The Mets did not rush in hiring Billy Eppler as their GM. Part of that was due to spinning their wheels in search of a President of Baseball Operations. Eppler was hired in mid-November. Perhaps because he was up against the deadline of the owners’ lockout, Eppler did not waste time making his mark on the squad, as the Mets signed four free agents before the lockout began in early December.

The lockout ended on March 10 and on March 12, Eppler again made a big move, sending two minor league pitchers to the A’s for Chris Bassitt. Two days later he signed Adam Ottavino. When the trade deadline came, Eppler didn’t wait until the last minute to make a deal. Instead, he made his biggest in-season move on July 22, acquiring Daniel Vogelbach. The trade deadline last year was Aug. 2.

Eppler continued his fast moves once the season ended. He re-signed Edwin Diaz to a deal before he officially reached free agency. And after Jacob deGrom signed with the Rangers, it was just a few days later that the Mets inked Justin Verlander to replace him.

Now, some of the credit for Eppler’s fast action has to go to Steve Cohen. Obviously, when you’re dealing with the large numbers of the contracts for Diaz, Max Scherzer and Verlander, the owner is going to have to sign off on it. And there’s also been documentation that Cohen was involved in the negotiations for both Scherzer and Verlander.

Regardless of who deserves credit for which moves, it’s nice to see the Mets’ front office consistently acting so decisively.

Which brings us to Brandon Nimmo.

After the Mets’ season was over, the team was on record as saying that Diaz and Nimmo were their top priorities. So, why was Diaz signed right away and Nimmo is still a free agent? It takes two to tango and while Diaz was willing to commit early, Nimmo was not. And many of you will blame Scott Boras for this, thinking he is evil incarnate.

If Boras represented deGrom, many Mets fans would blame him for the longtime Met moving on to Texas. The idea that deGrom was very open to playing elsewhere and he found a team willing to give him more years and more money than the Mets were offering would have been conveniently forgotten. No chance is ever missed by those fans to claim that the evil Boras keeps players from doing what they really want to do.

It’s laughable the mystical powers that these fans think Boras holds.

But just because Boras doesn’t have mystical powers, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a particular M.O. And it’s just incredibly rare for a Boras client to sign a deal before the Winter Meetings. There’s no better place to play one team against another than the annual meetings where all squads are heavily represented.

None of us know what Nimmo wants. However, it’s a pretty safe bet that he’ll sign the biggest contract he can get, whether that has him playing his home games in Citi Field or T-Mobile Park or any destination in between. Nimmo is my favorite player but if he ends up going someplace else, there will be no gnashing of teeth on my part.

The one thing that we can feel fairly confident about is if mystery team X offers Nimmo a contract, Boras will go back to the Mets and give them the opportunity to beat the deal. Unlike deGrom, who didn’t give the Mets that chance, Nimmo seems to enjoy playing in New York. And Boras would be a fool if he didn’t give Cohen and the Mets a chance to beat any deal. And if we know anything, we know Boras isn’t a fool.

So, if Nimmo signs elsewhere, we have to believe that Cohen and Eppler believe another team has offered him more money than he’s worth. And this won’t be a Brodie Van Wagenen/Zach Wheeler comp. At this point in time, Eppler and Cohen have earned the benefit of the doubt about paying players what they’re worth.

It seems like Nimmo has a robust market and that makes perfect sense to me. Earlier, my speculation was that he was going to get a contract similar to the 6/$150 deal that George Springer signed a few years ago. Maybe he was “only” getting five years but the AAV was going to be $25 million or more. Last year wasn’t a great year for Nimmo, at least offensively. But he stayed healthy and put up a 5.4 fWAR. With no other comparable CF to him on the market, he was going to get paid and paid well.

So, where’s the point where Eppler and Cohen blink?

