The Mets are open to paying down part of Starling Marte’s contract to facilitate a trade, write Tim Britton and Will Sammon of the Athletic. There’s nothing to suggest a deal is imminent or guaranteed to happen at all, but the Mets could consider the veteran outfielder expandable.
After finalizing the Juan Soto signing, New York has an excellent outfield. Soto and Brandon Nimmo will play the corners. Tyrone Taylor had a nice first season in Queens and projects as the starter in center field. The Mets acquired defensive stalwart Jose Siri from the Rays last month. He’s a quality fourth outfielder who could cut into Taylor’s playing time up the middle.
The Mets don’t necessarily need to trade Marte. They’re willing to pay to stockpile depth under Steve Cohen’s ownership. Yet he’s probably fifth on their outfield depth chart and doesn’t have a great path to playing time. He’s no longer an option in center field at age 36. The Mets probably wouldn’t move Nimmo back to center field to force Marte into the lineup.
An outfield of Marte, Nimmo, and Soto would be limited defensively. The two-time All-Star would essentially be limited to a rotational corner role. He could pick up some at-bats at designated hitter, though the Mets are likely to add a first baseman and may want to leave DH playing time for some combination of Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio and (if he’s not traded) Brett Baty. Marte doesn’t have the kind of power teams generally want from their primary DH regardless.
To find a taker, the Mets would need to eat a decent chunk of money. Marte is under contract for $19.5MM in the final season of a four-year free agent pact. If he were a free agent, he’d probably make a little less than half that. He’s coming off a league average .269/.327/.388 showing with seven homers through 370 plate appearances. Marte stole 16 bases in 17 attempts, though his defensive grades in right field have plummeted. His once elite speed is essentially average at this point. A bone bruise in his right knee cost him around seven weeks between June and August.
Marte is probably stretched as a regular, but there are teams that could give him more opportunity than the Mets can offer. Speculatively speaking, the Red Sox may be a fit as they search for a righty-hitting outfielder. The Guardians, Padres, Astros, Royals, Reds and Marte’s old team in Pittsburgh are other teams that could be in the market for corner outfield help.
Soto contract will prove to be a bad move. Just wait.
Oh brother. Premature celebration?
Agree.
$765M over 15 years…what could possibly go wrong?
@Billy
just call it what it is. $805 mil.
I wouldn’t be so sure what team is going to top a 10 year deal with 500MM+ at age 31 for Soto?
He’d be opting out of 10/460
Yes I know but you think he’s gonna risk opting out for a marginal pay raise? Whatever team will need to at least match the 51MM AAV
@Rey
As far as I can tell, he doesn’t have to opp out. The threat that he might could be triggered if he had a great run up to that period. I’d he stays healthy and has a MVP caliber year, they might just offer it to.
I just dont know what salaries will look like in 5 years. 5-6 years ago I couldn’t fathom harpers contract, which now looks like a steal. If soto has 5 more elite years, what will these top players command as a salary?
I think the mets are foolish for not frontloading it more – say 55 a year for the first 5 – so that he’d be opting out of 10/410 instead. By that time, someone going 8/440 prob wouldnt be outlandish.
If Soto has an incredible 1st 5 years as a Met and is in a position that he thinks he can get more money by opting out, Cohen can block it by paying him $4 million more. If he doesn’t play well enough to get more than $51 million he will not opt out. Either way he will stay a Met.
Ma, the Mets did front load to a point by giving Soto a record signing bonus of $75 million. His annual salary is $46 million.
@best. True but i thought they’d do even more. Im assuming they want him to opt out bc the rest of the contract is inane.
Nothing could go wrong if the owner doesn’t allow the contract to prevent the team from adding talent.
Hahaha
keep hatin’
Mvp, WS, HOF
Book it
How long should we hold our breath?
Wideworldofsports:
Meaning what exactly? That Soto won’t be the great hitter he’s been his entire career? That the Mets won’t have the money to buy whatever player they want regardless? What exactly is your point?
the mets will end up becoming who they’ve been. They will find a way. Whether it’s cespedes on his farm, bonilla contract, diaz injury. They will find a way.
