The Mets have signed outfielder Gregor Blanco, as Jon Heyman of Fancred tweeted and the club has now announced. It’s a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training.
Soon to turn 35, Blanco has seen his MLB opportunities dwindle along with his output at the plate over the past several seasons. He’s a 93 wRC+ hitter in 3,349 career plate appearances at the game’s highest level, but that largely reflects his quality earlier seasons as a heavily-used player with the Giants.
Last year, in a return to San Francisco, Blanco managed only a .217/.262/.317 slash in 203 plate appearances. Worryingly, his walk rate plunged to nearly half his career level (5.9% vs. 10.8%) and his strikeout rate soared to a career-worst 28.6%.
Still, it’s possible there’s something left for a player who has been a positive contributor for most of his decade-long MLB career. Blanco follows Rajai Davis as a center-field-capable veteran who’ll take a non-roster opportunity with the New York organization. Perhaps the club is indicating that it has real interest in carrying such a player on the active roster to open the season. Whether or not the Mets trade Juan Lagares, there could be an opening on the bench with Yoenis Cespedes expected to be sidelined well into the 2019 campaign.
Same old Mets
Same old trolling lines.
How does this get thumbs down??? This dude is garbage and brings 0 value as a baseball player
It’s typical Met fashion..make a couple decent moves and then stone wall and fill in the rest of the roster with absolute garbage.
And your just a guy that hides behind a keyboard that probably couldn’t ever hit a baseball two feet. I don’t understand why people have to put down some players. When all this site is made for, is to deliver us fans the news. That is downright disrespectful. He’s been on winning teams. So what if they were looking to add a veteran help out keeping a positive attitude on the clubhouse? Garbage players are guys that can’t play anymore and end up playing in independent baseball in my opinion.
In the clubhouse*
Because the Mets don’t need another clubhouse guy they need a lot of on the field guys!!
Sorry but as a lifelong (30+ years) giants fan, I can safely say this is a bad move. Blanco has been the definition of the perfect 4th outfielder. That is no longer the case. He s lost a step he could never afford to lose. He was great, but it was obvious after the giants brought him back last year. Mets have been making good moves all winter until now. When the guy attacking you has “mets” in his name, you shouldn’t even bother responding. You’re obviously not a troll, this guy just can’t accept reality. Remember fan is short for fanatic.
Who cares ,duh! Find another hobby
Wait until the clutch at bat comes in. Kind of miss him on the SF roster but I’d rather just scrape the lineup as a whole
Hey Nate—calm down behind your keyboard.
That’s exactly the point. He was not attacking the player. He was commenting on the team being back filled with over-the-hill cheap dates, rather than look to fill in the depth charts with quality.
It is a familiar tune in Flushing. Last year was “AG”, Jose Reyes and the likes of dumb signings like Jay Bruce and Todd Fraizer.
The sound is the same for disaffected Mets fans who whine about fans calling the team and it’s cheapskates owners for what they are. Then they resort to talking in their special code, using thumbs down positions like a bunch of immature teenagers.
I don’t know about his attitude in the clubhouse, but lets be honest, he is not good on the field anymore. There are better options out there
BTW: I might be better with the keyboard than a bat, but I didn’t ask the Mets to sign my below average baseball skills
It’s a minor league deal. There is zero downside to any minor league deal ever.
I understand what you mean completely. But I just don’t like how people would call him garbage. He’s done a decent job maintaining a job in this profession. So I wouldn’t consider him garbage. That’s all I’m stating.
You DO realize this is just a depth move right? Minoooooor league deal. Zero reason to react that way.
Ok well your a knicks and a cavs fan who’s clearly looking for hoopsrumors.com and as fake as they come because how can you be both a Knick and Cav fan? Get real!
A Knick AND Cav fan…what a disgrace! So what do you root for when they play each other? A tie?
way to dodge the question
What question
It gets downvotes because you made a stupid comment on a minor league signing.
Hey Goat-admit it. It gets down votes because you want to win the prize and get invited to the prom by the high school football team quarterback.
There is so much crying going on it’s taken away from the spirit of the place-to read about baseball and rumors, including fans’ feedback.
Instead SOME analytics geniuses and general manager know it all get all bent out of shape when critiques are made of their team or their way of thinking.
And knowthemarket, The Mets have been using smoke and mirrors for decades. Their owners are notorious across the entire sport, from coast to coast, from fans who have been robbed to players who have been sentenced to serve, as financially self serving, cheap beyond belief and incompetent.
This is not the Tampa Rays team that is hamstrung with a small markets’ financial resources. And PLEASE do not invoke the Madoff excuse after a decade.
So with all the air pumped into your bellies from Robbie Cano (another BIG lol in its own right) you’ve got the bravado again. You knew, “The Magic is Back”.