Beats me. But my hope is that before the Winter Meetings are through, Eppler gets Nimmo re-signed. The idea of signing a corner outfielder and playing Starling Marte in center for a year or two seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Marte’s reputation as a defensive center fielder always exceeded his actual numbers playing the position. And generally, players don’t improve defensively in their mid-30s. Plus, at this point it’s almost a given that Marte’s going to miss a month of the season for one reason or another. If he’s plan A in center, plan B will be even worse.

It won’t be a surprise if the Mets make multiple moves at the Winter Meetings. Eppler and company have one down with Verlander. Here’s hoping Nimmo becomes the second one. Everyone seems to be focusing on another starting pitcher yet my hope is they get a reliever with solid MLB production inked. Maybe that’s re-upping with Ottavino or signing Andrew Chafin, who was everyone’s favorite lefty reliever last offseason.

Whoever they wind up with, it will likely be another quick sign, adding to Eppler’s resume on that point.

18 comments on “The battle of quick-draw Billy Eppler and slow-playing Scott Boras over Brandon Nimmo

  • NYM6986

    Seems like you are going to have to spend 20,000,000+ a year to land Nimmo since the qualifying offer was over 19 million. Don’t blame him for trying to get as much money as he can, but playing for a contender and winning a championship is usually high on most professional athletes list of wants. And Scott Boras has always just been out for himself and by getting the largest dollars for his clients gets the largest dollars for himself. Clearly makes Nimmo more valuable is both his playing a good centerfield and the fact that he gets on base as a lead off hitter. It’s hard to replace both. So fingers crossed they can figure this out and bring back one strong piece of the puzzle. Then we can move on to other areas that need shoring up so that we can advance from where we landed last year.

  • Mike W

    Nimmo and Boras are waiting for Judge to sign which should drive up Nimmo’s price.

    I still like the idea of trading for Bryan Reynolds and his $ 6.7 million salary for 2023. That leaves us more money for what we need.

    • Brian Joura

      If you were the Pirates, how much would you ask in return for Reynolds? He’s a good player on a cheap contract and that combo is going to cost a pretty penny.

      I have no idea what the Pirates need/want. But the pu pu platter of excess we may have isn’t going to get it done.

  • ChrisF

    100% with you on this Brian. We can all look back to Jered Weaver too, a famous (at the time) pitcher for the Angels who took quite a lower contract to remain with his hometown Angels despite being advised by Boras to wait for more. Boras will represent his clients as they wish. If Nimmo wants to remain a Met, expect a hard bargain, but for it to happen. With Bellinger now off the books, it’s time to make Nimmo happen and see, like with Diaz, if a genuine deal can get made. I’d say you can look at 6/130-140 as getting this done.

    • Mile W

      I don’t like Nimmo and here is why. He is a fine player and appears to be a decent teammate and human being. But, if we sign him for all of that money, we basically have the same team as last year in the field. Where is our new big bat? That is why I like Reynolds. He hit 27 home runs this year and he is a switch hitter. I wish Nimmo well, but not at his price. We need money for next off season to sign the dual threat Ohtani.

  • Mike W

    Glad Bellinger signed with the Cubs. $ 17.5 million is a lot of money for a guy with a .200 batting average with a terrible swing. He has this awful loop swing. He needs a complete makeover.

    I am starting to think that Nimmo is going to get 6/150.

  • T.J.

    I am a big Nimmo guy but my gut is that the Mets won’t be the highest bidder. Even with Cohen’s wealth, there is only so much to go around. That isn’t only with regards to 2023, but beyond. For sure, if Nimmo goes, it will be a big hit to an offense that fell a bit short in 2022.

    Bellinger would have been a nice fallback…yes, an overpay for a guy with his offensive issues, but a good glove in CF and a guy that could be a lottery ticket for a big season. Reynolds is a really good player but that would drain the prospect pool. The Mets will need some low cost home grown guys to take up roster spots in future seasons unless they will push a $400-$500 million payroll. The plan B will be very interesting to follow, and will play a big role in how the Mets are seen in the 2023 preseason rankings.

