Despite saving $12.5 million dollars from Michael Cuddyer‘s contract, Joel Sherman of the NY Post says the Mets have no intention of bringing back Yoenis Cespedes unless he lowers his demands. Mike Puma adds that the Mets only like Cespedes on a 2-3 year deal.
Sherman writes that they will instead look to add quality veteran depth instead of making a big splash. While this certainly comes as disappointing news fans, the Front Office believes that building solid depth and flexibility is crucial to their success.
The Mets learned this lesson the hard way this season when fringe players such as Eric Campbell, Daniel Muno, Darrell Ceciliani, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Johnny Monell and John Mayberry Jr. were given a substantial amount of playing time early in the season. Sherman calculates that this group of players had taken 17 percent of the Mets position player at-bats, or about one out of every six.
However, this issue was resolved later in the year when the team acquired veterans Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson to fill out the roster. The team’s significantly improved depth was one of the main reasons for their mid-season turnaround, and they want to replicate that success once again in 2016.
The Mets already took steps to achieve this with Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera, but what other available players could the Mets look to sign? Sherman says utility man Ryan Raburn would be a great target for the bench.
The 34-year old free agent batted .303/.393/.543 in 201 plate appearances for Cleveland this year, and crushes left-handed pitching. As Sherman points out, he posted a 1.004 OPS against them this year and has a .827 mark for his career.
He also brings some versatility to the club as he can play both corner outfield spots as well as first base. This means he can be a great platoon option for Michael Conforto, Curtis Granderson or Lucas Duda who aren’t as prolific against southpaws.
I’m not sure why the Mets can’t sign a player of Cespedes’ caliber and also add proven veteran depth like Raburn at the same time. Is the payroll still that much of an issue for the Wilpons, or is the team really just reluctant to commit to Cespedes on a 5-6 year deal? Still, Raburn looks like he’d be a solid addition.
(Updated 12/14)