The only problems is that this is the NY Mets, where the laughter will come during the season when the team proves to be “The same old song and dance”. And the back fill of the roster only acts as a guarantee.
Mike I believe JD is Canadian so perhaps he’s looking for that prom invitation to come from a Hockey Goalie.
Thank you Slevin for the amazing insight. Long live the slander on the team crumbling minor league signings. Do t ever give up the fight.
Every team makes these kinds of moves. All of them. Every team also has fans like this guy who maligns the move as though this move is supposed to be anything more than attempting to catch lighting in a bottle or a minor league depth move.
It’s a minor league contract that doesn’t even take a roster spot but yet there’s always someone saying things like “same old Mets”.
They complain, and when an outfielder goes down for 10 days midseason and the team is stuck with bunch of guys playing out of position in the outfield for the duration of the DL stint, they complain again.
This is true. Imagine Ramos playing CF. Okay, that might be getting a little carried away but still.
Correct Marc, or in the case of their last BIG free agent signing, he manages to make the owners absolute suckers because his feetsies hurt and he didn’t tell anyone. So he was injuring himself in other ways? Oh and he didn’t drink the water bottles that his mommy out in his lunch bag.
This is all “The Mets’ Way”.
Part of the problem is that the Mets have a history of signing position players in their thirties who are on downside of their career and inserting them as starting players. They are incapable or unwilling to pay or trade for position players who are in their prime and this continues during this offseason, They gave up their top two prospect players for a relief pitcher who arguably is excellent. However, relief pitchers are fickle. Yes, they got Cano but no other team, wanted him and They got Ramos rather than pay Grandal more money when he is the better player now. If they signed Blanco and Davis to have one of them to be their 5th outfielder, I get it. But given their track record, they are going to let those guys fight it out with Lagares to start in centerfield rather than go out to get a above average center fielder who does not.have a history of getting hurt. The same way they are now aiming for second and third tier relief pitchers. It is all about the dollars and nothing else matters no matter who is the GM.
which above average centerfielder is available that is below 30 and not injury prone that you can get for a reasonable price? There are not many of them to begin with and none are free agents. See below whats out there for free agent centerfielders.
Craig Gentry (35)
Carlos Gomez (33)
Austin Jackson (32)
Jon Jay (33)
Adam Jones (33)
Cameron Maybin (32)
A.J. Pollock (31)
JB Shuck (32)
Denard Span (35)
Chris Young (35)
Eric Young Jr. (34)
If he was willing to accept a minor league deal, why didn’t the Giants want to bring him back….
That’s the same kind of Evans/Sabean-style logic that has them in the ugly spot they’re in now. The Giants will not be competitive this year (likely several years) so filling the roster with 35 year old “fan favorites” doesn’t get them out if the bind that they’re in. Time to see what Duggar, Slater, Shaw, etc. can do.
There’s nothing about a minor league outfielder that’s gonna hold any of those guys back. Did you not see all the injuries and poor performance from outfielders last year?
Did you not see all of Blanco’s poor performance last year ?
Mets think that they’re contenders this year. Giants are not and that going to be a tough pill for Giants fans to swallow.
Realistic Giants fans accepted that fact the second half of the 2016 season.
I wish there were more realistic Giants fans.
Minor league contracts don’t cost a roster spot. I don’t think the Giants need to feel any kind of loss though. There are several dozen of these sorts of players you can bring on and hope you discover lighting.
Because we’re still waiting to see where Michael Tucker lands. Still some fuel left in the tank!
Lol
Past hours of blockbusters, Mets counter Gregor Blanco
I see the thought police have been here.
ey needs a pickup.
biggest deal so far is Donaldson to the Braves
Bigger than Corbin ?
Bigger than Ramos?
Bigger than Refsnyder to Arizona?
bigger then blanco to the mets. most people here has rocks for smarts
What? I was saying Ramos was a bigger signing than Donaldson but don’t mind me..
Blanco has been sneaky good since making the Giants with a hot spring training. Not the type of player you want to give 500+ at bats too, especially at this point in his career. But he can contribute in a limited role.
This move makes me want to puke. This team can’t spend on the big kahuna
The Bro strikes again!
Typical Wilpon dumpster diving.
Careful. These Mets fans are out for blood today.
BVW did, what he did best when was agent. Sell them. Reminds me of Jordan Belfort, in a way. The irony.. with the Wilpons
Lol. I don’t think it’s ALL Mets fans
I am still hoping they sign someone good to play the outfield. I was hoping they’d swing a deal for Puig. This team is starting to build a better lineup & Puig would bring some swagger to the team.
Theyre spending money; feels like long time, than the last time they did spend, pre-Madoff.
There’s something to be said about that. And I respect that. But way they responded shows either theyre overly confident in new team… or not confident at all.
