The Mets are open to a back-loaded two-year contract with Jerry Blevins, according to Ken Davidoff and Mike Puma of the New York Post. The Mets have long been reported to hold interest in a reunion with Blevins, but the team’s inability to find a taker for Jay Bruce’s $13MM salary has been a deterrent to their ability to re-sign the southpaw reliever. Blevins, according to the Post duo, has been seeking a contract in line with Mike Dunn’s three-year, $19MM contract with the Rockies, though it’s not clear if any such offer will materialize. Recently, FOX’s Ken Rosenthal reported that Blevins’ agents have signaled to interested teams that they expect to be able to secure at least a two-year, $12MM deal. If Blevins is to land that type of commitment from the Mets, most of the salary would be allocated to the 2018 season, when the Mets will have considerably more financial flexibility. Bruce, Curtis Granderson, Addison Reed, Neil Walker, Rene Rivera and Lucas Duda are all set to come off the books after 2017.
Here’s more on the free agent and trade markets…
- After agreeing to a one-year deal with lefty reliever J.P. Howell earlier today, the Jays are still on the hunt for a right-handed arm, reports Rosenthal (Twitter link). The Blue Jays are hoping to add a righty for a similar commitment to the $3MM that Howell commanded on his one-year deal with Toronto. Notably, Rosenthal quells some of the buzz that has built up regarding the Jays and White Sox closer David Robertson. Over the weekend, the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo reported that the two sides had been in touch earlier this winter, and while many have used that as a launching point for further speculation, Rosenthal reports that there’s been no recent talk between the Jays and the White Sox.
- Agent Scott Boras is trying to engage the Rangers in talks about slugger Pedro Alvarez, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). Texas has been tied to a different first base/DH option, Mike Napoli, for the better part of a month. There’s somewhat of a disconnect between Napoli and the Rangers, though, as Napoli has reportedly been seeking a multi-year deal while the Rangers only want to make a one-year commitment. Alvarez would represent an alternative with comparable power but a worse glove at first base. Texas could theoretically mix Alvarez into a first base/designated hitter carousel that also features some combination of Jurickson Profar, Joey Gallo and Ryan Rua, though Crasnick’s report doesn’t specify if the Rangers have any genuine interest in Alvarez.
- MLB Network’s Jon Morosi adds the Diamondbacks to the list of teams with interest in southpaw Craig Breslow (Twitter link). As Morosi notes, Arizona execs Mike Hazen and Jared Porter were both with the Red Sox when Breslow pitched for Boston from 2012-15 (as was D-backs exec Amiel Sawdaye). Breslow’s name has become more prevalent on the rumor circuit since a showcase at which he demonstrated a new arm angle for about half the teams in the league. The 36-year-old spent most of the 2016 campaign in the Marlins organization, tossing 14 innings of 4.50 ERA ball in the Majors. Breslow logged a 2.82 ERA in 402 Major League innings from 2005-13, but he’s pitched to a 4.93 ERA in 133 2/3 innings since that time.
- Morosi also tweets a late addition to the Brian Dozier saga, noting that at one point the Twins sought Jose De Leon, Yadier Alvarez and Willie Calhoun from the Dodgers in exchange for the second baseman. Certainly, that’s an aggressive ask, though it strikes me as likely that said package was presented early in talks. Most recent rumors pertaining to the talks between the Twins and Dodgers suggested that the Dodgers were set on sending only De Leon to Minnesota (as the eventually did in order to acquire Logan Forsythe from Tampa Bay), while the Twins sought at least one additional piece to the deal. Obviously, the two sides were never able to agree on a price, prompting the Dodgers to shift their focus to Forsythe.
Even as a starting point that’s an absurd offer from the Twins. Alvarez alone is worth as much or more than Dozier.
those with low expectations usually achieve less.
I agree…those three prospects can be great players in the future given their excellent play on the minors.
Also dozier had one breakout year and don’t expect the same performance this year
Dozier’s been worth about four wins per year on average over the past four seasons. Sure, 2016 was his best, but he was already an excellent player prior to the ’16 season.
Yeah, it’s nutty. I was in the “De Leon alone isn’t enough” camp, but that’s a pretty wild starting offer.
