The Carlos Correa domino effect, Mets sign an infielder, and do they have another bullpen move coming?
What becomes of Brett Baty now that Carlos Correa is in Queens? Also, Jacob deGrom penned a special note to Met fans
What’s Up with the Mets? 🍎
The Mets reportedly agreed to a blockbuster 12-year, $315 million contract with superstar Carlos Correa (story)
Correa’s agent, Scott Boras, said the Giants appeared to be delaying the process of finalizing the contract, citing questions about Correa’s medicals, which Boras has disputed (Athletic)
The Giants confirmed their opinion on Correa’s medicals (official release)
Steve Cohen and Billy Eppler smelled blood and stole Correa’s free agency (story)
The Mets traded James McCann to the Orioles with cash for a player to be named later (story)
The Mets also reportedly agreed to bring back Adam Ottavino on a two-year, $14.5 million contract (story)
The Mets are among the teams showing interest in a trade for White Sox closer Liam Hendriks (MMO)
The Mets introduced Justin Verlander at a press conference at Citi Field on Tuesday (Video)
The Mets are hiring former Angels bullpen coach Dom Chiti to be their new bullpen coach (Athletic)
The Mets released Yoan López and is no longer on the 40-man roster
The Giants are now expressing interest in another Scott Boras client - Michael Conforto (SF Chronicle)
Mets agree to sign INF Danny Mendick to one-year deal 🤝
The Mets signed INF Danny Mendick to a one-year major league contract worth $1 million, according to ESPN.
A utility infielder, Mendick, 29 was non-tendered by the White Sox this winter after hitting .289/.343/.443 in 106 plate appearances for Chicago in 2022. He was seeing regular playing time before tearing the ACL in his left knee in June, costing him the rest of his season.
Over his four-year career with the White Sox, Mendick - who hits right-handed - has hit .251/.309/.366 with 13 doubles, 10 home runs and 45 RBI in 151 games since 2019. He can be considered an average to slightly below average defensive infielder capable of playing second, third and shortstop.
Mendick will be given a 40-man roster spot considering he is coming in on a Major League contract. His salary of $1 million will will effectively cost $1.9 million thanks to the 90 cent on the dollar luxury tax hit.
Jacob deGrom pens a note to the Mets, the fans and the entire city of New York… 🖋️
Tax time! 💸
The Mets will pay Robinson Canó $20.5 million to not play for them in 2023.
In addition, the Mets will pay James McCann effectively $9.5 million to not play for them in 2023.
That’s an even $30 million for jettisoned contracts that are being paid for people to be elsewhere.
With a 90 cent to the dollar luxury tax on that money, the Mets will fork over an additional $27 million for both Canó and McCann.
That’s a total of $57 million for two players to not play for the Mets in 2023.
Or, $7.5 million more than the A’s 2022 payroll entirely (Cots Contracts).
What happens to Brett Baty now? ✍🏻
The shock of the Mets’ bombshell middle of the night signing of Carlos Correa after the the two time all-star had previously agreed to a contract with San Francisco has still not dissipated. But once it does and the dust begins to settle, it’s quickly going to become time to analyze the domino effect of such a franchise altering addition.
And there is nobody in the Mets’ organization who is more affected by Correa’s arrival than young third baseman, Brett Baty.
New York selected the left handed swinging Baty 12th overall in the 2019 draft, and his development has moved right on track for him to become a regular for this club in 2023 and beyond. In 237 minor league games in the Mets system the Round Rock, Texas native slashed .289/.390/.493 with 38 homers and 60 doubles.
Injuries to Eduardo Escobar and Luis Guillorme forced him to the big leagues last summer, where he hit just .184 with two homers in 11 games, but struggling a little in a miniscule sample size did nothing to damper the Mets enthusiasm about his future.
A little over 30 hours ago the Mets plan at third base in 2023 was probably to have Escobar open the season as the starter again, with Baty taking the reigns for good at some point early in the season.
Now? Everything has changed. For the next decade, at least.
Correa is one of the best shortstops in baseball on both sides of the ball. He’s 28-years-old, owns a lifetime slash line of .279/.357/.479 and has five seasons with 20 or more homers on his resume. He’s won a Gold Glove, a Platinum Glove, and is a proven postseason performer and winner. Most importantly to the Mets though is his friendship with Francisco Lindor, which quite obviously played a huge role in his decision to agree to come to New York knowing it would require a position switch.
The only real comparison for this situation is when the Yankees traded for an in his prime Alex Rodriguez and moved him to third base to play alongside Derek Jeter on the left side of the infield in the Bronx.
What Correa’s presence on the Mets does though is emphatically block Baty from having any type of future of playing the hot corner in Queens. To really drive that point home, when Correa’s contract expires, Brett Baty will be 35-years-old.
So, what now?
The Mets have experimented a little with Baty in the outfield in the minor leagues. He’s played 29 games in left field and by all accounts held up okay out there. Right now, New York has Mark Canha under contract to play left this season, but his deal expires at the end of 2023. So in theory, perhaps there is an avenue to have Baty play left in Triple-A for much of this season, and in theory come up and get some time out on the grass in the big leagues in addition to sporadic DH opportunities while the Mets try to determine if he can handle full-time outfield moving forward.
But haven’t we seen enough of the Mets trying to fit a square peg in a round hole playing an infielder in left field. Daniel Murphy? Lucas Duda?
What probably makes more sense than anything, for both he and the team, is for the Mets to pursue a trade. Not necessarily right now but certainly between now and perhaps the trade deadline. That would be quite the about face for a team whose plan clearly was to use Steve Cohen’s money to compete for World Series titles in the short term, while waiting for the top prospects in their system to bubble to the Majors.
In Baty’s case, he’s essentially a Major League ready blue chip prospect. A kid with tremendous power who was picked in the first round with the expectation he’d develop into a run producer in the middle of the New York lineup.
And what he is now is almost a golden ticket for GM Billy Eppler and his lieutenants. Perhaps they could move him to get a controllable, high-ceiling starting pitcher or perhaps a prospect of similar caliber. Either way, Baty is going to be a coveted young talent, and the ability to dangle him in trade talks should open up even more opportunities for an already loaded Mets lineup.
Shohei Ohtani anyone?
Hot Stove 🔥
The Yankees held a press conference to announce their re-signing of Aaron Judge, during which he was named the 16th captain in club history (official release)
The Yankees also announced their six-year contract with Carlos Rodón (official release)
The Cubs announced their seven-year contract with Dansby Swanson (official release)
The Orioles announced their one-year contract with former Met Mychal Givens (official release)
Matt Carpenter is going to the Padres on a one-year deal (official release)
The Astros announced their new contract with Michael Brantley (official release)
The Pirates are bringing in Tyler Chatwood on a minor league contract (FanSided)
The Angels agreed to sign former Met Brandon Drury to a two-year deal (FanSided)
The Orioles don’t appear as a likely landing spot for Trey Mancini (Athletic)
They don’t have to make a decision on Baty this year. Developing him as a. Left fielder sounds great in theory, let’s hope that works. He should play some 1B, too.
Great read!