air, doesn’t make sense to me.
If he remains healthy and plays to his career numbers, I will be happily wrong in my opinion.
Could MDD, if healthy, played the position full time? We likely will not find out, unless Cuddy is injured.
I don’t know what to think about David Wright’s decline, even outside his injured shoulder. His power has steadily declined for years and he has a long, heavy contract. I don’t know what to expect from him in 2015.
I do know that I do not want to see the following pitchers traded:
Harvey
Wheeler
DeGrom
Noah Syn.
I would like these to be utterly untouchable. If Harvey returns to form, he may be someone we have to trade, but not for awhile. He may clamor to play in the Bronx or in Hollywood, and we may not have a choice, but for right now, there are other assets we can consider moving, but not these 4.
Couple of points, Peter:
— MDD doesn’t have the power Cuddyer does, even in spacious Citi Field.
— If the Mets start winning repeatedly, Queens will be attractive enough for Harvey so he’s no longer pining for the Bronx or Hollywood — though he probably won’t sign long-term before free agency; Boras is his rep, after all.
If the Mets management wanted a 36 year old outfielder, who could still play, why didn’t they sign Marlon Bird last year? We would have been over .500, and would be more optimistic for the spring. What happened to the youth movement? Giving up a Number 1, isn’t that big of a deal. Although the Rookie made a good move with their QO, to grab the draft pick. As a Met fan I hope Cuddyer works out. I agree with Eraff posting.
Very good point on Byrd. Doesn’t look like Alderson believed in him after all.
Great article. Though the Mets don’t seem overexcited about the free agents available at SS, there are a few that could be more than offensively serviceable in spacious Citi Field. Lowrie, Cabrera and Barmes all come to mind.
Unfortunately, I think Cabrera and Barmes (even Hanley Ramirez or Stephen Drew) may be a little costly and a little old but Lowrie could be a perfect target over starting Flores or giving up the farm to make a trade.
Cuddyer is hopefully a first step. Obtaining Castro or Ramirez should be next. An upgrade at SS will allow the Mets to trade Murphy (Free agent 2016) and his $8m salary, even for prospects to stock the system even more. Flores or Herrera moves over to second base. Finally I would rattle the Dodgers cage and try for Van Slyke, who would be a righty bat that would allow Duda to sit vs lefties and act is injury insurance for Cuddyer, Duda or Granderson.
I like the Cuddyer signing because it indicated to me that the Mets are trying for a playoff spot but more needs to be done.
Winning should increase attendance, bring in more revenue and hopefully have a higher 2016 budget.
I like(d) Van Slyke as well, but at this point he’s just a redundancy with Cuddyer on the squad.
Doesn’t Aybar at SS make sense here? He plays – a lot – and doesn’t have the worst contract in the world. You can move parts that the Angels would find interesting. And its totally unexpected. The sort of thing Sandy relishes.
Aybar has pretty much the same value as Alexei Ramirez. Slightly better hitter, but not as durable. Defense also great. Same age, and slightly cheaper contract.
Problem is, why would they move him? They are in win-now mode and have no in-house alternative.
Money. Put them into a position where they can get two or three starters … Flores, Plawecki, Montero, Torres come to mind without thought as their shopping list.
Cheap young talent offset the contracts on the books (Hamilton, Pujols, Weaver) and hopefully keep the A’s from the luxury tax.
Plus, they would be trading high, both the high of the SS market overall, and Aybar’s value.
I could see that happening next year more than this year as the Hamilton, Trout big money don’t really kick in until 2016. . Why break up the status quo for a team that just won 98 games if you’re not even getting a top prospect back in return?
I think that if the Angels wanted to talk with the Mets, they would need to start the conversation with Wheeler/deGrom/Syndeergard/Niese for them to get interested.
Last year, Cuddyer lost time due to a fractured wrist diving for a fly ball and injuries to both hamstrings. These aren’t chronic injuries, and the hammys can be solved by our specialist in Florida by doing some leg work.
Although I confess to wanting a sexier name, I understand the signing. It was done on the Mets terms, at the Mets price, by a recently very successful player. I think we should embrace it, wish him well, and find a SS. Because if I were the GM and the playoffs were asked of me, I couldn’t hang my hat on this DP combo no matter how much I like Flores.
I think you’re being optimistic that the hamstrings aren’t/won’t become chronic.
The best thing about this is importing David Wright’s buddy. Hopefully this will have a positive impact on Wright.
Brian,
I see your point and yes, I’m choosing to be optimistic. If it helps with the leadership that Wright doesn’t have the makeup for, then it was successful. Many factors go into a successful addition.
As far as the hamstrings: He doesn’t steal much, I ain’t worried.
Like everyone, just hoping for the best.
If David Wright needs the Mets to buy him a friend…….
……I’m rooting for Cuddyer to succeed—after all, I can’t root for him to be younger.
Who would excite you most?
Jed Lowrie
Asdrubal Cabrera
Alexei Ramirez
Brad Miller
Starlin Castro
Yoan Moncada
Wilmer Flores
In order:
Castro
Ramirez
Moncada
Cabrera
Flores
Miller
Lowrie
Based on total cost of ownership, and ability to literally play shortstop:
Ramirez (I think; we don’t know what CWS want)
Not Miller the other Mariner (same caveat)
Ruben Tejada – the only 2+ WAR SS you can have, free.
I used to be a Castro guy, but from published reports Chicago wants all sorts of players. The rest of the guys on that list wouldn’t get me excited if they came with free porn.
Charlie, your list and mine are similar.
Jerry, I never want to see Tejada in a Met starting lineup again.
Moncada is big on my personal list because the Cuddyer signing leaves the Mets with no first pick. Moncada would give the Mets a top young name for 2015 in place of who they’d normally be able to draft.
Injuries aside, because everyone gets injured, this is a very good signing. I didn’t think so at first.
When you consider that they gave up the draft pick, it is a clear signal that winning games in 2015 is an actual goal. That alone is a nice change of pace.
Whether this management group has what it takes to ever put together a winning team is not yet proven, I look forward to finding that out.