'Needs' filled at Meetings, Mets move to 'wants'
SAN DIEGO -- The Mets spent their Winter Meetings, in large part, seeking pitching help. Their payoff came in the Meetings' final 24 hours, when the team agreed to one-year deals with Michael Wacha and Rick Porcello that are still unofficial. Once the club finalizes those contracts, the Mets will have what general manager Brodie Van Wagenen called "probably the deepest starting pitching rotation in baseball."
"It's a good position to be in, and we will sort of adjust on the fly in terms of what other opportunities come in," Van Wagenen said. "We have the ability to do 'wants' now that many of our 'needs' are filled."
• Porcello, Mets in agreement on deal (source)
For the rest of this winter, the Mets will look for opportunities to improve without feeling significant pressure to do so. The Mets' most pressing desire may be to shed Jed Lowrie's $10 million contract, which would free them up to make an additional signing or two while still staying under Major League Baseball's Competitive Balance Tax threshold. But nothing, Van Wagenen noted, is mandatory.
• Mets, Wacha agree to 1-year deal (source)
"You have to make good baseball deals," the GM said. "We're in a position now where we can only look to make good baseball deals and not feel like we have to do something. We're not going to be in a situation where we're just going to dump talent for money unless it also allows us to do other things that we want to do."
BIGGEST REMAINING NEEDS
1. Relief pitching: The Mets' acquisitions of Wacha and Porcello allow them to keep both Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman in the Opening Day bullpen. Still, it couldn't hurt to have a bit more depth. As things currently stand, their bullpen is set to include Lugo, Gsellman, Edwin Diaz, Brad Brach, Justin Wilson, Jeurys Familia and two others. At the least, the Mets figure to sign more veterans to Minor League deals to compete with Chasen Shreve and the team's in-house candidates. The club will also remain opportunistic on potential Major League signings in January.
2. Center field: It's probable the Mets will stand pat here, given their recent acquisition of Jake Marisnick and their proximity to Major League Baseball's CBT threshold. Still, the Mets maintained dialogue with the Pirates about Starling Marte throughout the Winter Meetings, and would consider striking if the price became palatable. For now, it isn't, so the Mets are comfortable going into the season with Brandon Nimmo and Marisnick in center.
3. Catcher: Van Wagenen noted that the Mets can focus on luxury items now that the roster's basic needs are filled. Catcher would qualify; the Mets don't have to do anything at the position with Wilson Ramos, Tomas Nido and Ali Sanchez all on the 40-man roster. But if an upgrade presents itself, the Mets would still have interest in a defensive-minded backstop to pair with Ramos at the big league level.
RULE 5 DRAFT
The Mets did not gain or lose anyone in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 draft. They added one player, pitcher Adam Oller, from the Giants in the Triple-A phase.
• Complete Rule 5 Draft results
GM'S BOTTOM LINE
"One of the priorities that we outlined very clearly was to add starting pitching depth. … We've done that. It gives us a lot of flexibility in other ways to look at the roster." -- Van Wagenen