The Mets were able to void the Cespedes deal after the farm so that helped them and the Bonilla “contract” was a buy out put into an annuity. The Mets didn’t lose money on that, you just don’t understand how annuities work. And Diaz got hurt for one year. That’s never happened to anyone before.
Wide world of sports:
And here’s where you lose credibility. Many times organization winning and losing is a cyclical thing. Most organizations are not just who they are. Many organizations go through cycles of being good and being bad so they’re not going to go back to “who they were” simply because of the laundry that they wear. They have been to the World Series several times and won two World Series. So who exactly are they? Were they just not being “who they are” in those seasons?There’s different leadership in charge, including one of the best executives in the game
Whooo…..
What is with these arguments here?
Steven Cohen became the owner of the Mets in October, 2020.
David Stearns became the head baseball person in October, 2023 (one year ago).
The franchise is under new ownership and new management.
What happened years ago has nothing to do with this organization. In fact, what has been done the past year is nothing short of remarkable. Sets a high bar for the next few years.
Cespedes, Bonilla. That was Wilpon karma.
Cohen has put his team in playoffs twice in 4 years after just two playoff appearances in the last 14 years. Then he went out and signed the best free agent available and has said he is willing to spend whatever it takes to win. The Cohen Mets are not your daddy’s Mets.
Injuries happen. Diaz didn’t die. He had a good but not great 2024 and will be a Met for at least one more year, possibly 3.
Cohen could pay Bonilla out, but he thinks its fun, so thats that.
it probably brings in money at this point. Who in baseball hasnt heard of bobby bonilla day heck its advertised on the news every year when he gets his million bucks.
You’re living in the past. Cohen is very much not Fred Wilpon.
Not really going out on a limb now with that prediction. The Mets know the back end is gonna be brutal but if he gives them a 7-10 year window to win it’s worth it to Cohen. Mets are one of the few teams were overpaying a player isn’t a hindrance to the team.
Thank you!
@Reyday The back end might be brutal or at the very least have impact full decline in production. On field production is only a portion of what these contracts are about. The players are the key that drives MLBs product. And aging players typically have far more name recognition and marketability. Simply put they help generate revenue even when on field production is in decline.
Ultimately MLB is a business and businesses are out to generate profit. Cohen didn’t build a tens of billions fortune being financially ignorant.
Cohen clearly made two tens of billions through insider trading, bribery, general chicanery, and thieving. The American Way, in sum.
I disagree with you there Pujols, Miggy, even Trout as soon as their production dwindled their name wasn’t a big factor in driving money or views. Like I said thought if Soto buys the Mets a window of 7-10 years to win I think it’s worth it in end considering how money isn’t a big factor to Cohen. It’s more about winning than anything and changing the culture for the team.
Why do you people insist on pocketwatching one of the wealthiest men on earth? He clearly doesn’t care about the financial implications, and he got his man. Why do you care? I doubt it even stops them from getting whoever else they want.
Exactly, will be begging teams to take him in 3 years
Mad1:
Another jealous fan of another team. What destitute team do you root for? Yes, I’m sure in three years when Soto is 29 years old, the Mets are gonna be begging teams to take him away. Try waking up from that dream.
Ok, Yankee
Wrong thread. Do you have anything to say about Marte?
He’ll opt out after five and try to become the first billion dollar man
Cohen’s money. A mere accounting note at the next change of ownership. Hope he sells before he gets bored.
Highly unlikely he’s going anywhere. Cohen made billions in investing. With Mets he has an asset in which he can leverage the billions in value it is worth. Of that leverage $ he invests pays off loans against value at a rate lower then his ROI.
Then there’s the accounting practices. I can only imagine what these owners are getting away with maximizing the complex tax code in their favor and how much a pro sports franchise affords them in loopholes.
He’s going to head back to the A’s.
That was my first thought
Marte, cash, and baty to oakland seems like a fit.
