The hurt of the Wild Card game is still entrenched in us but it’s time to start talking at who the Mets will try to keep for the 2017 season and who will likely move on.
I will take a very early look at what the Mets should do with the options they have at each position.
Outfield
With the trade for Jay Bruce the Mets now have a logjam in the outfield with a majority of them being left-handed hitters that aren’t suited well for center field. Of course the big domino is Yoenis Cespedes and what happens after he opts out of his contract with the Mets.
Jay Bruce – Picking up the $13 million option seems like a no-brainer to me despite his struggles with the Mets. No what to do with him after picking it up is the real question. My move would be to trade him. However you slice it, an outfielder with an OPS over .800, 33 homers and almost 100 RBI is going to have value on the trade front. I just don’t see how he fits on the Mets with the likes of Curtis Granderson and Michael Conforto.
Yoenis Cespedes – Bringing Yo back is a must for a team that showed how much they sorely missed him when he was on the disabled list this year. It’s tough to imagine a successful Mets offseason that doesn’t include Cespedes returning.
Alejandro De Aza – No reason to bring him back with what is already a crowded Mets outfield of left-handed hitters.
Justin Ruggiano – The right-handed hitter showed well in limited time with the Mets but is arbitration eligible and will be non-tendered. I would bring him back on a minor league as insurance for Juan Lagares.
Infield
For a Mets team that started with limited infield depth (Eric Campbell on Opening Day roster) they actually finished with some new intriguing options in Jose Reyes, T.J. Rivera and even Gavin Cecchini.
Jose Reyes – The Mets have a an option for Reyes at the league minimum so he’ll be back as depth with obvious questions surrounding David Wright.
Neil Walker – As long as he’s progressing well from his surgery giving him a qualifying offer is a must. If Cespedes leaves the Mets you have to bring Walker back to help patch the middle of the order. Unfortunately I don’t see a scenario in which the Mets spring for multi-year deals for Walker and Cespedes.
Lucas Duda – Before he returned from his injury there were some whispers of the Mets possibly non-tending the first baseman. I don’t see that happening. I see little reason why he shouldn’t be the Mets everyday first baseman in 2017 while Dominic Smith continues to develop in the minors.
James Loney – The fill-in had a nice start and finish to his Mets career but overall he was below average offensively and defensively (don’t believe everything Terry Collins say). With Duda there is no room for someone that only plays first base on the bench. We will have seen the last of Loney in a Mets uniform.
Kelly Johnson – Let’s just go ahead and save next year’s Akeel Morries by re-signing the valuable back-up infielder.
Catcher
One of the bigger questions (outside of Cespedes) the Mets face this offseason is what to do with Travis d’Arnaud and the catching position as a whole.
Travis d’Arnaud – Now is where I will take some heat and that’s fine because I believe the Mets should stick with TDA for next season. Yes he stunk offensively this year and yes he couldn’t throw runners out (pitchers didn’t help) but he was one of the best pitch framers in baseball and it seemed pretty clear to me that he never fully recovered from his labrum surgery. You don’t go from being a 2.0 oWAR player two years in a row to a guy with an .625 OPS without an underlying issue.
Rene Rivera – The defensive specialist is under contract for 2017 but is arbitration eligible and should be back with the Mets next year as the backup along with being the personal catcher for Noah Syndergaard. The lack of good free agent catcher options also played a role in my thought process of keeping both Rivera and TDA.
Rotation
The Mets starters were a big reason why the Mets made the playoffs doing so with the emergence of Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo.
Bartolo Colon – The steadying force in the Mets rotation all year is a free agent and has said he wants to continue pitching. He should be brought back on the same type of deal he signed last offseason to provide depth yet again.
Bullpen
Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia have combined to be one of the best end of the bullpen combos in baseball since August of last season. Sandy Alderson yet again went out and got reinforcements in August this year to help lengthen the bullpen.
Jerry Blevins – All the lefties done since coming to the Mets is pitch to a 2.49 ERA while striking out 10.7 batters per nine innings. Bring him back to tandem with Josh Smoker as the two lefties in the bullpen.
Fernando Salas – Struck out 19 while walking nobody after coming over to the Mets in another genius August trade by Alderson. Bring him back and let Hansel Robels continue to excel in the 6th inning/multiple inning role.
Josh Edgin – Pitched well against lefties in a small sample size (.535 OPS) and is first time eligible for arbitration. Fate could be tied to that of Blevins, if he re-signs I would non-tender Edgin and hope to sign to a minor league deal.
Jim Henderson – Started his Mets career off strong with a 1.46 ERA in his first 17 appearances before running into the Terry Collins misuse train. Showed off 95/96 MPH with his fastball in the final week of the season but still not enough to save him from being non-tendered. Another guy it wouldn’t hurt to re-sign on a minor league deal.
Logan Verrett, Rafael Montero, and Sean Gilmartin are all guys with their 40-man roster spots vulnerable after rough seasons. I would boot Verrett and Montero off the 40 and keep Gilmartin at least until they find a better depth arm later in the offseason. For position players I see Eric Campbell as the most likely guy to get bounced from the 40.
Of course all these moves could change with Cespedes deciding to sign elsewhere. That would completely throw a wrench in the plans and could force the Mets to look at upgrades at a position like catcher. Would also force the Mets to keep Bruce as a power outfield bat.
