FRIDAY: There’s “a strong chance” Panik will sign with the Mets when he clears waivers, Martino writes.
THURSDAY: The Mets have interest in Giants second baseman Joe Panik, Andy Martino of SNY.tv reports. Panik was designated for assignment Tuesday and placed on release waivers yesterday, and he’ll officially enter into free agency at noon CT on Friday if he isn’t claimed by another team in the interim.
The Mets’ interest may hinge on whether or not Panik is actually on the open market. If Panik were to sign as a free agent, New York would only be responsible for paying him a prorated MLB minimum salary for the rest of the season (roughly $164K) and the Giants would have to cover the $956K still owed to Panik for the remainder of the one-year, $3.8MM contract he signed last offseason. If the Mets were to just claim Panik off waivers, they’d have to pay him the entire $1.12MM in remaining salary themselves.
As recently noted by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the Mets are quite close to the luxury tax threshold of $206MM, as Roster Resource estimates New York’s luxury tax number at just under $203.38MM, counting the newly-signed Brad Brach’s minimum salary. Since the team is loath to make any tax payments and player movement is more difficult now that the trade deadline has passed, the Mets are targeting players like Panik or Brach, who can potentially contribute while their former teams foot the bulk of the bill. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports that at least one other team besides the Mets has interest in Panik, though it isn’t known if this mystery team is willing to make a claim for Panik, or if they are also waiting for Panik to hit free agency.
Panik would provide New York with a short-term replacement for Robinson Cano at second base while Cano is on the injured list, though it’s a fair question to wonder how much Panik can produce in the wake of his recent performance. Aside from an All-Star season in 2015, Panik has been a below-average hitter for the rest of his career, including hitting only .245/.308/.325 over 780 plate appearances since the start of the 2018 campaign. As maligned as Cano’s 2019 season has been, Panik has actually been worse — Cano’s 0.4 fWAR is superior to Panik’s sub-replacement level -0.2 fWAR.
Still, at a minimum price, there’s little harm for the Mets in taking a flier on Panik if nothing else than an extra body in their infield mix. Panik would also add another left-handed bat to a largely right-handed Mets lineup, and his presence at second base would allow Jeff McNeil to remain largely in the outfield.
Gmen777
In other news water is wet
clepto
Hey look everybody, its Captain Original!!
jorge78
Actually it’s water feels
wet…..
jmacd526
And an appearance from #wellactually guy
DougieJones
I could see Panik playing a lot better in NY then in SF. It would just be a Giants’ thing to happen
HEFFERNAN
Wait A MINUTE …..
The Mets are near the Luxury Tax threshhold yet I’m barraged by articles and comments that they’re cheap and don’t pay for players.
My head is getting light…..I need to sit down
BV
ownership figured out how to get insurance to pay for cespedes and wright’s contracts but it doesn’t get offset against the luxury tax threshold.
there was light at the end of the tunnel for getting those 2 off the books, but now cano’s contract will haunt them.
jorge78
Thanks for the explanation!
robluca21
Yeah that cano trade was a head scratcher… the Mets gave up 2 premium prospects that are flying through the system for a past his prime overpaid Cano and a closer with a 5 plus ERA
Also I never understood the Cespedes resigning .. he was what 32 at the time and had some rough injury history…also I think Cespedes was highly overrated. Just because he has a cannon for an arm and puts on a show in batting practice doesn’t make him a great player .
Hes a low obp guy and an awful center fielder . The Mets were counting on him to carry the team while hes more of a complimentary piece .
Oh well. Mets are a horribly run organization along with the Marlins and Orioles
CharlieH
Mets don’t reach the WS in 2015 without Cespedes.
At the time of the signing, there was outrage among the fans over the prospect that he might NOT be signed.
Hindsight is always 20/20.
DarkSide830
yeah cheap doesnt make sense in the context of the Cano move or any of the other signings they made last offseason. they sure are dysfunctional, but cheap isnt quite the case.
jakec77
Cheap-ish. A lot of Met bashing is just due to having the misfortune of sharing a town with the Yankees, who for years seemingly had no budget (not necessarily true any more).
And, as noted, ownership isn’t actually paying $200 million in salaries since some is offset by insurance.
deweybelongsinthehall
I’ve done my share of bashing but any team deserves credit for paying for insurance. To the extent it’s available. My guess is all teams do it they just don’t talk about it. My guess though is the price is getting to the point of questioning whether it’s worth it.
jorge78
I’ve always wondered
what that insurance
cost…..
reflect
Luxury tax amount is not the same thing as actual expenditures. Mets are spending approximately 60 mil less than their official payroll because Cespedes and Wright are being paid by insurance, and deGrom has a deferred contract.