I could see something like that. What would NY get back? Mets wouldn’t give Baty away, especially if they’re paying down some of Marte’s salary.
Asfan0780:
I know Brett Baty’s stock has taken a considerable dip, but the Mets aren’t looking to give him away. What would they be getting back exactly? They’re not going to trade Marte just to clear salary and give up a player of value. The Mets don’t do business that way.
Mike, Verlander and Scherzer entered the chat. Marte is 36 and had a 0.7 WAR last year after -0.8 the year before. He has little to no value.
Mets can eat a big chunk of the money he is owed, say $15-16 million and get a couple of mid-level prospects or they can eat just a little and get some minor league filler.
Those are their options. Take your pick of poison.
Baseball is the best:
That wasn’t my point. My point is that there’s no reason to trade Baty along with him. I don’t believe Martha has any value. In fact, I think the smartest thing would be for the Mets just to keep him and play him part-time in the outfield and part-time DH.
I agree that it’s best that they don’t include Baty, but Cohen has shown that paying down contracts to get better prospect is a winning strategy for the team because he has the money to absorb the cost.
@Baseballisthebest Good username, but the assertion is absurd. Marte ‘has little to no value’ but some team is going to take on $3.5-4.5m in salary AND give up a couple of mid-level prospects? For Marte? Starling Marte?
How?
Why?
@Miken31 It all depends. Do the Mets think one of their OF prospects is worth bringing up as the team’s 5th OFer? They might also add some flexibility if that prospect can also play at least one IF position.
If no one’s ready hoping Marte can provide a league average bat, do some DH’ing and pinch running until someone is ready isn’t the worst plan.
And why does MLBTR shrink reply boxes ever smaller to the point where anything longer than four letters is broken to a new line?
JackStrawb:
Well, I don’t ever love the idea of bringing legitimate prospects up to sit on the bench. You might have tweener guys to do that but if someone like Gilbert is ready I certainly wouldn’t bring him up just to put him on the bench as a fifth outfielder. I don’t love that strategy. I’m pretty indifferent to keeping Marte or letting him go, but I wouldn’t let him go just for the sake of letting him go just to clear space on the roster unless there’s someone legitimately decent that they want to replace him with. I feel like what you said is kind of what I’m thinking. Let him DH a bit. Play some outfield. Some pinch hitting and pinch running. And if it seems like all of a sudden he’s completely hit a wall they can certainly move on from him.
Well, my question is why does MLBTR make it so impossible to try and follow replies and conversations from other people. I like to read responses and reply, but trying to read through these threads is like deciphering some kind of code.
Mason Miller come on, we’ll pay 1/2 of Marte’s $$
@jvent: Oh boy. Another “take our unwanted junk for something great back please” fever dream.
This jvent ninja honestly believes a paid off Starling is good enough to get Mason Miller? LMFAO!
Add $100 milly and Oakland bites.
No chance he’s headed back to oakland
@Asfan0780: “Marte, cash, and baty to oakland seems like a fit”
Since there are rumors of the As trying to raise payroll to not draw the ire of the other owners, I wouldn’t be surprised if the As did not insist on a bunch of cash being included in a potential Marte trade. They could add Marte’s salary and his contract is done at the end of the season. Could be a solid fit if the As payroll rumors are true.
Straight up for Andrew Benintendi. The White Sox will take him!
Maybe to the A’s. They need to spend more money.
The A’s already have five good outfielders. They need pitching. Every time an underwater contract is mentioned people assume the A’s will grab the player. But it has to fit team needs. Stroman, possibly; Marte, very doubtful.
They have two good outfielders.
Rooker, Butler, Andujar, Bleday? Not 5, but not 2,
Rooker is a DH. Andujar is a role player.
Good luck with that.
hahahahhahahaaha
“Tyrone Taylor had a nice first season in Queens and projects as the starter in center”
Nothing abt this statement is even remotely accurate
Not going to argue with the first half of this but who are you projecting to start in CF?
