At around 10:30 pm on Tuesday, following a week of huge signings for the Mets, there was some serious late-night excitement when The Athletic reported that New York was interested in signing a superstar infielder Carlos Correa.
While owner Steve Cohen can seemingly do literally anything he wants when it comes to spending at the top of the free agent market, it felt like a long shot that the Mets would land Correa — and it seemed prudent not to splurge on him.
That’s how things shook out — and it happened quickly — with Correa agreeing to a 13-year, $350 million deal with the San Francisco Giants at around 11:30 pm
Would it have been incredibly exciting if the Mets landed Correa to play third base alongside his friend Francisco Lindor? Of course.
Would Correa have given the Mets a dynamic bat the offense is still in need of? Absolutely.
But with Lindor’s megadeal on the books through 2031, both Edwin Diaz and Brandon Nimmo set to earn roughly $20 million each annually (Diaz through 2027 and Nimmo through 2030), and the Mets needing to sign Pete Alonso to a big-money extension at some point in the next year or so with him set to hit free agency after the 2024 season, not adding another huge, long-term contract to the payroll right now was wise.
Could the Mets have added Correa and landed Shohei Ohtani next offseason? Yes. Cohen can obviously afford that. But even with Cohen, there will be a limit. And it’s fair to believe that signing Correa might have seriously lowered the chances of the Mets adding Ohtani.
But as is noted above, the Mets can still use more offense — preferably in the form of someone who can provide pop.
And as part of Tuesday night’s report in The Athletic linking the Mets to Correa, it was reported that Cohen believes the Mets are in need of more offense and that New York was interested in JD Martinez and Michael Conforto.
Shortly after Correa signed, SNY’s Andy Martino reported that the reason why he wasn’t a fit for the Mets was because the “overall plan is shorter-term pricey veterans” to fill gaps as the Mets wait for their farm system to bear fruit.
Both Martinez and Conforto qualify as shorter-term pricey veterans.
When it comes to Martinez, I wrote on Monday that signing him could make sense on a short-term deal.
As far as Conforto, he might be less of a natural fit, but it’s still worth exploring.
As things currently stand, the Mets are returning a very similar offense to the one that was a run-scoring machine at times last season but is definitely in need of more power. So as the Mets possibly look for that power, where can they turn?
A reunion with Conforto would be fitting in a way, since he never actually left the Mets after rejecting their qualifying offer following the 2021 season.
But with Conforto missing all of 2022 after shoulder surgery, it’s hard to really know what you’re getting. Adding Conforto, presumably as a starting outfielder, would also likely make Mark Canha a starter against left-handers only or someone the Mets dangle on the trade market.
Still, if the Mets believe Conforto’s down 2021 was an aberration and that he’s fully healthy, he could be a savvy addition at one or two years.
Conforto has gotten flak from some Mets fans who push a false narrative that he isn’t clutch, but the fact is that he was one of the best offensive outfielders in baseball from his debut in 2015 through 2021, when he slashed .259/. 358/.484 with 118 home runs and 121 doubles in 632 games.
The JD Martinez scenario
Martinez is probably the easiest fit, since the Mets would be able to simply slide him in as the regular DH. Martinez, who is entering his age-35 season, hit .274/.341/.448 with 16 homers and 43 doubles in 2022 after slashing .286/.349/.518 with 28 homers and a league-leading 42 doubles in 2021 And he is effective against both right-handers and left-handers.
However, there are two potential issues.
The first is that Martinez dealt with recurring back issues last season that likely led to his power being sapped a bit, and the second is that he might be seeking a deal longer than one or two years.
If the Mets believe Martinez is past the back problems that hampered him in 2022 and if he can be signed for one or two years, I think New York should pounce. At that point, Daniel Vogelbach can become a bench bat (which I think he’s best suited for) or possibly be traded.
Going internal
We’ve written some iteration of this a few times this offseason, but here we go again.
I’m of that opinion Francisco Alvarez should be the Mets’ Opening Day catcher in 2023 regardless of who else they might add. But if they don’t add anyone of consequence, they really need to roll with Alvarez from the jump.
Alvarez needs some more work on his defense, but we’re not talking about a butcher here. This is a player who has always been viewed as someone who will stick behind the plate and not be a hindrance there.
The Mets could also look to have the left-hander Brett Baty platoon with the right-handed Eduardo Escobar at third base, which would add even more pop to the lineup.
Adding a lower-impact player
If the Mets don’t add an offensive player who profiles as a regular, perhaps it would make sense to turn to someone like Adam Duvall.
Duvall had a down 2022 and his on-base ability leaves a lot to be desired (especially compared to someone like Canha), but he was very productive from 2019 to 2021, slashing .236/.291/.512 with 64 homers in 244 games.
The Mets could also target an old friend Brandon Drurywho has a career slugging percentage of .472 against left-handers and could work as the short side of a DH platoon — if the Mets are willing to try that again after the massive failure that happened last season after they acquired Darin Ruf for that role.