MMO Offseason Plan No. 4: Mets Go All-In On Moustakas

Offseason Plan No. 3 – John Jackson

The MMO editorial staff was asked what they would do to make the Mets a contender for 2018 if they were the general manager of the team. Joe D. shared his offseason plan on Thursday and Michael Mayer shared his on Friday. Now it’s my turn.

The rule is that we must limit spending to $30-$35 million due to Sandy Alderson’s comments about the payroll going into next year. In addition, the contract numbers we come up with aren’t just from out of the blue, but rather based off Jon Heyman‘s predictions and those of MLB Trade Rumors.

With all that considered, I have three players the Mets should make a priority.

My Offseason Plan:

A common theme found in many of my articles for MMO is that whomever the Mets acquire this offseason must be a clear upgrade over who they are replacing. In one of my articles I mentioned why the Mets shouldn’t reunite with Carlos Gomez.

In another I suggested that the Mets not pursue Eduardo Nunez. In a third I made cases for why bringing back Curtis Granderson, Lucas Duda, and Neil Walker for 2018 wouldn’t be in the Mets best interests.

None of these players would be horrible pickups, but at the same time none would completely fill key voids on the Mets’ roster. The three players I would go after would fill the need for an all-around solid starting infielder, the need for a reliable bullpen arm, and the need for speed and defense off the bench.

Mike Moustakas

It’s time for the Mets to invest in a long-term option at third base. It’s time for the Mets to go all-in on one of the top free agents. It’s time for the Mets to sign Mike Moustakas.

As of now Asdrubal Cabrera is slated to play third base for the Mets. He’s a serviceable player, but hardly the All-Star that Moustakas is. By bringing Moustakas to Queens, the Mets would kill two birds with one stone as they get a solid all-around third baseman and they can then move Cabrera back to second base where he is more used to and his defense is better.

Moustakas’ defense wasn’t the greatest last year as he had a -3.6 UZR/150 and -8 defensive runs saved, but otherwise he’s been known as a pretty good defender. In 2016 he had a 15.5 UZR/150 and one DRS.

The biggest asset Moustakas brings to the table is his power as he hit 38 homers from the third base position in 2017. That brings much-needed power to Queens after the Mets traded away over 100 of their home runs during the summer.

In addition to the 38 home runs last year, he also hit .272/.314/.521/.835 with 75 runs, 24 doubles, and 85 RBI showing he isn’t a home-run-or-nothing player.

Bryan Shaw

There’s two possible relievers I’d like the Mets to get: Addison Reed or Bryan Shaw.

Signing Reed brings back a reliever who the Mets relied upon time and again from the time they traded for him on Aug. 29, 2015 to the time they traded him away on July 31, 2017. However Reed’s price tag will be slightly higher than Shaw’s.

Not only would Shaw be more affordable, but he gives the Mets a durable and consistent outsider with insider connections. Those connections of course are with Mickey Callaway, who was his pitching coach with the Cleveland Indians the last five seasons.

A signing like this would give the Mets four locks for the bullpen in Shaw, Jeurys Familia, AJ Ramos, and Jerry Blevins. That will leave plenty of solid competition vying for the final spots.

For more in-depth reasoning on why the Mets should sign Shaw, check out a previous article of mine here.

Jarrod Dyson

The reasoning behind signing Jarrod Dyson is adding defense and speed off the bench. While Juan Lagares is a defensive whiz, he and almost all the other Mets lack true speed. Even if Lagares patrols center field on a regular basis (which seems to be the plan at the moment), Dyson is important to have as a defensive backup for all three outfield positions.

The 33-year-old has supplied his teams with 26 or more stolen bases the last six seasons. Last season the Mets’ top base stealer was Jose Reyes who stole 24 bags. He is no longer on the team, leaving an already speed-deficient team with even less speed.

The defense Dyson brings to the table is impressive as well. In 4,388 1/3 innings since 2010, he has averaged a 19.4 UZR/150 and accumulated 75 DRS. That includes his most recent season where he had an 11.0 UZR/150 and 15 DRS in 879 1/3 innings.

Dyson is exactly the type of player the Mets need in close pitching duels when a nice catch or a stolen bag could mean the difference between success and failure.

He would be a terrific depth signing. He would be a clear upgrade over most of those currently considered for bench positions on the Mets. Also he can instantly slide into an everyday gig if need be.

To Make The Plan Work

Jon Heyman’s predictions include his personal prediction and that of an expert. MLB Trade Rumors offers one prediction. I have three contract predictions to work with. To make it as realistic as possible I went with the biggest contract of the three for each player.

That would mean Moustakas gets $92M/5 years, Shaw gets $24M/3 years, and Dyson gets $15M/2 years. All told, that would cost the Mets $33.9 million annually which they should be able to swing under their offseason spending budget of around $30 million.

My plan also includes the departures of Matt Reynolds and Rafael Montero. The Mets will save roughly $1 million from that, but those moves aren’t really to make financial room as much as 40-man roster room.

Neither of these players have impressed at all during their time on the Mets and their ceilings are quite low at this point. The Mets can’t hold onto players like that when there are more deserving ones like Adonis Uceta who will most likely be selected by another team in the Rule 5 Draft because he wasn’t added to the 40-man roster.