1/2/2014 – 1:00 PM
According to what a rival GM told Peter Gammons, while the Mets have claimed disinterest in Stephen Drew, it’s a ploy intended to aid their negotiations with Scott Boras. “They are not sold on Ruben Tejada,” Gammons writes.
Even more interesting that was the rival GM’s comment that the Mets are concerned about developing a very talented group of young players with the inexperience of Tejada, Juan Lagares and Travis d’Arnaud up the middle.
No mention of whether this was referring to up the middle defense, their offense, or both.
1/2/2014 – 5:00 AM
“It looks more and more likely that the Red Sox will re-sign Stephen Drew,” writes MLB Trade Rumors.
If that happens, that doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily trade Will Middlebrooks, according to Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal.
Rather than signing Drew and losing a draft pick, the Mets, Pirates, Twins and Yankees all appear content to go with internal options, leaving the Red Sox as the only team willing to sign the former Red Sox shortstop.
On Tuesday, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said they were out and his team would not sign Drew, leaving the Red Sox and Mets as the only teams with any significant interest in him.
Last week, Marc Carig of Newsday wrote that the Mets remained in contact with Scott Boras about Drew, but seem prepared to begin the 2014 season with Ruben Tejada as their starter at shortstop.
A source with knowledge of the talks, likened the Mets situation to the Michael Bourn negotiations last offseason, when the Mets temporarily jumped in sensing a lower price, but ultimately lost out to the Cleveland Indians.
I could be wrong, but with the Mets still about $10-12 million dollars below last year’s payroll, a payroll they promised to increase, they are looking at Drew on a one year deal for $8-10 million dollars. And if I’m right, the free agent shortstop would just as soon go back to Boston.
By the way, the Mets are currently at around $82 million in payroll, but even if that number was to rise to $90 million, they would rank in the bottom ten among all major league teams in payroll ranking.
With the Mets so close to their spending threshold, it’s not surprising that we’ve heard general manager Sandy Alderson and special assistant J.P. Ricciardi singing Ruben Tejada’s praises the last two weeks. Before the offseason got underway, Mets brass had very few good things to say about their now likely Opening Day shortstop.
Is it all a ploy to rattle Scott Boras and get him to lower his price on Drew? It’s a possibility, but I’m not so sure that is what’s happening here. What do you guys think?
Drew is certainly an upgrade to Tejada right now, although not by much. At this point, I’d rather save the money and look for a better upgrade via a trade, or even waiting for next season when Matt Harvey comes back and the shortstop market may be a lot better.