Fangraphs has Taylor slotted in. Nimmo in CF with Soto in RF would risky defensively. Siri is a great defender but I don’t know if they’re going to start a guy who slashed .187/.255/.366 last year.
Its dec 10
You rly think mets are done dealing,signing?
Soto played with judge in cf last yr
Mets gonna roll with tyrone f’ing taylor?
Ahhh I see what you’re saying.
I mean you’re right that there is a lot of offseason left and they are not done adding, but until they make those acquisitions I don’t know how those currently unknown players could be projected to be starters
Mets will certainly sign 1 more bat which will help the fluidity of the lineup. For example if they bring back pete, then vientos can handle 3B, and mauricio or acuna can play OF. Acuna started 31 games in 2024 as CF, think thats a coincidence?
On that note, is jett, clifford, or gilbert ready yet? Now would be a good time to join the party & contribute
Yeah, this article appears to have quite a bit of speculation in it. What you quoted plus, “The Mets probably wouldn’t move Nimmo back to center field”. The Mets have not ruled anything out at this point so I don’t know where the author is getting this from.
Right now, it’d probably be Marte in LF, Nimmo in CF, Soto in RF. You have Taylor as a frequent late-game defensive sub (what he and Bader did last year; just now with Taylor and Siri). You have options of DH-ing Soto some days and options with playing Acuna and 2B and McNeil in the corner OF, where he’s not bad. Mauricio also has LF experience.
But that’s just right now. Plenty of time to make moves and you also have Drew Gilbert in the wings who is a CF. Injuries took away much of his 2024 but he did hit better in the last month of the season.
Did you watch Soto in RF at Yankee Stadium? Horrible defense all year! Dude needs to be in LF like the Padres played him and even then he’s really just a DH.
Kash, not true at all. He had a -1 DRS so he was about league average. His fielding run value or FRV on Statcast was also -1.
The hyperbole about his defense is way off base. He was not Tatis Jr. good but he was not Castellanos bad.
BB- Soto committed two errors in 143 games in the outfield this season, while throwing out 10 base runners. But other metrics are against him: Soto registered minus-four Outs Above Average, which was tied for 37th among qualified right fielders, while his minus-one Defensive Runs Saved were tied for 13th among right fielders who played at least 500 innings. This is telling, and compounded by his horrible routes. Please find a ’24 Soto miscue lowlight reel and watch his routes. His first step is usually quite laughable! He’s a DH in disguise, so best to hide him in LF, not RF.
RCT, from Stearn’s statement that Taylor and Siri would share CF.
@Baseballisthebest: ah, I didn’t see that. If true, then apologies to the article author. But my main points stand: Mets already have options but also could make another move.
Stearns said Taylor and Siri would share CF. Taylor probably gets the lion’s share of those starts.
Surprised taylor is taking some heat here. He was an average bat w strong defense. I think he even managed 2 war in 130ish games. Having him start in CF wouldnt be the end of the world.
It’s fan foolishness that demands every position be filled by an All-Star.
Try talking about the Mets going into ST with Mauricio as first on the depth chart at 3B, Baty second on the DC, and a solid IF backup like Iglesias to put a floor under the position if those two don’t cut it, and people lose their minds.
On that basis and with payroll capped at $350m, the idea of taking modest gambles and ‘letting the kids play’ can only be honored in the breach.
Perhaps Marte can be included in a trade for someone with a longer term deal like Arenado or Bellinger. I’d even consider Marte for Robbie Ray + Giants paying down a lot of his remaining salary
Wish in one hand and ….
Cubs do not need Starling Marte as an outfielder. I am sure there is a team that would like him if the Mets pay half the cost.
No way, Marte only has 1 year left, not taking back players with multiple years left
The Mets can’t wait for Marte’s deal to come off the books. They’re not trading it for another expensive deal for a fading vet like Arenado.
The Red Sox are NOT a fit
Would be crazy if they packaged Marte with some decent prospects paid $12million, and got Naylor.
The Astros will not acquire Marte.
Marte and Mauricio to Cleveland for Josh Naylor?
