When Mets’ outfielder Michael Conforto, who is slated to become a free agent after the 2021 season, has been asked in recent weeks about potential extension talks, he has mostly averted the conversation to just saying he wants to go out and play baseball.
“At this point, I’m not interested in talking about it. I’m focusing on baseball, I’m looking forward to playing the Phillies,” Conforto said Sunday on contract extensions. “Those questions can go to Scott (Boras). Those questions can go to the team.”
Regardless, team president Sandy Alderson along with owner Steve Cohen addressed the media on Monday and said that while the team and Conforto’s camps talks have been brief but cordial, he thinks there could be some room to further conversations in the future.
I do believe there’s room for continuing those conversations,” Alderson said. “I’m hopeful the dialogue will continue and we’ll see where we end up.”
Cohen added on to what Alderson said, and said that he plans to talk to Boras at some point about working out an extension.
Conforto, who debuted with the Mets in 2015, is now one of the veterans on the ballclub and one of its longest tenured players. The 28-year-old has also established himself as a leader in the clubhouse and is the team’s union representative.
“He’s one of our natural leaders here. He’s a guy who bleeds blue and orange. Everybody looks up to him in the clubhouse, and sees how much he loves the organization,” Mets’ manager Luis Rojas said about Conforto’s presence in the clubhouse. “He’s one of the boys.”
Along with Conforto, pitchers Noah Syndergaard and Marcus Stroman are also set to hit the open market this winter. Alderson said that in an ideal scenario, the team would like to retain the entire core of the team.
“Realistically we want to find ways to hold onto as many of those players as we can,” Alderson said.
With Francisco Lindor‘s 10-year, $341 million contract officially in the books, the team can now focus on trying to extend that core of players. However, they likely won’t stop there, as Cohen said he expects the team to be very active going forward on the open market.
“We’re going to be significant players for free agents down the road and we’re going to act like a major-market club,” Cohen said.