Then again, I’d bet a lot of the starting offers that are thrown out there are pretty insane. The old trade notes that were leaked from the Astros back in the day had some ludicrous notions proposed within.
yeah, some of those bud norris offers from the astros were crazy high
Like Inciarte, Swanson and Blair for Shelby Miller? Oh wait
Nobody would be that stupid
still baffles me
How dare they mess with the mighty Dodgers. The Dodgers are winners, not like those Twins. The Dodgers won a World Series in 1988. Wait……………………
Yeah, next to the NY Mets who last won it all in 1986 the Dodgers are a major market franchise with true winning tradition over the past 3 decades.
Not
LOL. No.
Alvarez is a prospect and is years away. He’s in no way worth *more* than Dozier. Get real.
So prospects can’t be worth more than major league players? What an asinine comment.
Always ask for the moon, then drop down to whatever you are okay with accepting. If you start out too low, you’ll rarely get something fair. Obviously that ask was way high and never happening, but I agree that it was probably asked for early.
Starting with an astronomical starting point can drive off teams from the get go. DeLeon/Alvarez/Calhoun would’ve been the starting point for a trade for someone of the caliber like Sale, Gray, Quintana, etc…..not Dozier. Dozier is solid but MIN overplayed their hand. If Dozier starts off slow again his trade value will tank.
Given how long the Dodgers and Twins were linked together, i’d guess that didn’t drive them off from the get go.
Exactly. Going off reports the Twins and Dodgers talked for a month or a month and a half or so. It did not drive them off or insult them based on that. Otherwise they would have traded for Forsythe in mid December.
I feel very confident in saying that every front office does this, even Friedman. If they don’t, then they are probably guys who don’t make it very long on the job.
Just as clearly the demands never became reasonable.
It may also be that it wasn’t just Dozier on the Dodgers side at the start. They may have been asking for more, too.
And the support for this theory comes from where, exactly?
All we really can claim to know is that the Twins started the discussion with absolutely ludicrous demands. They obviously were not prepared to back down from them enough for the teams to continue talking.
Not true. These teams aren’t going to let a good deal pass just because they were “offended” by an early sky high ask. That would be extremely short-sighted.
It wasn’t a good deal, and obviously never became one.
Yeah, get out of the all-inclusive Caribbean resort and hit a market in town sometime, if there is any measurable mutual interest, the haggling will continue
I hope the Mets sign Blevins. They could really use him. That’s a missing piece they need to fill!
i miss baseball so much
^!
Just a couple of weeks from pitchers and catchers, thank goodness!
Don’t we all
this
The Mets’s demands on Bruce seem completely out of whack with the market–how can any sensible acquirer take on a full $13M and give talent as well? I don’t understand why the Mets aren;t a little more creative–some mix of cash, talent, and more reasonable demands in return might put them in the game. Maybe they feel no urgency
It really makes no sense. I have to believe the cost of acquisition for the mets has something to do with their unreasonable asking price
It makes quite a bit of sense when you look at all the similar players still out there as FAs. They have no talent cost attached to their acquisitions, and they still can’t find a job. When no one wants what you’re selling, it doesn’t matter what the price is.
I meant it makes no sense that their ask is as high as it is. I thought that came across pretty clearly, especially with the second sentence.
They have money they’re just cheap , they don’t want to pay anyone unless it’s in the form of backloaded contracts or deferred payment — the Wilpons are bad for baseball. Big market club with a small market budget
I think Sandy is doing the right thing. If you can’t get something decent – keep the 30hr bat and try again in the summer when teams are more desperate. Makes no sense to give him away or pay teams to take him. He’s still a run producer.
I guess I don’t get it. The Mets are deeply focused on their finances. They can’t offer contracts to pitchers they want to get because of Bruce’s contract. So free up, say $8M, by trading Bruce and $5M, maybe you get back a single A arm, and you have some money to spend. The only reason to hold on to Bruce is if you think he’s a $13M lottery ticket you can cash midyear–after you have spent $ for the first half of the season
Read above Mike and you will understand. Bruce is not a $13 million lottery ticket. He’s a chip on the roulette wheel. Choose red or black. It’s a 50/50 shot buddy. If Bruce has a bad first half, then your chip is taken off the wheel before anyone spins.
It’s time to start following the jets off season moves. Spring is coming and there you can be optimistic.
It’s easy to understand Mike.