I dont think they’d give mauricio straight up for naylor. Nothing against naylor, but they really love mauricio’s power/speed combo (as long as the speed is still there post surgery)
Cleveland wouldn’t give Naylor straight up for Mauricio. They don’t want another Amed Rosario.
Everyone who praises Cohen should really look at the destruction he’s causing. Paying down a contract to get rid of a guy after spending the most money for Soto? These aren’t smart business decisions, I’m sorry.
I find it ironic how he traded Scherzer and Verlander, and the best guys he can muster up two years later is Montas and Holmes, who has barely even made starts in MLB.
Good luck, that’s all I have to say.
The biggest troll:
He’s causing destruction to who exactly? He can easily afford it. Where is the destruction? And as far as Montas and Holmes, I can absolutely promise you the Mets are not done in terms of adding starting pitching. Those are back end guys, but they’re still looking to improve the front end of that rotation.
Maybe i was too harsh, we will see. But outside of Burnes, who’s left to sign? We will see. I’m not sold on anything he’s done yet.
The biggest troll:
Well, of course you’re certainly entitled to your opinion. But for one I think they will bring Manaea back and he was very good last season. plus you have to consider the trade market. There’s always guys who are traded that are not rumored and that we don’t even know are available. So I think we have to let it play out and realize there’s options we may not even be aware of now. It’s not just free agents.
Manaea is good but he’s not the ace they need. He would be better than the two guys they just signed though
The biggest troll:
I totally agree Manaea is not an ace. I absolutely expect the Mets are going to acquire two more starting pitchers. They want to go with a six man rotation. So I think they’re going to sign Manaea and then acquire another pitcher. Besides even if they don’t get an ace right now, if they get two good pitchers, they can go into the season with that and revisit it at the trade deadline.
Do you get paid to troll or is it for the love of the sport ?
I get paid by Fever Pitch Guy and acell10.
Well, he did get gilbert clifford and acuna for scherzer and verlander.
I think the soto deal has to be looked at for the outlier it is – overpay for an elite player that every top team wanted. This whole market so far is much higher than projected.
As for marte, he doesnt really have a role, so if they pay $10m and send him somewhere he can play more, why not.
It’s not higher than projected at all. Each year has been inflated. That really hasn’t changed.
It’s not really sustainable. MLB organization are built on farm systems, losing their first round pick year after year is going to cripple them in a couple years.
Personally i wanted them to reset and stay under the threshold this year, but they couldnt resist soto.
It’s definitely going to be an impossible cycle to get out of going forward. Having to keep overpaying for players and paying even more tax
I don’t mind if they went one way or another, but they pulled a 360. They bought Scherzer, Verlander and expected to win. Lost badly, so they blew up the team by trading them. Now Cohen is rebuilding the same cycle, though the pitchers he’s looking at are not as good at their height.
I don’t think the Mets do better than the Dodgers. Dodgers spend but they have a farm and a plan. Cohen just has money he uses mindlessly and assumes it will get him wins. It probably will, but I don’t think it will get him the ones that matter most.
The biggest troll:
I appreciate your opinion, but I really don’t think you have a good grasp on the Mets. You keep talking about Cohen like Stearns is not in charge. I get where Cohen is going to spend money, but Stearns is all about finding value as we saw last off-season. And some of the starting pitching they signed this off-season are pitchers who we may not look at and think are great, but his evaluation says they will be better than anticipated. So that’s not reckless spending at all. It’s trying to find value. It’s the exact opposite of what they did with Verlander and Scherzer. And the Mets have been valuing their farm and building their farm up. They have about five prospects in the top 100. I wouldn’t claim the Mets are doing better than the Dodgers, but I think the Mets are on the right path.
And his pitching contracts are all short term which is definitely a strategy. If it doesnt work out, easy to cut bait. If it does, take the value they give while here and try again until the young arms are ready.
The pitchers the Mets brought in on the cheap last year were better than Verlander or Scherzer were last year. Cohen paid to get rid of those two and in the process brought in great prospects, one of which hit .308 with a .966 OPS after he was called up late in the year. The other two are top 100 prospects in the upper minors.
