This afternoon in Orlando, Sandy Alderson suggested getting two starting outfielders this winter might now be an uphill battle because of all the teams searching for those types of bats.
“We might bring in more than two starting outfielders. Who knows how things are going to break?” Alderson said. “I’d be surprised if that happens only because there’s so much interest in corner outfielders among many clubs.”
Asked to clarify whether he meant he would be surprised if the Mets brought in two or three starting outfielders, Alderson added:
“I’d be surprised if we were that successful because of the demand for that position among other teams.”
If Alderson fails to land two corner outfielders, Eric Young Jr. likely would have a prominent outfield role. Of course, if the Mets end up trading Daniel Murphy, Young also could end up at second base. Juan Lagares should handle center field, unless something dramatic happens this offseason.
“I think Eric is going to be a part of our team,” Alderson said. “And what his exact role might be, I think, will depend on our final roster. There’s no question about that. It also might depend on how things go in spring training. But I expect he’ll be a valuable part of the team.”
On whether free agency or trades end up being the route the Mets go to fill their outfield needs, Alderson said: “I think it’s very early to tell. As I said, I think there’s a lot of demand for corner outfielders.”
As I said in an earlier post, there’s lot’s of back-pedaling going on from statements Alderson made only last month…
It was too ambitious and unrealistic to think he was really going to complete an extensive laundry list that initially included upgrading first base, getting two corner outfielders, adding an offensive shortstop, getting a veteran backup catcher, also adding two starters and two relievers… All for $25-30 million dollars…
As I said after that WFAN interview, that was an impossible task and far too incredible to believe.
I’m not in the least bit surprised that he’s backed off on half of those items now… I expected it…
But since making those initial comments and talking about how frustrated he was with the team and how disappointed he was, look at how quickly everything’s changed.
All of a sudden first base is okay and in fact we have a glut… They’d be happy with Anthony Recker as the backup catcher to Travis d’Arnaud… One back of the rotation starter will be sufficient… One corner outfielder instead of two… And for over a week we’ve been hearing about how we have great internal options for the bullpen…
So what’s the real plan?
As I’ve been saying all along, look for Daniel Murphy to get shipped out… I’m not sure what we’ll get for him, but I do know they don’t want to pay his upcoming arbitration raise… It will be more about saving the $5 million than who we get in return. Likely a team’s top ten prospect I would suspect…
Duda will be your opening day first baseman, Young will stay in left field, Flores will take over at second base, and a low-end shortstop option like Rafael Furcal will be brought in to replace Tejada.
They’ll likely sign a decent bat for right field, but it’s too early to say who. It won’t be one of the bigger names on the market.
But things seem to be unfolding exactly as I expected.
