Extension talks between Michael Conforto and the Mets “have yet to grow serious,” according to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, who also reports that the two sides never got to the point where numbers were exchanged. An earlier report two weeks ago stated that the Mets made an initial offer to Conforto, though both items aren’t necessarily contradictory — it could be that the Mets never got an official counter-offer back from Conforto’s representatives at the Boras Corporation, or perhaps the Mets’ offer was more exploratory in nature. Regardless, it remains to be seen if any negotiating will take place before Conforto hits the free agent market after the season. The outfielder told DiComo, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post, and other reporters today that he was “not interested in really talking about” the subject any further, and agent Scott Boras told Davidoff in a text message that “as is the custom when the season begins, [we are] focusing on the performance of the players.”
In other news, Conforto revealed that he and his fiancee tested positive for the coronavirus during the offseason, about two weeks before Conforto reported to Spring Training. His fiancee suffered some moderate symptoms while Conforto didn’t suffer much beyond some shortness of breath.
More from around the NL East…
- Braves reliever Chris Martin left today’s game due to an unspecified finger issue, manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including The Athletic’s David O’Brien). Martin pitched to five batters during the eighth inning, sandwiching two outs around three consecutive singles to Phillies batters that resulted in the game’s winning run. It remains to be seen how serious Martin’s problem could be, and an absence would be a tough loss to the bullpen considering Martin’s 2.45 ERA and outstanding 30.93% strikeout rate over 36 2/3 innings in an Atlanta uniform from 2019-20.
- After leaving Thursday’s game with tightness in his left hamstring, Adam Haseley was able to return to the Phillies’ starting lineup today, collecting a single in two plate appearances. As Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes, Haseley seems to have the edge over switch-hitter Roman Quinn in what should ostensibly be a platoon in center field, but manager Joe Girardi told Lauber and other reporters that “there’s no exact science to” the duo’s usage. “If Q has some good days, or one of them gets hot, I’ll play them….Q contributed the other day. They’re both going to have to help out,” Girardi said.
Comforto is a fine above-average player, but I kinda feel he’s overrated. He’s never put together a really huge season, and if he thinks he deserves a megadeal, he’s out of his mind.
This is correct. But what other outfielders are out there? Could be the perfect time for conforto to strike gold.
I think to say he is above avg is a little harsh. His numbers say he is a right under the harper but very close to him.
14 career WAR vs 34 career WAR…very close?
@lemonlyman
You have to put on some Mets Blind Homer Goggles to see how close it is between Conforto and Harper. It’s like the opposite of X-Ray Vision Glasses, except the Mets Blind Homer Goggles sees through the real world and into a new dimension that only Mets blind homers can see. It’s the world where Mets Hyperbole is real.
As far as WAR goes, Harper has nearly twice as many career PA’s so it’s not a very fair comparison, given his yearly averages over the same amount of PA’s Conforto would be around a 29 WAR. Conforto has also played the equivalent of an entire season out of position so his DWAR has taken a hit.
In terms of OPS+,Harper has a career 138 OPS+ vs Conforto’s 128, but Harper also has that one 198 season that’s starting to look like an outlier.and skews his numbers. Over the last 4 years Conforto is +134 with a 12.0 WAR vs Harper at +140.with a 13.1 WAR.
Harper has clearly been the better player, but not by as large a margin as many might think.
@MetsFan22 Right below Harper??? Geez. I love Conforto, but he’s not close. Look at WAR and OPS. Conforto is a very good player. Harper is a perennial All Star.
Guys everyone knows that’s Conforto (Very good) is = (and I boldly venture to bet that Lolmets fan would say Conforto > ) to Harper ( perennial All-star fringe MVP candidate )
He’s at his peak right now. This is as good as it gets. Decent power, very good OBP, decent run production (rbi and runs) and below average fielder.
Contract length matters here. He’s a future DH and you don’t pay those guys a ton of money. Ditto COF batting. 275 with 25 – 30 HR. The only skill that holds up his entire case for a big check is OBP bc he will take a walk. Out of 700 PA you don’t have to subtract too many walks to drop his OBP back to a more pedestrian number. Ask yourself- is that number of walks worth over $50MM ?
He’s not a below average defender as a corner OF- he’s average.
He’s a future DH only in the sense that we all are. There is no reason to believe he wouldn’t be able to play the field reasonably well for the the number of years you would reasonably expect his bat to hold up- figure into his mid 30’s.
Other than 2016, he has been a well above average hitter, and he is coming off of his best years. Has he peaked? Maybe, but his peak is pretty damn good.
I’d start at 6/120 but be prepared to go up to either 6/150 or 8/160, depending on what the player would prefer.