Agree. It cost them a lot of money but at least they got some good prospects. I think Cohen learned a valuable lesson not to sign old broken down players for top dollar. Stearns knows what he’s doing and he’s not going to spend huge dollars on starters who only pitch 5 innings a week when the games are not decided. Bullpens decide the games every night and they don’t cost nearly as much as starters.
Mets need to facilitate a trade of starling, baty and mcneil
For no reason whatsoever.
Great idea.
Send him back to Pittsburgh.
But can he still play RF? Roberts isn’t moving off LF, or shouldn’t at least.
Mets could consider the veteran outfielder expandable—-Expandable?
After a certain age, we all get a little expandable. Perhaps Marte is at that age.
I can relate.
That and the sag.
To mlb trade
Can you give an update on what teams are already in the lux tax and what the multiplier is for additional signings.
Mets trying to accommodate a horrific contract in order to accommodate a different horrific contract.
Man I don’t get this. Just hold on to him and play him at DH. The idea that you need to get power out of the DH spot doesn’t make a ton of sense to me. Like doesn’t production supersede everything else? Who cares if it’s from hitting dingers or just doing what healthy Marte does?
I agree as long as you have other power capable bats in the lineup
Sure, but Marte’s not a DH on a putative contender.
The only reason to do something like that is because you have some reason to believe Baty has figured it out over the winter and you’re willing to give him a month or two to prove it at DH. You hang onto Marte because you think he can be an average bat and put a floor under the position in case the gamble on Baty doesn’t pan out.
That and the fact that even $350m or whatever Stearns has to play with for 2025 only goes so far.
That’s about the only reason I can think of for a team that’s presumably looking to have at least a 3% chance at winning the WS to go into the season with Starling Marte as its 5th OFer.
Braves could use him. I know this would be a near impossible trade but… it’s a need of ours, we don’t want to eat that salary. And I’m sure we’d eat some of it and give up a decent prospect as a “rival” tax
@bravesfan: Please. No. Wake up from your fever dream. Come back to reality. I know we (your fellow Braves fans) are wondering if AA is going to try to plug some of the leaks, but don’t help the Mets. Never help the Mets. Let them struggle. Don’t extend a hand to help them and NEVER give them a prospect or anything else of use.
He’s also 36 and been hurt the last 2 years.
He can still hit, especially LHP, but he cant play a full year. He might be good in a strong side platoon somewhere.
@Ma4170: If “he can still hit, especially LHP” he’s not going to fill the “strong side platoon.” More rh starting pitchers than lh’er’s in MLB. A left handed hitter would be the strong side platoon player w/the righty Marte being the weak side guy.
This is what i get for responding when im exhausted. Weak side platoon, you’re absolutely right. My brain is fading.
@Ma4170: Lol, I get it. Been a long day on here.
Marte has no platoon split over his career. His splits just for 2024 have no statistical significance.
Just come back to Pittsburgh so I can hear Greg Brown’s Marte calls.
It’s a Mar-te Par-Tay
Marty Jannetty
You saw this coming when they signed Soto.
With his rep, they will have to pay a lot of that salary.
Uncle Steve is going to have to eat all that salary if he wants to move him.
Arenado, Siani, and cash for Marte, Siri, and Baty.
Was thinking maybe the Reds could be a fit with some of their bullpen arms. I thought I read somewhere that they would consider dealing Alexis Diaz? I wonder if there is something that could be worked out with Marte and Diaz as the central pieces and maybe some other pieces attached?
Marte, Tidwell and $10 mill to Cincy for Alexis Diaz
If they deal Diaz, they will actually expect to get something.
Actually think that can happen. Remind me again what the Reds are looking for this offseason?
Actually not a bad deal. Would have been nice if Tidwell had a good 2024 but his stuff is really good. Diaz had a down 2024, so this is not a bad trade all around.
