Yahoo Sports‘ Jeff Passan is hearing from clubs involved in the Ben Zobrist pursuit that the high demand now has his price tag sitting at four years and $60 million dollars and that it will likely go even higher than that.
As many as 20 teams have engaged Zobrist according to a report by Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, so it’s no big surprise that his deal could blow away all the earlier projections.
While several reports have connected Zobrist to the New York Mets, with Ken Rosenthal going as far as saying he is the the No. 1 priority for the Amazins, Adam Rubin says a four-year commitment from Sandy and Co. is very unlikely.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post echoed Rubin’s report on Tuesday writing, “the Mets don’t appear inclined to offer a fourth guaranteed year despite their affection for Zobrist, who will turn 35 next May 26.”
He also hears that Zobrist will likely decide on his new team before the Winter Meetings conclude in Nashville on December 10.
Where do you think Zobrist ends up when it’s all over?
November 30
As many as 20 teams all have varying degrees of interest in free agent infielder/outfielder Ben Zobrist and because of the high demand, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe believes Zobrist will likely get that four-year deal he’s looking for.
Before the weekend, Tom Verducci appeared on the MLB Network and reported that the New York Mets and Washington Nationals are expected to be the high bidders for the 35-year old Zobrist, and Ken Rosenthal added that Zobrist was the Mets’ top target.
I question whether Sandy Alderson would actually dole out a four-year deal for the versatile player given his philosophy on second generation contracts, and also how his two-year deal for Michael Cuddyer last offseason backfired on the the team.
The Mets have long been interested in Zobrist going back to the trading deadline when they tried hard to acquire him before he was dealt to the Kansas City Royals.
The team now views him as someone who could replace Daniel Murphy while also playing some third base and corner outfield. Zobrist is a career .265/.355/.431 hitter with 127 home runs, 567 RBIs, and 105 stolen bases.
Last season in 126 games with the Athletics and Royals, Zobrist hit .276/.359/.450 with 13 home runs, 36 doubles and 56 RBIs. He also had a strong postseason, batting .303 with two home runs and six RBIs.
Struggling to come back from an injury in April and May, Zobrist had a down year in 2015. But his .349 wOBA and 123 wRC+ were still better than Murphy who had his best season and produced a .325 wOBA and 110 wRC+.
Additionally, Zobrist batted a respectable .253 with a .753 OPS against right-handed pitching last season. But he absolutely torched left-handers with a .329 average against them with a .409 on-base and .926 OPS.
There are so many differing reports on how the Mets will actually address second base this offseason. Everyone seems to be hearing something different ranging from sticking with Dilson Herrera, sliding Wilmer Flores to second, going hard after Zobrist, and even bringing back Murphy.
I’m not sure what the Mets will ultimately do, but guaranteeing Zobrist $16 million a year through his age 38 season sounds like a potential disaster to me.