Conforto and Harper and much closer than most think… 2019-20 OPS+ Conforto 135 Harper 134.. OPS+ matters more, especially when one plays home games at citi field and the other at CBP… WRC+ Conforto 134 Harper 132
For 2017-20 OPS+ Harper 139 Conforto 134 and WRC+ Harper 138 Conforto 132… it’s very close so he can easily ask for $20-25M a year plus he only just turned 28… for 2019-20 Conforto has 12th best OPS+ for all MLB OF so he’s not overrated at all.. in fact, he’s prob under appreciated
@trueblue
“…below average outfielder…”?
I watch Mets games and Conforto is well above average. His defensive metrics may have taken a hit when he was needed in center (range), but overall he’s very good. He gets excellent jumps on the ball, takes good routes and catches everything he touches. His arm is accurate and he hits cut offs. I’ve seen him make many outstanding diving catches and he goes back as well as he comes in.
The only true knock on him is that he has had some injuries, but all of them have been in- game activity related.
I’d be very happy to see him signed to a career fulfilling contract with my Mets.
Being a Mets fan he is at his best.never really broke out to super stardom. While a pretty good outfielder not going to be tough to replace with free agency or trade. I saw someone compare him to harper. While harper is a superstar in name and popularity that doesnt translate in the box score.
Both Harper and Conforto are both overrated in my opinion. The same way an homer would compare Conforto to Harper is insane, we’ve seen many Harper fan boys try to compere Harper to Trout. Comparing Harper to Trout and Conforto to Harper are both insane statements. Facts are that neither Conforto or Harper have lived up to the hype they get…although Harper has had some big seasons, while Conforto has been between nice and meh, but nothing special.
If having a career ops of .900 means you’re overrated then maybe the problem is with the rating, not the player.
When you’re Harper and compared on the same level of Trout, you’re overrated. It has nothing to do with the stats ate that point.
However, I will say that people tend to limit player value when they jump to OPS or OPS+ to measure players. It assigns being a good payer to one cookie-cutter type of player – and underrates all of the player who don’t fit that mold…such as guys who are great hitters who don’t take many walks, or guys that are offensive talents that don’t slug well, but do other things that are of value for a team.
Honest question: Who is comparing Harper to Trout? That’s insane to me.
Conforto is great but any deal he takes now is gonna have to overpay for his decline years. Pass. Met fans gripe about every huge contract not handed out. If it were up to them the Mets would be a 300 million dollar payroll, aging, third place team forever.
You must have a low bar for using the term “great” if you’re applying it to Conforto. He’s good, but not great by my definition.
I have always believed he was overrated; certainly on defense. I’ve watched every game for years, and he’s always had problems picking up the ball cleanly on extra-base hits in the corner(s), he played LF sporadically early on. Then when he was sent down to triple-A to work on his offense because he couldn’t hit is body weight and came back only slightly improved. They’ll talk for hours about his ‘beautiful swing’ but at the end of the day, his overall value throughout the season is questionable. And if you’re talking about big Scott Boras FA contracts and his overall consistency; it just doesn’t add up for Conforto.
Chris Martin’s career has really spiraled downward since joining Atlanta. Makes you wonder why he left such a good gig with Coldplay…
Blame it on a rush of blood to the head?
It’s a Major Minus definitely Lost!
Well nobody said it was easy pitch in the majors…
Cheeryvladdy-I feel the same way. He’s been a very good player but he’s not worth $200 million dollars. I would offer him 6yrs at 120m.
I wouldn’t even that! 5/100 max unless he puts a 162 game season at the same clip as last year. Then, and only then does he deserve more.
They said he has numbness in his finger.
Probably stems from a defense mechanism known as conversion
There is so much stress with this declining team, his stress manifested into physical ailments.
A number of things about the Braves are not right.
Start with Ronald Acuna Jr. who has taken to dress like the stand up planks the state lines up at freeway exits when they’re doing construction so that drivers remain alert to follow the signs to the exit ramp. This kid will stop at nothing to draw attention to himself. It seems to be tweaking the opposition and umpires – maybe his teammates as well.
They have talent in spots, but don’t appear to play together as a team.
Of course it’s a long season. But if you’re a Braves fan that follows them closely, you may see a slight decline beginning better than most.
So Acuña’s problems stem from your distaste of his off-the-field ensembles? Joan Rivers, that you? What 23-year old doesn’t want all the attention? A couple of bad games by almost everyone in that lineup but he’s singled-out because his color palette includes neon right now.
@Samuel. If your take is they don’t get as a team then you really know nothing of the Braves. This group of guys are closed than most teams. They are known for his well they get along. That is why Ozuna took millions less than he could have to play for a team he said was “the most fun he’s ever been a part of.” As for the slow start-up they were not only swept by the Phillies year before last, but blown out and still won the division. I have no worries this team will get it together.