Tidwell has real value, still a 50 grade prospect in the publications ive seen. In fact, he dominated AA last year and struggled in AAA, which is exactly what lowder did. The stuff is there.
Plus his last two AAA starts at the end were very good, so maybe something began to click. I wouldnt want to trade him but obviously wouldnt mind in the right package.
*Sorry – lowder struggled in AA not AAA
Lol, your offers keep getting worse the more I scroll jvent
Absolutely not. That’s a terrible deal for the Reds
Its funny, as a met fan i wouldnt move tidwell in a deal for alexis diaz. He’s coming off a very shaky year, and has regressed each year.
I don’t particularly see him as a fit in Pittsburgh but would be interesting to have him back. Go get Josh Harrison, Russel and AJ to come back while they’re at it hahaha
What’s it been, 2 days ? Mets already sold AAA n high-A teams now player sell-off. Didn’t take long. Pretty soon Met hot dog gonna run u $19.
I’m sorry but that hot dog is $25.
Yeah Cohen’s broke. LMFAO. He’s worth more than twice of any of the other top Owners at $22 B. He can charge $1 dogs all year and still make a boatload of money.
I think the Mets need to dump Marte and McNeil. I wonder if there’s a bad contract they could get in return since Martes a one year deal. Maybe the astros are breaking it down and would send their expensive closer (Hader) to get out from the length of that contract and marte can replace Tucker and if he’s any good be a bench piece for a contender to get some low level prospects. But only if Houston is really breaking it down.
Right. ‘Dump’ McNeil even though he had a .275/350/510 line in his last 200 PA., and even though there’s no one else with a meaningful chance of putting up 2 WAR (let alone 3-4 WAR) at 2B in 2025, and even though McNeil would probably be the best 5th OFer in MLB who can still passably handle CF once a week, if needed.
As players come off the board and the Padres do nothing, I’m getting the feeling that they need to cut salary before they can add. When they got Arraez last year SD got MIA to pay his salary down to league minimum so I think they could be a fit here for Marte if NYM will throw in cash. Clear need for them in LF unless they can find the money to re-sign Profar.
Who has come off the board that you thought the Padres should have been in on?
Only one I can think of is Higashioka, but he signed a huge contract for a 35 year old backup catcher. Every year their GM seems so find a castoff catcher that excels once he gets there, so maybe the loss of Higashioka is not the end of the world.
Beyond him, who else?
Mets should be looking to trade McNeil, Marte and Diaz. Diaz could be replaced with Scott cheaper, McNeil really doesn’t have a place next year and Marte could rotate through the DH position if not traded. But these guys are making around $60m can fill out the rest of the roster and have money left over. Would stay under penalty for prospects level
Oh god. Another Acuna fanboy?
SEA, PIT, DET, COL, TOR, MIL, LAA needs to improve their offense
– Even just as a part time platoon player 375 ABs
Marte is expandable, like those stretchy pants you buy specifically for Thanksgiving.
Sorry Anthony, I had to. Low hanging fruit.
Most of the people on here defending Soto’s contract will be the very ones saying they told everyone how awful this contract was going to end. The last 10 years when Soto starts regressing and then his poor glove and speed really becomes the albatross of a below average player making $51mil a year. I certainly hope Mets fans aren’t expecting 41 homers a year either. Most of those homers hit in Yankee Stadium will be long outs in Queens. I’m just waiting for the meltdown of Mets fans this time next year when they have buyers remorse and on here crying for Cohen’s head for signing him. That’s always the best revenge.
Zips over at fangraphs hilariously projects Soto’s median to be a tolerable DH even at 39 and to be producing 6 then 5 win seasons until his mid30s, or about 65 fWAR overall before he expires. It’s genuinely amusing.
Even Pujols didn’t start declining statistically speaking till 33, Soto gonna be fine for the next 8-9 years at least.
“New York has an excellent outfield. Soto and Brandon Nimmo will play the corners.”
Any outfield with Soto in it is not “excellent”. it is handicapped.