I even edited post make it benign as possible
Last time I asked you this I was torn into for being a “troll”, but it was a sincere question.
What’s the story with your name? I’m just curious, I’m a Yankees fan first, I don’t hate the Mets, and I married into a Cape Cod family.
Unfortunately, Puig just went in that big deal to the Reds… Anyway, why are people freaking out about this move as if BVW dropped the ball? It’s a spring training move! If Blanco has anything left, he could be the 25th man. I have no issues with this move.
@ Smuckers
I’ve explained this before & happy to explain it again. Even with more detail.
I was 8 when Yanks lost the ’64 series. I wasn’t interested in MLB like normal kids though I played sandlot games. In ’65 started following both Yanks & Mets but liked the Mets first coz I like the underdogs in most every sports and the Mets we’re about as underdog as a team could be.
My Dad took me to my first game ever in ’66 at Yankee Stadium & Mantle won game with 2 run walk off. Now I’m a two team NY fan.
’67 Yaz was all the buzz carrying the Sox on his back during the Impossible Dream season. How can a kid not love that! So now I’m a fan of a third team.
My baseball friends I grew up with had a hard time with me adopting the Sox, but we didn’t hold grudges. We all liked the Yanks & Mets.
Some friends bailed on the Mets when Steinbrenner bought the Yankees and got heavy into free agency with signings like Catfish among others. I stuck by my first love Mets.
So, I was a Sox fan 16 years before I moved to Maine & Red Sox Nation country. Trust me, I caught crap from Sox fans about being a Yanks & Mets fan too. I think it’s actually still funny seeing how people get all worked up about it.
On any given day you might see me wearing my Mets shirt with a Red Sox cap. Or living even more dangerous, I’ll have a Sox shirt with Yankees cap.
I’m smart enough to know you don’t wear a Sox shirt/cap to Yankee stadium & vice a versa.
Married into a Cape Cod family? I bet you’ve had some good seats at Fenway! Big bux on the cape
Here’s a fun fact about MYR……. I’ve never been to Fenway.
I don’t exactly how it all went down back then with us. Sometimes things can be interpreted the wrong way on the internet. Sorry for any crap. Like X, I’ve been attacked on here simply for my name, so I’m sure I’ve reacted in negative ways from a lifetime of crap.
They haven’t upped payroll at all this year(so far) had to add the so far for all the WAR morons on this site who are GM’s in the waiting…the cano/Diaz trade was payroll neutral and with Cespedes insurance there still projected at 150ish so far
Affectionately called Wagon Wheel, imagine a car from the Flinstone’s cartoon, with square shaped wheels.
Now imagine the Mets GM behind the wheel, perfectly groomed with a broad smile and proudly wearing his loin cloth. As he proclaims something with hot air you watch him start moving the car with
his bare feet. And a few frames ahead you hear, “clunk, clunk” because the freaking wheels are square.
And you think, “how is he going to move ahead?” And that summarizes the Mets. Wagon Wheel will give you the handsome smile, the bravado talk, a few flashy moves and the team will produce as in the past.
All the while Mutt and Jeff are riding away with a bus load of cash, wearing their bandits’ masks while the loyalist fans on here go from denial to hysteria.
no harm in a minor league deal.
It’s a minor league deal, so there is no risk for the team. Even in his prime Blanco was not a good enough player to make any difference for the Mets. They need to bite the bullet and sign Pollock to play CF.
Or swing a deal with the Reds to get Puig.
Syndergaard for Puig.
Mets are back again!
Hey mjm…there always back to robbing their fans as the owners laugh all the way to the bank.
Good Luck Gregor. . . He gets to 10 Years he gets full benefits. He’s at 8.5 now…
First of all, this man made one of the biggest catches in recent Giants history. I see some Mets fans being very disrespectful towards Blanco. The White Shark earned a spot in Giants fans hearts. He is not trash, or simply a clubhouse guy. Granted he isnt someone to depend on on the daily, nor is he paid as if he were. He came up big more than once in SF. Goodluck Gregor. You will always be well respected in San Francisco.
As other folks have noted – it is a minor league deal. The Mets now own their AAA club in Syracuse and just like they need to fill seats in Queens – they also need to field 9 guys and fill the seats in Syracuse.
Now if the Mets were holding a press conference in Queens and introducing Gregor – that would be embarrassing – but over the next few weeks every team will be making signings like this to fill out the AAA teams..
Hey dag…good teams fill out their mlb roster with legitimate prospects. For the Mets, dangling these kind of over the hill players is an attempt to get their fans to dump more money in mutt and Jeff’s pockets. With no depth in either flushing or Syracuse, you will see these players up sooner then anticipated and you will be devastated at how Father Time has passed them by as the fail embarrassingly.
i’ve lost respect for mets fans after reading these comments
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