In recent weeks, the Mets have said they want to have a quick rebuild, they want position players, and they want to get more athletic.
That’s ideal but you’re not going to do that by trading rental players like Asdrubal Cabrera and Jose Bautista. As we saw with Jeurys Familia, the rentals won’t get much in return and that is before we factor in the Mets not wanting to eat money.
I think they should absolutely eat money for a better return like they did for Neil Walker (Eric Handhold was throwing 98-100 MPH sinkers but has been out since June) but even then, the return will not be a 2019 difference maker.
You know who is athletic, a position player, and would be in St. Lucie or Binghamton really soon? Victor Victor Mesa. In the Familia deal, the Mets also got $1 million in international slot bonus which has led some, like Craig Mish of Sirius XM, to speculate that the Mets are on the Mesa train.
The Mets to their credit have been aggressive in the international market in recent years. They signed four top-50 prospects in the 2017-2018 free agency class as well as finding guys like Luis Santana, Sheryven Newton, and Andres Gimenez in the last three years or so.
One thing they have not tried though is signing the big time players in the Cuban market like Luis Robert or Yoan Moncada. These guys are a little older compared to Ronny Mauricio, Andres Gimenez, etc. but they are more advanced than those guys when they signed.
Victor Victor Mesa is in that category of Luis Robert and Yoan Moncada but unlike those guys, he will not command as steep of a signing bonus due to the new CBA rules.
Teams have a hard cap now so unlike previous years, they cannot go over the cap to sign international free agents. As Ben Badler of Baseball America writes, Mesa will likely get around $3 million.
Victor Victor is also one of Cuba’s best prospects since Moncada. Ben Badler wrote, “Mesa, 21, is a comparable player to Nationals center fielder Victor Robles, the No. 5 prospect on Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects list.
He’s a premium defender in center field who at his best has shown 70 speed and at least a 70 arm on the 20-80 scale.” He also hit .354/.399/.539 in the 2016-2017 season in Cuba with more extra-base hits than strikeouts (27-to-19).
Also of note, the Mets have interest in Ben Cherington as their next GM per Buster Olney of ESPN. Cherington worked in Boston from 1999-2015 and served in the player development field from 1999-2011. Cherington was very aggressive in the international market and brought in guys like Xander Bogaerts, Rusney Castillo (whoops), Anderson Espinoza and Yoan Moncada under Cherington.
The Mets still need to acquire more money but it should not be very hard. The Mariners have quite a bit of money still and they have been mentioned as a trading partner for the Mets. The Orioles also give away their IFA money like candy. The Mets just need to make the commitment to sign him.
He fits them so well and it would allow them to get everything they were looking for at this deadline. No team acquires international free agency money just for fun. There has to be some end game in all of this.
