On Thursday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic put into words what every fan of the New York Mets has been thinking the entire offseason; this team has no reason not to be in on free-agent superstars Bryce Harper and Manny Machado.
Despite general manager Brodie Van Wagenen’s declaration in November to be “in on every free agent, and if they fit our roster, we’re going to go after him”, and the first-time GM’s bevy of solid, roster-strengthening additions this offseason in Robinson Cano, Edwin Diaz, Jed Lowrie, Wilson Ramos, and others, both Harper and Machado — with caveats, naturally — fit this roster and are [checks notes] both free agents.
Rosenthal notes the Mets’ ownership group’s “reluctance to go big” is due in part to “repeatedly being burned” in the past, but also makes points out that this organization “[does] not spend in accordance with the team’s market size”.
Substantial pockets of the fan base (as well as a few bloggers) have been making that distinction for a very long time. To be completely honest, it’s incredibly refreshing to hear it coming from one of the premier writers in the game. Hopefully, being called out on a national level will shake some sense into the Wilpons.
As Rosenthal so eloquently pointed out, not too long ago, maj0r league teams would have been riled into a feeding frenzy for two 26-year-old superstars on the open market. But somewhere along the line, things changed.
“Once upon a time — before GMs turned into actuaries and the offseason was something more than a bloodless accounting exercise — teams would jump when stars like Harper or Machado became free agents and detonate their rosters to get them,” Rosenthal writes. “Obviously, it takes two to tango […]. [But] why can’t Van Wagenen […] figure out a way?”
After the $5 million the Mets will receive from the Mariners to subsidize Cano’s $24 million in 2019, as well as the estimated recouped $16 million from insurance on Yoenis Cespedes‘ and David Wright‘s contracts, respectively, the team is left with an estimated 2019 payroll of $144.5 million ($163.1 after rosterresource.com‘s luxury tax estimates), leaving the Mets $42.9 million below the 2019 luxury tax threshold of $206 million.
With teams reportedly low-balling Machado and the market on Harper looking somewhat limited to a grand total of (maybe) four teams, the time is most certainly now for Van Wagenen to swoop in and make arguably the biggest free-agent splash in franchise history.
The starting pitching is here, the bullpen has been revamped to more-than-respectable levels (another piece couldn’t hurt), and the young positional core of Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, Amed Rosario, and Jeff McNeil are equal-parts talented enough and perfect complementaries to the newfound veteran core in Queens.
Granted, the team will most likely need to shuffle some pieces around (Rosenthal notes a likely trade of Rosario if the team were to nab Machado) if a course-busting move were to be made. But either of these elite ballplayers would be worth the sacrifice of moving along from an Amed Rosario or Jeff McNeil (ouch; it hurt to type out both of those names), wouldn’t they?
Rosenthal notes that “such a move would require moxie, creativity, and, most importantly, cold hard cash”, adding that “[the Mets] should be trying to exploit an opportunity that is available […]”, which is 100 percent accurate. If now’s not the time to take this next step into relevancy, when is?
Writer’s Note: If you aren’t already subscribing to The Athletic, I highly suggest you do so. Ken Rosenthal’s article (link above) is worth the yearly dues alone.
