Just read this post on MetsBlog about Jose Abreu, the 26-year old Cuban defector that has been called a better hitter than Yasiel Puig. For the most part me and Matt Cerrone agree that it’s unlikely the Mets will do anything more than show some slight interest in what night be the next great baseball sensation, but ultimately he’ll prove to be too rich for the Mets’ taste.
Here is what I wrote regarding Abreu last week:
I’m afraid that recent history has never shown Sandy Alderson to be the type of GM who will go all-out and beat all bidders to fetch a prize like this. This is not one of those “we’re gonna wait out the market” types of situations which is more akin to Sandy’s style. Which ever team lands this incredible talent, will be the one that is the most aggressive in their pursuit and will offer up the richest possible bounty – anywhere between 5-7 years and $50-$80 million dollars from what I’m hearing.
The teams that will likely be heavily engaged in the bidding war will no doubt feature the usual suspects like the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels and I bet the St. Louis Cardinals will have more than a passing interest. But one insider expects as many as 12 teams to dip into the pool.
Additionally, Sandy and his purported millions he now has to spend, will likely be looking more at outfielders and perhaps a shortstop as long as he has the Ike Davis situation to still contend with, as well as Wilmer Flores, Josh Satin and Allan Dykstra in tow.
I’ll say one thing, whoever does get Abreu, will no doubt be adding a 30+ home run bat into their lineup who has a great eye at the plate and has always produced a high average and on-base percentage. His strikeouts are low which is surprising for a player with such power, but that’s just another reason why scouts deem him to be such a unique and special talent.
One more thing that will make Abreu such a prime target is that this is one of the weakest free agent markets we’ve ever seen for first basemen – with Mike Napoli being the top dog. Bidding will be fierce and as much as Abreu would fill a huge power void in the Mets lineup and finally solve the question of who is our first baseman of the future, I just don’t see the Mets having the stomach to shell out the millions it’s going to take to land this Cuban phenom.
Now there was one thing on Cerrone’s post that made me queasy… It was the way he phrased his poll question on his post. He didn’t ask should the Mets actively pursue Jose Abreu, but the Mets flagship blog asked this question instead:
Ten percent of his budget? Which budget, the $93 million budget or some other budget?
The way that question is phrased sounds more like whether we should spend $9-10 million or more on any one player, rather than a simple pursuit of Jose Abreu.
Now I’m not suggesting Sandy goes out and spends like a drunken sailor this winter, or in his case a drunken jarhead. But I am expecting that we’ll be adding one or two formidable pieces on offense and I would imagine that anything of that quality will cost the Mets much more than $10 million dollars whether it’s via trade or free agency.
Please, after all these years, don’t tell me that Howard Megdal is right and that the Mets will not reinvest one dime from the Johan Santana and Jason Bay contracts that will officially be coming off the books…
Please, Mr. Alderson, you can’t do this to me…
So I hope the way that question was phrased was just another accidental goof and not some Freudian Slip or subliminal hint of what we’re to expect this offseason. An offseason mind you, that we’ve all been waiting for for three long years…
Incidentally, in case you were curious, over 35% percent of MetsBlog readers responded no to Jose Abreu…
