Mets are showing interest in two bats for the lineup

One bat would be insurance for their third base gamble, the other would be a more significant add for the middle of the lineup

What’s up with the Mets? 🍎

• The Mets have had recent dialogue with the agents for free agent DH JD Martínez, and would consider signing him if the price was right (New York Post)

• The Mets are among three teams with interest in INF Gio Urshela (MLB Network)

• RHP Phil Bickford won his arbitration case against the Mets - he will earn $900,000 in 2024 as opposed to the Mets’ proposal of $815,000 (New York Post)

• The Mets officially announced their deal to sign LHP Jake Diekman to a one-year contract. They designated Austin Adams for assignment

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Even if the price isn’t quite right, the Mets should bite… ✍️

It’s getting towards crunch time for a lot of free agents. Spring Training camps open in less than a week and there are still a lot of players seeking new homes.

It’s funny - everyone thought Shohei Ohtani was holding up the free agent market in December. Then there was a belief Yoshinobu Yamamoto was holding up the pitching market.

Well, Blake Snell, Jorge Soler, Matt Chapman and Cody Bellinger are among the big free agents still available on the open market. Again, Spring Training starts in less than a week.

For the Mets specifically, they still have a number of problems that, until now at least, they’ve been reluctant to address. One is understandable but the other less so. David Stearns has insisted he wants his younger players to be afforded an opportunity to sink or swim at third base, and that does make sense at this stage of the game for the Mets who are trying to bridge to 2025 and/or 2026. So that has kept them out of the market for a top of the depth chart third baseman.

Still, they’ve needed insurance for that plan and so far they have not provided themselves with it.

In addition, a more pressing need for the Mets has been to provide quality protection for Pete Alonso in the middle of the lineup, something that has been fairly easy to solve with a stop gap solution via free agency. JD Martínez has been sitting out there all winter and is a textbook DH who can slot in and provide an immediate power boost while lengthening an unquestionably, well, questionable starting nine.

Stearns of course discounted the need to add a bat to this roster earlier in the winter, offering a belief that a rotation of players through the DH slot could offer a solution to that problem internally.

Well, in order for that to work, they actually need players who can do that and, as they should’ve learned last year evidenced by the stats from their DH spot below, it doesn’t necessarily work and has never worked for this franchise:

The good news is, the Mets appear to at least be entertaining the possibility of filling this void with Martínez, as the New York Post reported on Tuesday the two sides were having some dialogue.

Martínez, 36, is coming off a big bounce back year in LA during which he hit .271/.321/.522 with 27 doubles, 33 home runs and 103 RBI in 113 games. He’s a prototypical DH who would serve strictly in that role as long as he’s healthy. He did miss more than a month in 2023 with a groin injury but he has otherwise demonstrated consistent health since 2018. He would unquestionably serve as quality protection behind Alonso that which he simply did not have in 2023.

Martínez is a six-time all-star including nods in each of the last three seasons, has won a silver slugger award three times, still produces an elite hard hit and exit velocity rate, and while health is always a concern for players in their 30s, Martínez has always been a good gamble for any lineup he’s been in.

As a comp, Justin Turner’s contract with the Blue Jays could be used as a baseline. Martínez is a bit younger and more productive but has no value in the field, but Turner got a one-year, $13 million base with bonuses that can land him up to $14.5 million.

If the Mets could land Martínez at a $14-15 million base salary, which Martínez indisputably deserves at a minimum, this should unquestionably be a no brainer for a club needing production at a far higher value point for this lineup. I also don’t think there’s any harm in giving him some kind of vesting option opportunity in the language of such a deal.

As for their challenge at third base, it’s no secret the Mets need some sort of veteran alternative to Brett Baty or Mark Vientos there and that’s where Gio Urshela might come into play, as reported by MLB Network on Tuesday.

Remember - they’ve already lost Ronny Mauricio to an ACL injury for the year, so they’re down an internal player for this merry-go-round at third.

Urshela, 32, played in just 62 games for the Angels in 2023 due to a fractured pelvis he sustained on the field on June 15. Urshela has always been a solid, medium-to-high average hitter albeit with generally limited power. His highest power output came in 2019 when he hit 21 home runs for the Yankees, but in the end he has a lifetime slugging percentage of .423.

Having said that, Urshela is a plus defender, having produced 10 defensive runs saved (DRS) at third base since 2022 (six in 2023), so his glove would benefit a philosophy which is clearly being cultivated now around speed, defense and athleticism with the Mets.

I am not sure if the Mets would consider signing both Urshela and Martínez. I’m not even sure if the Mets will sign one of them. But even if the price isn’t so right, close enough is a worthy compromise and they should consider bringing both if they’re truly serious about being an actual contender in 2024.

They would certainly help boost those odds, that’s for sure.

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Hot Stove 🔥

• The Astros extended future hall of famer José Altuve with a five-year, $125 million contract

• The Dodgers are re-signing LHP Clayton Kershaw to a one-year contract with a player option for 2025 (New York Post)

• The Rays are signing RHP Phil Maton for their bullpen (FanSided)

• The Giants are “in talks” with the agents for Jorge Soler (SF Chronicle)