ml1 said:
and fwiw, since Harper's monster MVP season, he's not consistently been the same guy.  He and Gonzalez played in an almost equal number of games the past three seasons, and both of them received MVP votes in one season.  For those who care about such things, Marwin Gonzalez actually had slightly more WAR than Harper over the past three seasons -- 8.1 to 7.5 according to Baseball  Reference.

 I had no idea Gonzalez was that good! Good stat. Apparently Harper has been keeping the lines open with the Nats. If he goes that route - his surest bet to $300m - he'll be getting paid (for sure!) while watching other teams make the playoffs. 

NotoriousEAM said:

ml1 said:
and fwiw, since Harper's monster MVP season, he's not consistently been the same guy.  He and Gonzalez played in an almost equal number of games the past three seasons, and both of them received MVP votes in one season.  For those who care about such things, Marwin Gonzalez actually had slightly more WAR than Harper over the past three seasons -- 8.1 to 7.5 according to Baseball  Reference.

 I had no idea Gonzalez was that good! Good stat. Apparently Harper has been keeping the lines open with the Nats. If he goes that route - his surest bet to $300m - he'll be getting paid (for sure!) while watching other teams make the playoffs. 

I had no idea until I read the "Top 15 Free Agents Still Available" that Gonzalez was even a FA this year.  Talk about being under the radar.

Of course, I somehow missed this article from November:

How Marwin became the FA every team needs

ml1 said:
Of course, I somehow missed this article from November:
How Marwin became the FA every team needs

 Apparently everyone is still missing it:

OOF!

We are sorry, but you have reached this page in error.

Please try the action again and if the problem continues, contact Customer Support.

404 Error - Document not found

mfpark said:

ml1 said:
Of course, I somehow missed this article from November:
How Marwin became the FA every team needs

 Apparently everyone is still missing it:

OOF!

We are sorry, but you have reached this page in error.
Please try the action again and if the problem continues, contact Customer Support.
404 Error - Document not found

apparently MLB.com doesn't like MOL hyperlinks.  Try this:

https://www.mlb.com/news/marwin-gonzalezs-high-value-as-a-free-agent/c-300882718

The Mets remain in the hunt for MarGo.  Unfortunately for Mets fans, at least a dozen other teams are in the hunt as well.  His flexibility means he can fit in with almost any team's needs.

I am wondering if the Mets will go for AJ Pollack in center field, figuring it will be mostly another lost year for Cespedes.

Are you hearing that Cespedes will not be available in 2019?? Yikes.

NotoriousEAM said:
Are you hearing that Cespedes will not be available in 2019?? Yikes.

No one expects him back until July.  So at best, half a season.

ml1 said:

NotoriousEAM said:
Are you hearing that Cespedes will not be available in 2019?? Yikes.

No one expects him back until July.  So at best, half a season.

 Yes, that is what I am hearing, and then recall that he has to play himself back into game shape after almost two seasons on the mend.

Sit back and enjoy this warm, fuzzy thought with me:. The Mets stay in contention until mid August, when Cespedes arrives healthy and carries them through the stretch to the playoffs.

   Don't ruin it for me.  It's the off-season. Let me dream a bit.

Gosh.  Just was looking at Cespedes's numbers.  He signed his new FA contract in 2017 for four years at $22.5MM/$29MM/$29MM/$29.5MM.  Hope for the Wilpons' sake that the Mets can claim a lot of that back from insurance.  But I believe that the salary still goes against the luxury tax calculation.

He played in 81 games in 2017 and 38 games in 2018.  When he did play he had a good OPS of 0.892 and .0821, but that is damned little time on the field for their main studly dude.  Given his history if he does come back, even in the dreamy days of August, he should be able to generate OPS in the range of 0.800 which would be a help.

Rue is > or < nigh. Asking for a friend.

Train_of_Thought said:
Rue is > or < nigh. Asking for a friend.

 Rue's on first. Nigh? Don't know.

So you tell me.

https://www.mlb.com/news/mets-trade-for-outfielder-keon-broxton/c-302413320

I don't get it.  It's like trading for another Legares.

FilmCarp said:
I don't get it.  It's like trading for another Legares.

they needed another OF on the 40 man roster.  They were one more injury from having to put d'Arnaud in the OF.

mlb.com said: 

Hill, 21, was the Mets' fourth-round Draft pick last year out of the University of South Carolina. He struck out 26 in 15 1/3 innings for Class A Brooklyn in his pro debut.

Regardless of whatever trouble he got into in the 16th, that’s a helluva pro debut.

ml1 said:

FilmCarp said:
I don't get it.  It's like trading for another Legares.

they needed another OF on the 40 man roster.  They were one more injury from having to put d'Arnaud in the OF.

