According to Jim Duquette of MLB Network, the New York Mets are now out on relievers Bryan Shaw and Tommy Hunter. Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman have each confirmed the news.
Sherman went as far as to say he spoke with an agent who told him Sandy Alderson is “getting frustrated with some guys who won’t budge and is going to pull some offers.”
Alderson was hot on the trail for both of these right-handers, having declared Hunter a primary target, and in the case of Shaw, the Mets had a multi-year offer to him which was made weeks ago. It appears that the Mets had offers to both of them but no further progress developed.
This is a bit embarrassing for the Mets, especially in the case of Shaw as the team made a big point of speculating that new manager Mickey Callaway had a connection with him that would give them an edge in signing the former Indian setup man. Think again.
Shaw will be signing with the Colorado Rockies according to several reports, no word yet on Hunter.
The problem for the Mets now is that many of those mid-tier setup type relievers are flying off the board and the pool of available free agents is running thin.
Of course, Sandy Alderson should have expected this after telegraphing to agents and players in Orlando, that he’s only interested in “value” and won’t jump into the “inferno” just to get a reliever. I’m sure that got everyone excited to sign or even negotiate with the Mets. Nice job, Sandy.
It’s too bad, I was especially high on Tommy Hunter who I had in my offseason plan this past weekend.