Phillies fan here. You are correct. I’m happy for the sweep but the Braves are still the class of the East. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. I hope otherwise but they’ll be back on top before long.
What is up with Braves fans? They lose 1 series and act like it’s the end of the world. They’re going for their 4th consecutive division title, something that hasn’t been done in the NLE since the 2007-2011 Philadelphia Phillies. This is a real good team that got swept in the opening series mainly due to good pitching and cold weather. In 2019 they got swept by the Phillies to start the season. In 2020 they lost 3 out of 4 to the Phillies in the 3rd or 4th series of the year. Both years the Braves went on to dominate the division. There’s no reason to think they won’t again.
Conversion sounds like the correct diagnosis Doctor.
Q would definitely be the most powerful baseball player on the continuum ever!
Yet Picard strikes him out every time.
He can’t touch Capt America’s fastball
Conforto has arguably been the Mets most consistent hitter since he got the call. They dicked him around and hit him all over the lineup, platooned him against lefty’s. Finally got some offense on the club. I’d pay him. Or someone will
Ugh, I thought we were done with this nonsense about the Mets messing with Conforto. It’s ridiculous. For example, yes he was benched against lefties for a bit early on… at some point he was hitting like .109 vs lefties while in a playoff hunt. What’d you want them to do? It’s just excuses.
It’s kind of bugging me that the Mets were punished because the Nats couldn’t play. What about taking responsibility and accepting consequences? I know that’s been removed from our society, but can’t it be retained in sports? I’m still running races, trail races are limited field size, and road races are virtual. If I get sick and can’t make the race, it still goes off. If ten or twenty people get sick, it still goes off. You don’t spend fifteen minutes in someone else’s personal space and you’re probably ok. You mask up and wash your hands. Is it really that difficult to stay healthy? Yes, I know the variants are more contagious but again, follow the protocols. I’m not saying it’s your fault if you get sick, but I’m seeing plenty of behavior that makes me shake my head. Responsibility and consequences.
I agree. Making up 3 games is going to be tough unless MLB built an extra week into the end of the scheduling assuming everyone gets hit at some point. If a team had to postpone an entire series at least one game needs to be a forfeit.
I don’t know about forfeit because then the opponent benefits from the situation and I don’t agree with that either. I think there should be a way to still play the games. But maybe I’m being unreasonable.
several teams dealt with this last year in a condensed schedule and had to make up three games. The Mets have to make up 3 games over the entirety of a 162 game season. they will be fine.
@whyhayzee Bad take. The Mets missed 3 games against a division rival. They can make up those 3 games with said rival pretty easily. It’s much harder to start the season and be sidelined for a long stretch than it is to simply sit for 3 games. It’s really not a big deal. And now the Mets top of the rotation gets to start against the Phillies bottom. So it’s not so bad.
It’s not a bad take at all. You could simply say it’s like having three games postponed because of weather. My point is simply that if the Nats can field a team, they should play. If a team has a lot of their players injured, does the other team say, “We can wait.” I don’t think so. Maybe this is different. But the fact remains the Mets didn’t get to play through no fault of their own. That’s the take. I think of it as a disadvantage when you’re ready to play and you’re told to sit and wait.
@whyhayzee This happened to so many teams last year. Now it’s bad because it’s happening to the Mets? It’s the world we live in. Why should to Mets be rewarded with invisible wins? It makes no sense. How can you punish the Nationals without impacting the entire division? The Phillies missed over a week last year because of Marlins testing positive. The Mets missed 3 games. And guess what? This is going to happen again to other teams. It’s the cost of playing the season right now. And honestly, I don’t feel bad for the Mets after what teams like the Marlins, Cardinals and others suffered last year.
I have had the same conversation. At what point does baseball begin to assess some kind of penalty for teams who cannot play a scheduled game? It’s called a forfeit.
It’s not fair to players who follow the rules, the organizations, the commercial (tv, cable, etc) sponsors or the fans.
It creates scheduling nightmares for the opponent as they have to play through off days. All this emphasis on protecting pitchers and then they allow this right from day 1.
Maybe Manfred should get his head out of politics and back into his own business.
“It’s not fair to players who follow the rules, the organizations, the commercial (tv, cable, etc) sponsors or the fans.”
-If someone breaks some kind of rule, of course they should be penalized. People can test positive without breaking the rules though. That’s the problem with this line of thinking.
I want the Mets to pay Conforto what he wants and give him the years he wants too. Come on Moneybags Cohen! Make it happen! Show you’re a Mets fan and not like the Wilpons!
Based on Mets fans Objective analysis, I think it’s fair to say a Harper type deal would suffice.