That’s why they need a good CF and went for Siri. Siri and Taylor can hopefully make up for Soto outfield deficiencies
Already strapped for cash.
Soto will be traded in 3 years.
Marte seems fit. Not as expandable as this article states unless he has been hitting the donut shops really hard this off-season. As a DH he might be considered expendable though.
“We’ll pay down his contract” just caused a bunch of ears to perk up in Minnesota
Pirates bring him in for peanuts to platoon with Suwinski and I proceed to jump off the Clemente bridge.
I have a boat, I’ll pick you up
Marte for Arenado, straight up. Neither team has to eat any money.
I disagree with this article. The fact of the matter is the Mets win when Marte is in the line up. He has a year left and is 36, what is the return they get vs keeping a dependable bat in the lineup who can give Nimmo or Soto a day off. He may not be an ideal power DH but a guy who moves the line is valuable in a deep lineup. All while being a veteran presence. Pure salary mathematics, sure, but Stearns is a depth guy. Marte was better than JD or Winker in the playoffs last year and most of the season. Maybe he can hit for power with less strain on his legs playing OF every day. Instead they’ll give DH at bats to more athletic unproven players. Doesn’t jive with the huge contract they signed up to pay.
Agreed!
” The fact of the matter is the Mets win when Marte is in the line up.”
Muted. You make it too easy.
Mets are looking for a reliever, how about:
Padres send Wandy Peralta + prospect for Starling Marte + pay down his salary almost league minimum.
Wandy is owed $4.1m/per season for the next three years. He could use a change of scenery after a down year. He had success in NY with the Yankees ’21-’23, so maybe NY will bring that back out of him.
Padres would like to get under the tax threshold and dumping Wandy’s contract would help. They also need a LF.
As long as Marte is ok as a part time player mostly as the righty part of a platoon at DH I would keep him. He’s still capable of good at bats like he had in the playoffs. Good base runner still. Good insurance against injuries. A lot depends on what happens with Pete. If he returns lineup of:
Lindor ss, Vientos 3b, Soto rf, Alonso 1b, Nimmo Lf, Mauricio/Marte DH, Alvarez C, McNeil/Acuna 2b, Siri/Taylor Cf. Very good balanced lineup. If they can trade Marte and/or McNeil that would be ok but don’t expect much back. Would like another good starter but these days bullpen much more important. Most games decided long after the starters are out of the game. Starters making $30 million + pitching roughly 5 innings a week. Most relievers needed almost every game. Can’t have too many good relievers. How many Dodgers playoff games were bullpen games? That was ridiculous but showed how important bullpen is now.
Marte has no platoon split.
How do fans not know this?
As for TFA, there’s no chance whatever Marte makes ‘a little less than half’ his current remaining salary of 1/19.5m . None.
He’s been replacement level for the last two seasons. When do 5th OFers who can’t defend, play CF, and have bats that project at 36 to be below average make even 1/8m?
He’d get 2-3m in FA, if that was the case. That’s all he has left.
Mets eating some of the money in a trade would help but I don’t think moving Marte should be a priority. He can still hit, run, has decent OBP and adds depth to the bench & can serve as DH vs LHP.
Of course if the right player is available then you have to consider moving him but this Mets fan is fine with keeping him. His $$$ is coming off next season.
Dont have to eat the cash if you take on a worse contract like Bellinger or Montgomery
Montgomery is interesting option. Mets still
Need arms to eat innings. But he had a bad year last year. I prefer keeping Marte. Just my take.
I don’t think anybody should be doing Cohen any favors by taking anything off his hands that is remotely hamstringing him and apart from the principle of not wanting to spend so much of his own money- Cohen can afford to basically swallow every single current contract on the Mets’ books, release/trade away everybody except Soto and sign every big ticket free agent / trade for and take on the remaining salaries of the largest contracts in the game and apart from it being really unfair to the game and principally irresponsible team spending- he can handle the blow to his wallet.
So this Starling Marte thing shouldn’t be treated like some other club trying to off load bad contracts and reboot.
And remember- I say all this as a trillionaire.