FanPost

AAOP: #HairWeGo

In what was otherwise another losing season, the surprise emergence of Jacob deGrom in 2014 has certainly made assembling next season's roster much easier. Now that we have Matt Harvey returning from Tommy John, the aforementioned deGrom, and Zack Wheeler anchoring our rotation, it allows for great flexibility with the rest of the spots with the pitching depth Sandy Alderson has assembled.

Lets get this started:

Trade Noah Syndergaard and Kevin Plawecki to the Tampa Bay Rays for Wil Myers

Myers is coming off a disappointing season, but lets not forget: He was only 23 years old last season and he had a big rookie season where he slashed .293/.354/.478(131 wRC+) Everyone knows him from the blockbuster deal the Kansas City Royals made two winters ago, and now I'm proposing that he gets moved again in another big move. He makes perfect sense for the Mets because he still projects to be the power-hitting RF that doesn't give away huge value with his glove. He's only 24 for entire 2015 season and he is under team control until after 2019. I'm expecting him to bounce back and provide very good value for the foreseeable future. You have to give something to get something, and we have enough pitching depth to make up for the loss of Syndergaard and a legitimate above average catcher(possibly more) in d'Arnaud that makes Plawecki expendable. Those worried about Nimmo being "blocked," he is not even on the 40 man roster yet. He could take over for Granderson at some point in 2016 or 2017(if he's still here).

This makes sense for the Rays because they acquire one of the top pitching prospects in the game(something they couldn't do when trading David Price) and also of the top catching prospects in the game that is pretty much major league ready. It's time for the Rays to move on from Jose Molina no matter how good his framing is, and Ryan Hannigan makes for an excellent back-up catcher. This would drastically improve the Rays catching corps moving forward. As for the outfield, they should be just fine. Kevin Kiermaier has emerged and provided huge value in RF with his above average bat and jaw-dropping defense. Desmond Jennings is an above average CF. Matt Joyce and Brandon Guyer seem like an effective platoon. Ben Zobrist still plays the OF often. The Rays certainly wouldn't be lost in the outfield without Myers, and they add great potential to the rotation and with their new battery partner.

Trade Sign Andrew Miller for 4 years $34M

This move could single-handedly take our bullpen to the next level. While it's not ideal to invest resources like this into a relief pitcher, Miller is a special case. He's been a great reliever over the last few years, and he doesn't have the "closer" label on him. He would be setting records this off-season with the largest guaranteed contract to a non-closer, so he might not get as much as people think. Miller throws in the mid-90s and he has a wipe-out slider. This deal would cover his age 30-33 seasons, which is hardly unreasonable for an elite talent like this. We've all seen how important the bullpen is in the postseason. The Royals have been dominating by putting games away early, and the Detroit Tigers have collapsed by blowing leads late. Adding Miller will not only help us reach the postseason, he'll help us immensely when we are there.

Trade Bartolo Colon to the Los Angeles Angels for Cam Bedrosian

Just another power arm to add to the mix in the pen. He could provide even more depth for us, and the Angels get a quality backend starter who is familiar with the division already for one year.

Trade Dillon Gee to the Minnesota Twins for Stephen Gonsalves

I've seen enough from Rafael Montero to think that he can be just as productive as Gee. Steven Matz and Cory Mazzoni will also be knocking on the door from Las Vegas as well. Gonsalves is far away, but he might be able to make an impact down the road. The Twins could use some pitching, and Gee is under control for two more seasons. He profiles well in Target Field.

Sign Luke Hochevar for 1 year $4M

While Miller is of the higher risk(due to the years) and higher reward, I'll take a shot at another great relief pitcher coming off Tommy John. In 2013, he struck out 31.3% of the batters he faced, and Hochevar accumulated 1.2 WAR. What is the point of all this great starting pitching if you can't hold onto leads late? The thought of Miller, Familia, Mejia, Parnell, Hochevar, Edgin, and Eveland is too enticing to pass up on.

Sign Geovany Soto for 1 year $3M

Soto is a solid backup catcher and valuable asset when d'Arnaud is not playing or gets injured. His bat is more consistent than Recker's, and his pitch framing is substantially better. Recker rates as one of the worst in the league in that category. Soto would be a nice upgrade.

Sign Kevin Kousmanoff for 1 year $800k

Just a very low risk option who could serve as a platoon partner for Duda. If he fails, we could use Campbell again, or maybe someone like Jayce Boyd. Or we could play Duda everyday and see if he's able to improve against lefties, though the odds are probably against it at this point.

Non-tender Eric Young and Buddy Carlyle

I don't think there is a place on an NL roster where your only valuable asset is speed on the bases. Young provides little flexibility on the bench as a LF only and fringe 2B, and his bat is not useful off the bench in pinch-hitting opportunities. I doubt they can get anything of value for him. I love what Carlyle did for us in 2014 and we might lose him with this, but I'm not keeping a 36 year old journeyman on the 40 man roster with all the roster decisions this team needs to make this winter. Re-sign him to a minor league deal if he passes through waivers.

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Guaranteed contracts

David Wright $20M

Curtis Granderson $16M

Andrew Miller $8.5M

Jon Niese $7M

Luke Hochevar $4M

Geovany Soto $3M

Kevin Kousmanoff $800k

Subtotal: $59.3M

Arbitration-eligible players (including potential Super 2s)

Daniel Murphy $8.3M

Dillon Gee $5.1M

Lucas Duda $4.3M

Bobby Parnell $3.7M

Jenrry Mejia $3.1M

Ruben Tejada $1.7M

Dana Eveland $1.3M

11 Minimum Salaries $5.5M

Subtotal: $33M

Total Payroll: $92.3M

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Starting Lineup

C-Travis d'Arnaud

1B-Lucas Duda

2B-Daniel Murphy

SS-Wilmer Flores

3B-David Wright

LF-Curtis Granderson

CF-Juan Lagares

RF-Wil Myers

***

Bench

OF-Kirk Nieuwenhuis

OF-Matt den Dekker

SS/2B-Ruben Tejada

1B/3B-Kevin Kousmanoff

C-Geovany Soto

***

Starting Rotation

RHP-Matt Harvey

RHP-Jacob deGrom

RHP-Zack Wheeler

LHP-Jon Niese

RHP-Rafael Montero

***

Bullpen

LHP-Andrew Miller

RHP-Jeurys Familia

RHP-Jenrry Mejia

RHP-Bobby Parnell

RHP-Luke Hochevar

LHP-Josh Edgin

LHP-Dana Eveland


I think this team has the potential to do big things, not only in the regular season, but in the postseason as well. I'm going to take my chances with Flores and his bat at SS, and his fielding is not as bad as people think there. He seems fringe average -- with the arm, hands, and instincts to make it work. Tejada serves as a valuable back-up infielder and competition for Flores. Reynolds will be in AAA waiting if both falter with the opportunity.

The entire pitching staff would make me excited, and Myers still has huge potential.

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