A Mets source told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that the front office is still trying to get MLB to allow them to keep their first-round pick if they sign Michael Bourn.
They are still trying to determine whether they can convince Bourn to sign a potential backloaded deal and that they will go “all out on the compensation” if they know their pick will be protected.
In other words they will overpay if they have to as long as they can keep the pick.
Five years for Bourn???
Sounds like this still has legs. Stay tuned…
Original Post 1/28
Richard Justice of MLB.com reported that the Mets will have little to no interest in signing Michael Bourn to a contract if they are unable to protect their first round pick.
The New York Mets have no interest in signing free-agent outfielder Michael Bourn if it means surrendering their top 2013 Draft pick, the 11th overall. If you’re wondering why a rebuilding team would invest big bucks in a 30-year-old outfielder regardless of the compensation, that’s a question plenty of people inside the industry are asking.
It’s also beside the point. We may never know how interested the Mets ever were in signing Bourn. All we know for now is that they have zero interest if it means losing their top Draft pick. And unless something changes, that’s exactly what would happen.
However, according to both Newsday’s Marc Carig and MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, Sandy Alderson has “NOT” filed any appeal or made any official request to protect the team’s No. 11 pick.
That would go in line with what I’ve been saying right from the start which is, why should MLB spend days deliberating over something that might be a non-issue?
Let the Mets put an offer on the table first, and then you can review the legalities of whether or not the CBA rule should be changed or if it goes against the heart of why the rule was included to the CBA in the first place – to help restrain escalating salaries.
