Winter meetings round-up, Day 3: Mets sign Wacha, shopping Dominic Smith

It has happened! This afternoon, the Mets made their first move of the winter meetings, signing Michael Wacha to a one-year, $3 million contract with up to $7 million in incentives. The 28-year-old righty, coming off a down season for the Cardinals, will slot in as the Mets’ fifth starter, filling arguably the biggest hole on the roster. It has already been noted that Wacha is represented by CAA, Brodie Van Wagenen’s former agency.

While the Wacha signing was the biggest news of the day, there were a few other newsworthy nuggets that came out of Mets camp on the third day of the winter meetings. Trade rumors involving Brandon Nimmo to the Pirates persist, but as of now there is “smoke, but no fire,” according to Mike Puma of the New York Post, who notes the Mets’ desire to get more than Starling Marte in return from Pittsburgh for Nimmo.

We already knew that the Mets were potentially looking for suitors for J.D. Davis or Dominic Smith this offseason and rumors surrounding the latter have begun to heat up, as Andy Martino of SNY reports that the Mets are “actively talking to teams” about Smith.

Perhaps the most intriguing rumor of all came later in the evening when Martino tweeted that the Mets have “had dialogue” with the Astros about Carlos Correa, but nothing is imminent as of yet.

Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reported that commissioner Rob Manfred said that he expects “no league issues” with the transfer of power from the Wilpon family to hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen.

Later in the evening on the East Coast last night, we also learned a few things from Carlos Beltran’s press availability yesterday. Among them was the first “in the best shape of his life” story of the offseason; Jeurys Familia has reportedly lost 20 pounds in an effort to have a bounce back season in 2020.

Speaking of players looking to have a bounce back season in 2020, Beltran told the media that the Mets have sent strength, conditioning, and nutrition coaches to work with Edwin Diaz in Puerto Rico this winter. Beltran talked about his own experience with big expectations in New York and how that can assist him in helping Diaz to get where he needs to be.

Beltran is also no stranger to adjusting to lower body injuries, as Robinson Cano—who has a very close relationship with Beltran—will now have to do in order to have a bounce back season of his own. “We’re counting on Cano,” Beltran said. “He’s another guy that had a bad year last year. Knowing him, knowing his preparation, I have no doubt he’ll show up at Spring Training ready to go.”