The New York Mets are in for an active offseason. New owner Steve Cohen and team president Sandy Alderson have a lot of work to do, and they already started. They cleaned house with the old ‘regime’, firing former general manager Brodie Van Wagenen and all his collaborators. Now, the next step is adding a president of baseball operations and a GM.
Once they do those two things, they will start focusing on the roster with all of their energy. After all, the new president of baseball operations and GM would like to have a word in the roster construction process, as they should.
However, and despite the New York Mets still having those two executive positions vacant, they have been in constant contact with agents regarding the availability of several players around the league.
The Mets are getting busy
Andy Martino of SNY reports that players’ agents have been hearing from the Mets a lot despite the fact that the Queens’ club hasn’t yet filled its front office positions. That means Cohen and Alderson have, at least, been testing the market and inquiring about specific players to upgrade the roster. They have been ‘paving the way’ for potential signings in the not so distant future.
So far, the Mets have been linked with several top-tier names in free agency. Trevor Bauer, a starting pitcher, is one of them, and the interest appears to be mutual. The Mets need an ace to complement Jacob deGrom and fill the rotation, as well as other starters for depth.
The bullpen is also in need of a couple of reinforcements, but it is unlikely that the Mets pursue Liam Hendriks, the best reliever available. J.T. Realmuto, on the other hand, could be a hot name during the whole offseason. He’s, by far, the best catcher available, and the team is in need of a backstop since deciding against picking up Wilson Ramos’ club option.
As far as position players go, the Mets have one of the best and deepest groups in the major leagues. However, they just lost Robinson Cano for the year and could entertain the idea of stealing DJ LeMahieu from the Yankees.