FanPost

AAOP: TRAID the Offseason and 2016

OH BOY AAOP TIME!!!...Grab your popcorn folks, sit back and enjoy as we say goodbye to one of the worst years in recent memory and hopefully better equip ourselves for the next.

ARBITRATION STUDS AND DUDS

Player Cost Decision
Lucas Duda (5.137) $6.725MM Keep
Rene Rivera (5.070) $2.2MM FIRED
Addison Reed (5.001) $10.6MM Keep
Matt Harvey (4.072) $5.2MM Keep
Jeurys Familia (4.030) $8.7MM Keep
Zack Wheeler (3.098) $1.0MM Keep
Josh Edgin (3.097) $800K Keep
Travis d’Arnaud (3.044) $1.7MM Keep
Wilmer Flores (3.003) $1.9MM Keep
Jacob deGrom (2.139) $4.5MM Keep

Goodbye Rene Rivera. Nothing against Rene here, he is a very solid backup catcher and brings good amount of value in terms of defensive ability. But his poor offensive ability and shoddy pitch calling makes his overall value put in question. Rivera just does not have the ability to be a suitable full time catcher if D'arnaud again falters or goes down with another injury.

I Catch, therefore I am...If you're a fan of Rivera maybe you will find comfort that he will always exist within our hearts. Not mine...other peoples.

Projected Salary $102.8 MM

Qualifying D'OOOH

Niel Walker is back guys at the bargain(?) price of $17.2 MM. This could potentially be great if he continues to produce like he did last year. Hopefully he does not develop any stenosis.

Projected Salary $120 MM

FREE AGENCY

Cespedes

Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes, Cespedes,

The Mets do not make the playoffs in 2015 or 2016 without Cespedes. This the only move that has to be made in every AAOP.

Mets Sign Yoenis Cespedes to 5 yr/ $135 MM (18/33/30/27/27)

....

Mets Sign Alex Avilla to 1 yr/ $5 MM

Alex Avilla is a decent option to replace Rivera's production. Defensively he is very similar to Rivera and offensively he is coming off his best year ever and although unlikely to repeat he can give you an overall improvement to what Rivera was offering.

Projected Payroll $143 MM

TRAIDS

#1

Team Player
NY Mets Jay Bruce
Toronto Blue Jays Danny Barnes

So long Jay Bruce! In what is essentially a salary dump the mets need to unload Jay Bruce for some needed Bullpen help. With payroll constrictions Salas, and Blevins simply cannot be retained and the mets look to Toronto for help.

Their is a lot to like about Danny Barnes as well. His AAA K rate was a solid 12.97 and during his brief stint at the majors (13.2 IP) he had a solid 2.2 FIP. Although unproven right now, with a high walk rate in his first go at the majors Barnes he could end up being a solid contributor under the tutelage of Dan Warthen.

Projected Payroll $130 MM

#2

Team Player
NY Mets Brandon Nimmo + Gavin Cecchini +Seth Lugo + PJ Conolon
Pittsburgh Pirates Andrew McCutchen + Jared Hughes + $5 MM

No matter what direction you prefer the team going, the biggest issue the team faces right now with the QO of Walker is are the 2017 Mets any different from the 2016 version? We still have largely the same team, just hopefully healthier. We still will have big questions on improvements by Conforto and D'arnaud, and questions on the overall health of a few players (Wright, Duda, Walker).

McCutchen solves so many of those issues in providing a much needed RH power bat to compliment Cespedes.

The questions regarding McCutchen are also fair. What was wrong with him in 2016? Offensively he was horrible, by his standards, posting a partly 106 wrc+. It was so bad that it was actually historically unprecedented by any hitter with his track record. But the signs of him getting out of his funk are there. In August and September he posted wrc+ of 124 and 137 respectively. His exit velocity during those last months were also showing signs of returning to normal. I think it's a good gamble for 2017, that offensively Andrew McCutchen will be the similar All Star hitter we know.

Defensively is another story...McCutchen was pretty bad as a CFer last year. Their is no other way to say it but McCutchen long term will have to play as a corner OFer.

But the question for the mets is can he play about 100 games at CF with "meh" defense next year? And I think the answer is yes, with a combination of Conforto/Lagares/McCutchen at center the mets will have an overall improvement to their outfield even at a slight cost of defense.

For what you're giving up it's a good buy. Seth Lugo who's value is at an all time high, is completely superfluous to the rotation. Cheech, who is blocked at SS with Rosario, can give good value offensively at 2B but has yet to show any signs of improving his defense. Right now it's a legitimate question to ask, is he better defensively than Flores at 2B? Nimmo is the only real piece the mets may legitimately feel the loss of. Conlon will offset the value of also adding Hughes who is in his last arbitration eligible year.

McCutchen also has a team option, which means you could potentially trade him again in 2018 for more prospects if he posts a great year.

Projected Salary $140 MM (+12.5 McCutch, +2.5 Hughes, -5 M relief)

2017 NY METS

Pitchers
Num Rotation - Bullpen
1 Thor Reed
2 Degrom Robles
3 Harvey Edgin
4 Matz Smoker
5 Gselleman Hughes
6 Wheeler Barnes
7 Sewald ** Familia
8 Knapp

Hitters

VS RHP
Num Position Player Bat
1 C TDA R
2 1B Duda L
3 2B Walker S
4 SS Cabrera S
5 3B Reyes/Flores S/R
6 LF Cespedes R
7 CF McCutchen R
8 RF Conforto L

VS LHP
Num Position Player Bat
1 C TDA R
2 1B Flores R
3 2B Walker S
4 SS Cabrera S
5 3B Wright R
6 LF Cespedes R
7 CF Conforto L
8 RF McCutchen R


BENCH

Num Player Position
1 TJ Rivera 2B/3B
2 Flores 1B/2B
3 Lagares OF
4 Granderson RF/CF
5 Avilla C


Let's hope 2017 is a much better year than 2016!

This FanPost was contributed by a member of the community and was not subject to any vetting or approval process.