And d'Arnaud is one injury away from, well, he's one injury away from being D'Arnaud...  

But one thing we know about free agency now.  In March there will be 10 outfielders available for cheap who are 33 years old and can hit 250.  They gave up three players for  a guy who was out of options with his old club.

FilmCarp said:
But one thing we know about free agency now.  In March there will be 10 outfielders available for cheap who are 33 years old and can hit 250.  They gave up three players for  a guy who was out of options with his old club.

of course nobody knows what these guys could potentially become.  But I've got to believe none of them were in the Mets plans if they traded them.

ml1 said:

FilmCarp said:
But one thing we know about free agency now.  In March there will be 10 outfielders available for cheap who are 33 years old and can hit 250.  They gave up three players for  a guy who was out of options with his old club.

of course nobody knows what these guys could potentially become.  But I've got to believe none of them were in the Mets plans if they traded them.

 Of course.  And Syndagaard was a throw in in the Dickey trade.

And Plawecki goes to Cleveland for a pitcher and an infielder.  

I agree with FilmCarp.  I do not understand what the Mets were thinking.  They gave up some high quality young players for a guy who cannot hit .220, even if he is a good fielder (and has a great eye at the plate generating a lot of walks).  There have to be other outfielders out there who are FAs or less costly, and as FilmCarp notes, this guy was out of options.

Regarding Plawecki, they got the best they could on that one, I think.  The Mets are still carrying three catchers on their 40 man roster, although as noted above, d'Arnaud is an injury in the waiting.

Will J.D. Davis become the next great corner infielder for the Mets?  He killed it in the minors but so far has been a dog in the majors.  The Astros are so loaded at the corners that they had no room for Davis--or so the public story goes.  Perhaps they saw that he would never catch up to big league pitching?

In the meantime, between the Broxton and Davis deals, and also with the Diaz-Cano deal, Van Wagenen has traded away a boatload of low A prospects for what appears to be not a whole lot of return other than Edwin Diaz.  

Now, I know that low A prospects often fizzle out (like Broxton and Davis have so far), but everything I have read about Luis Sanatana is that he really made scouts' heads turn last year.  Do the Mets really have a deep enough system that they can afford to ship out so many prospects for a few marginal major leaguers?

I know that most Mets fans assume the worst at all times.  But given that I haven't seen the internal scouting reports on any of these guys, I'm not going to assume that the Mets gave up future All-Stars in these deals (aside from Kelenic perhaps.  But if Diaz is as good over the next few years as he was last year, it's worth it).

Of course scouting is still an inexact science, so who knows.  Maybe the Mets just made the equivalent of Ed Hearn for David Cone, but in reverse.

I give the Mets a good grade overall so far this off-season.  They unloaded some guys that were reducing flexibility and making too much money. It's not just about adding guys.

I seriously doubt we are going to be saying great things about Broxton and Davis over the next two years.

mfpark said:
I seriously doubt we are going to be saying great things about Broxton and Davis over the next two years.

I agree.  But you do need at least minimally competent MLB level guys in case someone gets hurt.  Broxton has never been a high BA guy, but his OBP isn't bad, and he hits HRs (11 in only 78 AB last year).  He actually provided the Brewers with 1.6 WAR in only 51 games.  I get that people look at his 2018 BA of .179 and lifetime average of .221 and wonder why the Mets would want him.  But as a backup OF, he's not a terrible addition to the roster.  Actually if we are talking about him at all the next couple of years, that would be a bad thing.  It would mean he played in more than 50 or 60 games a year. 

ml1. Good points, as always.  Broxton does walk a lot, and he plays a mean centerfield.  I am curious to see how Davis matures, as he is a good hitter at AAA ball.  But I never understand moves like this where you trade younger prospects for slightly older prospects.  

Anyhow, the Mets only have 37 on their active roster, and one of those is David Wright who will be cleared off soon as he heads to the front office.  So there is room to add another outfielder or two.  And some of the pitchers they are carrying are imminently demotable.  Also, the roster does not currently include Lagares who is technically on the DL.  But it does include Cespedes (not sure how all that works).

With Lagares and Cespedes both hobbled, Broxton pencils in as the starting CF on the depth chart.  Not an optimal situation.  My hunch is they are still in the hunt for AJ Pollack, although it sounds like that is a very dim possibility.  If not, watch to see who else they sign or trade for in the outfield slots over the next month or two.

I'm pretty sure Lagares is recovered.  His surgery was last May, so he should be fine, and at this point is the starting CF.