Now that Steve Cohen has officially taken over the Wilpon reign and the offseason is underway, it’s time to get busy signing free agents, making trades and solidifying this team for 2021.
With FanGraphs publishing their top 50 free agents list yesterday, here’s a look at four guys on that list that the Mets could have their eyes on.
#1 J.T. Realmuto, C
Call him the most obvious or talked about option, but that there’s no denying that Realmuto would help this team tremendously. He’s the best available free agent this winter, and posted a 125 wRC+ and 1.7 fWAR in just 47 games in 2020. The 30-year-old also posted more fWAR than any catcher in baseball between 2017 and 2019.
With the continued disappointing struggles of Wilson Ramos, Realmuto could bring this team one big step closer to being competitive.
The FanGraphs average Crowdsource projects him to get 4.89 years with an AAV of $21.4M and a total salary of $104.5M. Realmuto is going to be the most coveted and sought-after free agent this offseason, and the Mets should absolutely be willing to give him the years and cash he requires.
#7 Masahiro Tanaka, RHP
While Trevor Bauer and Marcus Stroman have gotten much more media attention, the Mets may want to look for starting pitching help in the form of the soon-to-be 32-year-old righty.
Tanaka has spent his entire career with the Yankees, serving as an above-average starter since 2014 until this year, when he made only one start before going down due to injury. Despite essentially missing the 2020 season, his consistency has been remarkable, and he should be a roughly 3 fWAR starter when healthy.
The Mets desperately need starting pitching help behind Jacob deGrom, and Tanaka would help extend the very little depth that the Mets have in that department.
Trevor Bauer is probably the best free agent pitching option available, but concerns about his personality and how he would handle the New York media may scare the Mets away. They could re-sign Marcus Stroman, who would also fit in as a solid middle-rotation guy, but Tanaka has been the slightly better pitcher over the last several years.
To call Tanaka a potential savior would probably be an overstatement, but there’s no denying that if healthy, he would help solidify this shaky rotation. He should demand two or three years at about a $17M AAV.
#27 Mike Minor, LHP
Another option that could help the Mets’ rotation, the soon-to-be 33-year-old is someone the Mets could take somewhat of a gamble on. His 2020 performance wasn’t great (5.56 ERA in 12 games/11 starts), but he was a well above-average starting pitcher for the Rangers in 2018 and 2019.
Minor also enjoyed success out of the bullpen for the Royals in 2017, so he could help the Mets there if needed.
A concern with Minor would be his diminished fastball velocity this year, though his 4.64 FIP in 2020 suggests that he wasn’t quite as bad as you might think at first glance.
Minor is expected to receive roughly a two-year deal with an AAV around $8.5M.
#28 Blake Treinen, RHP
Another big area of weakness for the Mets in 2020 was the bullpen, but Treinen could be just the guy they need to strengthen the late-inning corps.
It’s easy to forget, but the 32-year-old had a historically great season in 2018, posting a 0.78 ERA in 68 games for the Athletics. 2019 was more of a slog for him though, and they ended up letting him go to the Dodgers for this shortened 2020 season.
While Treinen didn’t quite revert back to 2018 levels, he still put in a very solid effort for the world champions, posting a 3.15 FIP in 11 games. Only 17 relievers allowed a lower average exit velocity than him in 2020, and only two posted a higher ground ball rate.
While he likely won’t ever return to his dominant 2018 form, he could still be a very strong option in the backend of the bullpen for the Mets. At roughly two years and $8.5M, this is a guy who the Mets should be all over.
