Here’s a hint, shortstop isn’t one of them!
As a continuation (of sorts) from the previous article regarding Francisco Lindor, the NY Mets’ true needs this off season are pitching, catching and a true center fielder.
If the Mets pursue acquiring center fielder George Springer, there’s the true center fielder. And he comes with huge upsides on both sides of the ball. Plus, he’s got a ton of post season experience.
J.T. Realmuto presents an interesting (if not obvious) choice for behind the plate. While his price tag might be a bit too high for a catcher who will be 30 at the start of next season, especially with the long contract he’ll undoubtedly be looking for, it’s still something that obviously needs to be considered. And don’t forget, if his price tag is too high for the Mets now, that means it’s too high for pretty much all other interested teams as well since the Mets are now owned by the richest owner in the MLB. Time will tell, we’ll see how that one pans out. However, there are a couple of other catching options beyond Realmuto.
James McCann is most certainly someone to consider. He was an All-Star in 2019, and posted career best numbers this year. A .289 batting average, along with a .360 on-base percentage and .536 slugging giving him an .896 OPS. He is now a free agent, and will most likely will be cheaper than Realmuto, and the length of contract he’ll sign may very well be shorter.
And of course there’s always the option of signing veteran catcher Yadier Molina. Sure, he’s 38 years old, but if the Mets think Tomas Nido could become their catcher of the future, then taking a flier on Molina for a year (or 2) might be the way to go. He is after all an amazing catcher. His talent may be slipping a bit, but even so he’s still a better field manager than many others.
Pitcher Trevor Bauer should most definitely be on the Mets radar for the #2 spot in the rotation. Not only would he be the Ace on most other staffs, but if he does wind up (pun intended) winning the Cy Young over deGrom this year that would give the Mets the 2 most recent “best NL pitchers” as the 1 and 2. With Noah Syndergaard coming back from Tommy John surgery sometime in the early part of next season, the possibility of Marcus Stroman accepting the Mets 1 year offer and David Peterson improving on his good rookie performance, the Mets would have a formidable rotation.
These are all moves that should be made, and most likely will be vetted completely by the new Mets Regime. We should all just sit back in anticipation of the great things (fingers crossed) to come for the NY Mets.
With regards to the previous article on Lindor, this is all certainly a fair amount of money possibly being spent on “needs”. With that, and keeping the future in mind as well; trading away younger, controllable players (yet again) and spending even more money on Lindor, at the end of the day, really isn’t necessary.