Mets non-tender Daniel Vogelbach, Luis Guillorme and others, sign DJ Stewart to a one-year deal
The Mets acquired Daniel Vogelbach at the 2022 trade deadline
What’s Up with the Mets? 🍎
The Mets non-tendered Daniel Vogelbach, Trevor Gott, Sam Conroe, Jeff Brigham, and Luis Guillorme ahead of Friday night’s deadline
The Mets signed DJ Stewart to a one-year, $1.38 million contract for 2024 to avoid arbitration
Prior to the non-tender deadline, the Mets were looking at trade options for Drew Smith (New York Post)
Eric Chávez will go back to serving as the Mets top hitting coach along with Jeremy Barnes (SNY)
Rumor Mill 💭
The Mets and Yankees are exploring a possible deal to acquire Rays OF Manny Margot (New York Post)
Star Japanese RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto is expected to be posted on November 20 (ESPN)
Quick note on the Mets notable non-tenders… ✍️
Friday’s non-tender deadline came with a number of big names hitting the free agent market around Major League Baseball, perhaps most notably Brewers RHP Brandon Woodruff who won’t pitch in 2024 after undergoing shoulder surgery this season.
As for the Mets, it should come as no surprise the Mets non-tendered Daniel Vogelbach on Friday.
Vogelbach, 30, was set to earn anywhere between $2.5-3 million in arbitration. For this administration, that doesn’t and shouldn’t seem like a lot considering how much money the owner spent on the 2023 roster to win less than 80 games, and how much dead money is on his payroll for players (and managers) who won’t be in their uniform in 2024.
In the Mets case, the roster spot Vogelbach was occupying was currency that was more valuable to them than cash. It’s always a value game for the Mets as it is for any club, but as we all know, Vogelbach is the prototypical one-dimensional player who, in today’s game which is built around athleticism, speed, contact and using the entire field to get on base and score runs, the Mets can no longer afford to carry.
He can’t hit lefties, can’t play the field, and is essentially a station-to-station baserunner if he gets on-base without hitting a home run. He was there to hit home runs against right-handed pitching, and he didn’t do that nearly often enough, at least not until the last part of the 2023 season when he rediscovered his power stroke in August.
One might argue the Mets should’ve cut bait with Vogelbach months ago and during the season.
This modern and faster form of baseball calls for a starting player to be more than just a one-dimensional home run hitter, and that evolution of the game more than likely cost Vogelbach a job with the Mets. No longer is there a need for a single-threaded player in any role.
As for Luis Guillorme, I was a little surprised the Mets cut bait there. He was projected to earn around $1.5-2 million in arbitration, and while he was limited in 2023 due to injury and subsequent underperformance at the plate, Guillorme had evolved into a very good ball player overall and was already an athletic, elite defender, two attributes the Mets could unquestionably use more of, especially in a part-time role in 2024.
Guillorme came up through the organization, making his debut in 2018 while serving in various roles with the club during his tenure. His best year by far was in 2022 when he appeared in 102 games while producing a 101 OPS+. While that’s generally league average, his defensive acumen made him a big asset for that club and he was a big part of their run prevention solution as a result.
Again, for the money, can the Mets do better defensively among other options in the utility infielder market?
We shall see.
Hot Stove 🔥
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