Joel Sherman of the New York Post is anxious to see how the Mets will keep this young core of talent, that they’ve asked fans to wait five years for, intact once they start getting expensive.
“Matt Harvey will see his salary begin a significant climb next offseason when he is first-time arbitration eligible. Zack Wheeler is arbitration eligible after 2016 and maybe Jacob deGrom, too, if he reaches Super Two status.”
Sherman says that the cost of doing business is going to force the Mets to make decisions that they have mostly avoided in recent years and he questions whether the team is ready to support a payroll level that is necessary to keep all these top young players they’ve developed from bolting when the time comes.
He adds that Max Scherzer’s $210 million pact was the latest reminder of what the cost of doing business in this arena is – and the prices for such players only grow annually.
Sherman believes the Mets still are limited financially and points out how even while they were busy trumpeting how this offseason would be all about winning and supplementing a playoff caliber team, the bottom line is they added only $5 million to last year’s payroll and also failed to land a major league shortstop and lefthanded reliever – two of their stated goals.
“This would all be more acceptable if it were part of a bigger plan to keep future dollars free to pay the flock of pitchers. But I have heard no indication from any Mets official with whom I spoke that this was the case.”
Without a change in policy, he concludes, the Mets are going to have a difficult time retaining the nucleus that they have told us all to be patient through years of losing while it was being assembled. “Or as one top personnel man said, eventually the bill comes due.”
I totally forgot that deGrom was promoted before the Super 2 cutoff or that Harvey becomes arbitration eligible at the end of this season. Time flies. Duda could easily get $10 million in arbitration next season if he has another 30/100 season, but Murphy will likely be gone so that should sting less. Colon will be off the books too which should help when Cuddyer’s salary jumps to $13 million in 2016.
Anyway, Sherman is right to a certain degree in that by the end of 2016, we’ll all learn if this whole undertaking will be sustained financially or if valuable pieces will begin to get sold off leaving the team in a perpetual state of rebuilding.
I’m not going to worry about that right now and would rather focus on the 2015 season which I believe will be fun and exciting. I do believe that for the first time since 2008 we’ll be playing meaningful games in September while watching some more young players burst onto the scene. Only 14 more days until pitchers and catchers report. Have a great day and Lets Go Mets.
