With Trevor Bauer officially a Los Angeles Dodger, the Mets will now look for other ways to round off their rotation. In addition, they can now focus their attention and money on meeting other grid needs. One of these roster needs is a strong defensive midfielder.
According to Ken Davidoff and Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Mets can intensify their efforts to bring Jackie Bradley Jr. and Queens. It seems logical that the Mets were waiting for the Bauer chip to fall before moving others. Of Sportrac, the Mets were about $ 28 million below the luxury tax threshold on January 16, 2021 Aaron Loup ‘s $ 3 million, and the Mets are now about $ 25 million below the tax kick-in point.
The Dodgers will pay $ 40 million to Bauer in the first year of his contract, according to Mark Feinsand.
Trevor Bauer gets $ 102 million for 3 years from Dodgers, per source. He chooses after the first two years; $ 40 million in 2021, $ 45 million in 2022. He will be the highest paid player in MLB history in ’21, then again in ’22. Good work by @AgentRachelLuba & Jon Fetterolf of @zssports_law.
– Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) 5 February 2021
Joel Sherman tweeted that the Mets offered Bauer more money, and if they had signed Bauer, the Mets would have significantly exceeded the luxury tax and would be faced with the choice of paying the fee or forfeiting the payroll. In either case, it is unlikely they would have spent on Bradley as well.
MLB Trading Rumors predicts that Bradley will shell out a deal worth about $ 16 million a year. While MLBTR suggests a two-year contract could be enough for Bradley, others speculate that the former Red Sox center player could eventually sign for four or five years.
With the Mets $ 25 million under the luxury tax, they can definitely fit Bradley and have room for another spin-off (the Jake Odorizzi “Is he or is he not”, rumors continue.
Bradley is a good, though not ideal, fit for the Mets. Defensively in midfield he will be a significant upgrade Brandon Nimmo. Bradley’s DRS in 2020 was 5 (career 48), compared to Nimmo’s -5 in 2020 (career -14). Bradley in midfield will allow Nimmo to move to left field, where he is defensively above average, and is much better than the other options of Mets Dominic Smith and JD Davis (if Davis is not on third base).
However, the Virginia native is not a big attacking player, with a career line of .239 / .321 / .412 with 98 home games over eight seasons. He has a career bWAR of 18.0, with his best season in 2016, when he posted a 5.8 bWAR.
Another reason why Bradley is not an ideal fit is that he is a left-handed hit and will join a lineup that has already been tilted to the left (Jeff McNeil, Nimmo, Smith, Michael Conforto). The other concern is the length of a potential contract. If Bradley does sign for four or five years, he is in his mid-thirties at the end of his contract.
There are other options the Mets could consider for defense in midfield. None of them will fit best (Albert Almora, Delino DeShields Jr. is one of the options). Both DeShields and Almora are right-handed hits, but neither is as good of a defender as Bradley.
Ultimately, the Mets miss Bauer, whose addition to the rotation would give the Mets among the best, if not the best rotation in the game.
However, the Mets are still under the luxury tax and have the working capital and the opportunity to meet other needs. It will be interesting to see how they continue to add to their list in the waning days of the off-season.