Socrates Curveball
Exactly. Lost in the BVW hire is Ownership permitted significant payroll expansion. I wonder if any of the other GM candidates that didn’t sell competing right away recognized Ownership would OK payroll expansion. Issue for BVW is he spent the money poorly….
Familia $10M AAV
Cano $20M+ AAV
deGron $27.5M (Extension)
Lowrie $10M AAV
Ramos $9.5M AAV
Justin Wilson $5M AAV
D’Arnaud $3.52M
Team that’s carrying the Mets is Sandy’s… BVW gets a pat on the back for not selling at the deadline id suppose. But Alderson built the club and besides JD Davis & Wilson; BVW nearly wrecked it.
sureshotschmitty
No Panik please don’t need him he’s barely a replacement player
Can’t hit he’s done see ya Joe
Take the other offer please
doubleringer
Panik needs to change his swing, if he plans on extending his major league career. He is all wrist and arms, more or less lunging late at the ball. Often times, this produces the weak, soft popup to short-left and center. When he does pull the ball, he’s easily stymied by a stacked infield to the right side. And he just doesn’t hit the gaps or fences enough to get the outfield set deep. So you see, he has a limited hitting range that could be addressed by changing his approach some. He needs to think deep left field and left center gaps more. He needs a more defined upper cut swing that utilizes his leg and hip muscles more.
jorge78
Thanks coach!
morebreakdowns
People don’t realize how insurance works anyway. They probably wont get any of the money until the end of the year as in most cases it sits in escrow. So they are in fact paying 204 million for this year but that money will be given back to them by the insurance agency after the season. They actually can’t pay players even if they wanted to.
callingoutdummies247
Why is it when you fact check their math on the Mets payroll, not one site has them being anywhere near $200 million?
clepto
Hmmm. A dilemma.
Believe the “fact checking” statement of a guy named “callingoutdummies” or believe content in an article written by people who 1) have the access to such information and 2)do this type of writing for a living, at least in part.
…a real situation we have….
or
this just might be irony in its purest form.
robluca21
What size is that ?
A fun exercise would be to go to baseball reference . Check out the roster including injured players and add up their salaries
Dont forget to count Wright and Cespedes!
Oxford Karma
Seems like a good fit. He doesn’t have versatility like so many infielders, but if Jed Lowrie is a ghost, why not?
Ketch
I was really hoping Panik would sign with the A’s, just to see if MLBTR would run the headline “Panik! At the Cisco”
Thank you. I’m here all week. Tip your waitstaff…
scottn59c
If NY can have him for a prorated segment of league minimum, why the heck not?
There are several current Giants members from the core WS teams that can no longer carry a team, but could still provide value and greatly benefit from a change of scenery.
Look what a move back to his hometown did for Hunter Pence. Panik is younger and closer to his years of good WAR and production than Pence is.
Hopefully NY Mets can grab him and help kickstart a second wind for Panik. He’s a good ballplayer and I hope he can rebound.
Melchez
I don’t understand the Mets… they have the best 2B in the game in McNeil and they stick him in the OF. Put him at second and leave him. When Cano comes back, Cano can be the highest paid utility player in the game. That’s his greatest value. Anything else, he hurts the team.
robluca21
The best second baseman? Unmm I think you’re forgetting about that other second baseman in New York
Melchez
Lemahieu is good, but McNeil is younger and his two years in the league are just as good as DJ’s two best years.
FromTheRedSeats
A really don’t get all the clamoring for Joe Panik. He had no power, he can only play 2B, his hitting and fielding have deteriorated over last 2 years. Meanwhile, Mets have Danny Espinosa in AAA with 15 hr 68 RBIs, swith hitter who plays all INF positions.
Deke
I’m not convinced he can only play 2B. He used to be a shortstop and has a good arm. I think SF kinda pigeon holed him. BUT I’m not sure about this.
agerst1574
Why? Guillorme is a much better fielder and the Mets have a bunch of pitchers who throw a lot of ground balls. Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
HEFFERNAN
rosterresource.com/mlb-new-york-mets-info/
These people have the payroll over 200 mil.
I’ve always used baseballreference.com for my inquiries but this rosterresource site has a lot of info !!!