Sandy Alderson updated reporters on Tuesday on the state of the team’s hot stove season, and unsurprisingly the Mets’ general manager said not much has changed since the Winter Meetings ended last week.
“Pretty much status quo,” Alderson said. “There haven’t been any free-agent signings of significance in the outfield that would get the market moving and no real trades.”
“We’ve continued to have dialogue with free-agent representatives, as well as with teams on trade possibilities. And we will continue to do so through the holidays and into January and so forth, depending on what transpires.”
Alderson is committed to trading slugger Jay Bruce to clear up the logjam the team currently has in the outfield, but is unwilling to just give him away and so he waits for the sluggish outfield market to develop. That won’t happen until Edwin Encarnacion, Juan Bautista and Mark Trumbo are off the free agent market – and there’s no sense that either of them are on the verge of signing anytime soon.
Asked if it’s possible that he could go into spring training with Bruce still with the Mets, Alderson quickly rebuffed that notion.
“There are very few trades that are made in Spring Training,” Alderson said. “There are some that are made in Spring Training. But I think the idea that you’re going to make a big deal in Spring Training would be a little unusual. But at the same time, we’ve got lots of time between now and the beginning of Spring Training as well.”
The plan for Sandy is to try and flip Bruce for a low cost reliever and to bring the team’s payroll back under its current $150 million level. But he also recognizes the need for a proven late inning reliever with a track record of success and that could become costly if he takes the path of free agency.
For now, there seems to be little buzz surrounding the Mets which should come as no surprise, considering that they are unwilling to do anything else until they can unload Jay Bruce first… So essentially they are at a complete standstill until that happens.
Meanwhile, it appears that two relievers that could help the Mets may be on the verge of coming off the market. There are some reports that Brad Ziegler and Neftali Feliz are close to signing deals.
