Mets discussing possibility of forfeiting a second round pick

Earlier tonight, it was reported that the New York Mets front office is discussing whether they would be willing to give up their second round pick in next year's draft and the accompanying bonus slot money to sign any of the free agents with draft pick compensation attached.

In order to have draft pick compensation attached, a player must have been made a qualifying offer by his team. Qualifying offers are one-year deals for $14.1 million. Thirteen players received qualifying offers: Carlos Beltran, Robinson Cano, Shin-Soo Choo, Nelson Cruz, Stephen Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Curtis Granderson, Ubaldo Jimenez, Hiroki Kuroda, Brian McCann, Kendrys Morales, Mike Napoli, and Ervin Santana.

Each player that was made a qualifying offer has one week to accept or reject the contract. If they choose to reject it, any team that signs them would lose their highest unprotected pick. For the Mets, that would mean losing their second round pick.

Last year, no player accepted the qualifying offer, though some, like Kyle Lohse, saw their value on the market hurt by draft pick compensation. It stands to reason that free agents with draft pick compensation attached will be less intriguing to many teams.

Given that the Mets appeared to be willing to lose their first round pick to sign Michael Bourn last offseason, with the sticking point being a 5^th year, it would be surprising if the Mets were unwilling to give up a second round pick if they thought a free agent made sense for the team.