The Mets are now looking more at second-tier and third-tier free agents according to Buster Olney of ESPN.
Anything can still happen, but the three offseason predictions I made for the Mets before the hot stove season started, seem to all be coming to fruition.
Back in September amid all the high hopes and expectations I said:
1. The Mets would not go after any players who’ll cost more than $10 million annually.
2. The Mets would not pursue any of the players who declined their qualifying offers.
3. The Mets would not spend more than $25 million this offseason.
They were my educated decisions based on many of the vibes I was getting from the team coupled with my belief that this team is still not out of the woods financially no matter what they would have us believe.
When they signed Chris Young I knew in my mind that it would be their biggest splash of this offseason. I’m sure Young will help a little, but not nearly enough to make a significant difference. I don’t believe he’ll come close to the numbers Marlon Byrd produced out of right field last season. Byrd came out of nowhere to generate 34 doubles, 24 home runs, and 88 RBI while batting .291 with a .518 Slugging Pct. and a .847 OPS. Young has never posted an .800 OPS in his eight-year career and the closest he ever came to numbers like Byrd’s was four years ago in the band box known as Chase Field, and even then he batted just .237.
Andy Martino wrote before the holiday, that the Mets were “spooked” by Byrd’s two-year, $16 million deal with Philadelphia. That deal was exactly what MLBTR predicted in early October and less than what Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman predicted he would get. So it’s amazing that they were spooked. But not surprising. I once went into a fancy restaurant with $200 bucks in my pocket and with a date I was trying to impress at the time. I remember being spooked when I opened the menu and there were no prices listed for any of the dishes.
Anyway, the Mets are now looking at third-tier options which is a nice way of saying they are scraping the bottom of the free agent barrel. There’s no such thing as fourth-tier options.
Tomorrow I’ll post some of the scrapheap guys I’d like to see the Mets take a shot on… Feel free to post your own in the meantime.