The Wilpons are cheap. Period. And when they give poor Sandy a few extra bucks he can’t control himself and pisses it away.
Their window has closed. Their pitchers are now evening up the score through arbitration and making them pay more than minimums. And good for them because the team’s moronic manager, “TC” has jeopardized many of their careers by keeping them in too long and going over the boundary of sensibility by risking injury.
Bruce is another overpaid corner outfielder who’s defensive measurements and batting average, etc show that a single dimension (home runs) is not enough to compensate. (Read Granderson).
How is Alvarez’s defence at first? Is he strictly DH or can you hide him there. If I remember correctly, wasn’t it his throwing that got him moved off third in Pittsburgh.
i heard it is not that good….. so strickly a DH …
I’m not usually an advocate of the using the eye test as the sole evaluation of defense, but from what I’ve seen, Pedro is a horrid defender anywhere on the diamond
Alvarez is very consistent defensively. Be it at 1st or 3rd, with the leather or the arm he has proven he can commit 25-28 errors either way.
As a Pirates fan I can tell you his defense is atrocious. His glove at third used to look really nice, but he had a wild cannon for an arm, so moving him to first seemed like an easy transition. Somewhere along the line, he forgot how to catch the baseball all together. He may be able to give you spot starts at either first or third, but he should strictly be a DH.
Agreed. He seemed to be the real deal when he came up to the Pirates. Good defensive 3rd baseman with power. But he quickly developed ‘Steve Blass Syndrome’ and no one sitting in first base box seats was safe. The switch to 1st never materialized in a positive manner
Pedro is a sucker for a curveball in the dirt. No idea why a pitcher would ever throw him a fastball
His footwork is atrocious in the field. That was the common denominator between his inaccurate throwing arm at 3rd and his inability to catch the ball at 1st. He’s not lazy in the field, he just is naturally devoid of instincts in the field.
Pirates fan here, horrible defender. Like the previous comment said, he’s not lazy he’s just bad at defense. Also, his bat isn’t what it’s made out to be. Swings hard at every pitch, but doesn’t make contact to well and can’t hit lefty’s.
Why can’t the Mets sign Blevins and Salas?
Because their ownership would like people to think that the team is flat broke.
Simple answer: No $
Explanation: cheap owners operating a major market team like they are in Iowa. (No insult intended for Iowans).
I’m glad Mr. Dozier is staying in the twins cities. You don’t trade an all star second baseman, unless you have depth or you get a major league ready second baseman. A trade to St. Louis would have made sense for Kolten Wong and a prospect.
you ain’t getting anyone better than DeLeon in any package anymore. There are now no teams desperate for a 2b and dozier value is getting lower as each season passes. St Louis won’t do they since they believe Wong has potential
and dozier will command a big contract in 2 years
That’s fine. Would rather have Dozier and his affordable production.
This team needs young, controllable talent, more than it needs production from a second baseman while they are going nowhere.
That’s a reasonable baseball argument, but the other side of the story might be that the Twins feel like they also need something to keep fans in their seats in the meantime.
The Twins won 83 games just two years ago, with much of the same core group.
Let’s not pretend they are completely hopeless. Perhaps they believe (and rightly so) they can compete.
You really value kolten wong more then de leon? Thats doesent make sense since the twins need pitching. Dozier has not batted .270 in his entire career. No analytics can justify him not being able have a respectable batting average ever. His value definitely is not any more then a package built around de leon. JDL, stewart and stripling would have been fair
Good old Batting Average. To some, it will endure as long as rats and cockroaches.
He does everything good though. Defence, offence and base running. Batting average doesn’t show how good of a player you are
Sure it would have, but supposedly the Dodgers weren’t going to include Stewart with JDL. That’s already been reported.
You trade him if you’re looking to rebuild, as the Twins should be. Buxton hasn’t worked out so far and they need more talent. Dozier’s a good player, which means he should’ve netted a couple good prospects that could’ve helped down the road. Keeping him for two more losing seasons doesn’t really do any good.
Did you forget about Polanco? Twins have never needed an MLB ready 2B because they already have one.
Kolten Wong has such value only in the eyes of Mozeliak, who has to justify the silly extension he gave Wong.. To trade Dozier for Wong and a prospect would be ludicrous.