  • ChrisF

    Kevin Kiermaier is also on the short list. Before you cringe too bad, the rules changes for next year, particularly the base size increas and the baseline length decrease is a real favor for KK. But replacing 5 WAR ain’t gonna be easy. The Mets a re nuts to not make Nimmo a winning offer, unless you see Soto coming down the tracks

  • Footballhead

    OK, breaking news tonight is that the Phillies signed T Walker for what I believe is “reasonable money”. So now what Eppler? You didn’t think Walker was worth the QO, so we lose him to a NL rival that just spent big money on Turner, and shored up there pitching? The reality is that all the free agents are sitting pretty, and just treading water or doing nothing is making this team weaker.
    I was hoping to get both Walker and Bassitt back, but now we’ll have to find quality arms from somewhere else, with no guarantee that they’ll flourish in NY. At least we know what we had in Walker & Bassitt; both good and bad.

    • Mike W

      Taillon is off the board. Four years 68 million with the Cubs. Plus Judge, back with the Yanks. Nimmo will drop soon. Mets need to move quickly. Let’s go Quick Draw.

  • Metsense

    Once Judge signs then Nimmo’s contract will be so much more, especially when Bellinger was signed by the Cubs earlier. The Yankees lose out on Judge then they will join in fray with the Mets, Dodgers and Giants. Boras is playing like a chess master and I hope that Eppler doesn’t get checkmated and lose Nimmo.
    Quick draw Eppler should have signed Bellinger, as the LHB DH and a 4th outfielder, and still peruse Nimmo.
    Maybe Reynolds for Megill, Vientos and Nido as a fall back.

  • Name

    Boras just got a relatively average 1b in Josh Bell a 16 mil AAV contract from a small market team… I’d estimate the salary inflation to be 50% for the higher end players and up to 100% for the lower range compared to contracts just 2-3 years ago. It’s definitely a good time to be a FA this year, the players can’t be complaining that the owners aren’t sharing the wealth.

    So i’d agree that Nimmo, who probably would have gotten a 16-20mil AAV a few years is probably on pace to get something in the 25-30mil range.

    • Metsense

      Name, you hit it on the head. The owners are rolling in the money because the various television deals and the playoffs (with is resulting it more fans interest during the season because if their team is crappy they still have a chance). Finally the players are getting more of the share, even though it is still the crumbs.
      Quick draw Eppler has his gun stuck in his holster. Bellinger, Walker and Taillon have been shot and the price has been higher than I could imagine.

    • Brian Joura

      Bell has put up 2.0 fWAR seasons the past two years and the Guardians are getting him for his age 30 and 31 seasons. I’m a tiny bit surprised he didn’t get either a third year at this AAV or slightly more money at two years. Especially given the cost for Abreu.

  • Steve_S.

    Quintana is a good signing by Eppler. 32 starts last year with good FIPS for both the Cards and Pirates.

    Now get Senga and you have an excellent rotation!

    Senga and Quintana have the same agent.

  • deegrove84

    https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/mets-acquire-brooks-raley.html

    I’m heartbroken as Keyshawn Askew was a very good developing pitcher but Raley slots into the bullpen right away. I just… I liked Askew a lot.

    • Brian Joura

      The Mets sure got their Joely replacement here. Raley pitched for 5 years in Korea and came back to the majors in 2020. Here are the stat lines for the two pitchers from 2020-2022. Which one’s which?

      Player A – 122 IP, 3.89 ERA, 3.15 FIP
      Player B – 109.1 IP, 4.28 ERA, 3.14 FIP

      Raley is player A. He has better control and gives up fewer baserunners but tends to give up more gopher balls than Joely. The upside is that Raley was far superior in 2022 to what he was in 2020-21. Maybe the Rays unlocked something. Or maybe it was a 53.2 IP fluke.

      • deegrove84

        But… my Askew jersey

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