With just four days left to the regular season, it won’t be long until the Mets officially shift gears and go into 2015 mode.
One area which Sandy Alderson won’t have to worry about this Winter is the bullpen, Thankfully, we won’t have to endure anymore botched bullpen revamps. And ironically, the bulk of the pen is mostly arms that were drafted, signed and developed through the Mets system.
That aside, there are still some abiding concerns and because payroll will remain at $85 million, addressing those concerns is going to require some fuzzy math or in other words unloading some higher priced players so we can affords to add other higher priced players.
ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin took to Twitter and said he wouldn’t be surprised to see the team keep Bartolo Colon and trade Jon Niese and/or Dillon Gee instead. I’ve been saying the same thing. Both would be easier to move and each certainly has more trade value than Bartolo Colon.
Finding someone to absorb Colon’s $11 million salary may prove difficult. But Niese, who will earn $7 million in 2015, and Gee, who could net $5 million in arbitration, combine to give the Mets a little more payroll flexibility. Both are young and under team control through 2016 which will also appeal to many trade partners.
It’s been a foregone conclusion that Daniel Murphy is playing his final games as a Met. But I wonder if the uncertainty regarding David Wright‘s shoulder now makes Murphy a lot less expendable?
It appears that Eric Young Jr. will be a non-tender candidate, and possibly Ruben Tejada as well. Although I’d argue that keeping Tejada in a utility role isn’t such a bad idea, and he’s always responded well off the bench while playing an adequate second base and shortstop.
These are just a few of the decisions the Mets will tackle beginning on Monday.