If the Jays are looking for a right handed bullpen arm so bad we got Vizzy send us over Reese and call it a day. We could even throw in a prospect if need be.
With the Dickey and Colon signings and the Garcia trade I don’t know why Coppy didnt jump on that salary dump trade last year to land Reese.
MetsBlog says the Mets are close to a contract with Blevins, not sure if that’s an alternative fact or not though.
Hey M E–it’s time to change your identity here. There is a rule on this board that says if your team is an embarrassment for more than 30 years you cannot have foolishly optimistic identity references.
Why not try dodgerseventually?
This will give you two more years of hopefulness.
The Wilpons won’t mind. The are obsessed with the Brooklyn dodgers anyway. And if you waste your $$ on tickets in Flushing, you can check out the Jackie Robinson rotunda on an evening when Thor or Degromm is being shelled.
Dude, there are plenty of other dark corners of the internet to do your trash talking. Around here, people are generally pretty civil to each other and stick to actually discussing baseball, not just yelling nonsense.
Cool, thanks for the input.
Classic Yankees fans attacking someone for no reason and giving ZERO input to the actual comment.
G.F.Y.S.
Deleon and Calhoun for Dozier should have gotten it done and that would have been better for the Dodgers than Dozier for Forsythe.
that would be a fair deal to bad it didn’t happen
Twins lost because of their greed
Says the Dodgers fan. You could just as easily say the Dodgers lost out on a better second baseman because of their greed
If the Twins weren’t willing to come down in their reported asking price, it’s the Twins who lost because of greed. That price is insane. If he had 4-5 years of control left, maybe it’d be close to fair, but for 2? Not a chance.
What is giving you the indication that they never came down off that price? Everything says that’s what they asked. And all we know is dodgers said Deleon nothing else (obvious underpay) and then no middle ground was met. It’s every bit as conceivable that the dodgers refused to ever give up more than Deleon in a trade, and that’s actually far easier to substantiate since they traded just Deleon for a second baseman
We don’t know what the Twins final ask was. This could have been it, which is obviously too high, or it could have been something much lower. We have no idea. We just know it didn’t happen.
If you’re going to lose DeLeon no matter what, it’s way easier to only lose DeLeon rather than DeLeon plus even if the plus part was whoever is the worst minor leaguer in the Dodgers system.
I personally value track record more, so I’d go with the guy who’s put up numbers for the last four years rather than only the last two (Dozier vs Forsythe), but it makes sense to get a guy who has been similar value the last two and give up very little for him (though I actually do believe that the Dodgers overpaid).
If only the Mets had not made the Bruce trade, they’d have that $13 million plus the $17 million they gave Neil Walker.
Then they could lock up Blevins, another reliever and probably bring in Matt Wieters. But, they did make the Bruce trade so no we’re stuck in a money crunch with a nonsensical outfield.
how would the bruse trade help them save the Walker money
The Mets traded Dilson Herrera who was expected to be their starting 2nd baseman this year. Since he’s gone they brought back Walker (who I do like).
Walker was a nice contributor last year and they need him to produce again this year because their lineup is not consistent. You can argue the Bruce trade shouldn’t have happened and you’d get a lot of support (and some from me). They have Bruce now, so they need to make the best of it. I’m fine with them holding onto him and hoping he gets hot. If they can move him partway through the season (a few million less + kick in a couple million), then they should be able to get a couple of lotto ticket prospects. If he starts off cold they have Conforto and Bruce becomes a really expensive part-time player.
I agree, if both perform to their potential then this rights itself. Maybe Conforto starts in AAA or he becomes a super utility type (first base/4th outfielder).
In what universe is a slightly above average, 55 inning per year, middle reliever like Blevins worth $6M per season? I get it – LHP, lousy FA market, etc. But the numbers being paid for OK level players are getting ridiculous.
These same universe in which Mike Dunn somehow got more
Please tell me the blue jays are not done hunting lefties… we cannot expect to win with Howell and loup that is borderline embarrassing to think About going into the season with
Wait, you mean the Mets can’t find anyone who wants to give up players AND pay $13M for a replacement-level player?
I’m shocked.
My other problem with the Bruce deal is, it was a safety net in case they lost Cespedes (which never should have crossed their minds). But now the market is saturated with Jay Bruce type players, so why cough up assets for him when you could have signed a free agent anyway?