The MLB Winter Meetings are now just one week away. It is one of the most entertaining parts of the whole entire year for baseball fans. Insiders are breaking news constantly as fans are looking at their phones continuously to see what is going on. During the winter meetings there are many free agent signings as well as some blockbuster trades being done. This year the team that will be watched the most is the New York Mets and what they will do.
New owner Steve Cohen is looking to be very “aggressive” and make a big splash as he tries to make the Mets even better positioned to win the fall classic this upcoming season.
So far this off-season the Mets have been relatively quiet. The only big move they made was offering Marcus Stroman the qualifying offer, which he accepted.
The Mets do have some holes on the current team. Currently Brandon Nimmo is the Center Fielder for this team. Nimmo provides the Mets a top-of-the-lineup guy who has a very high OBP and seems to get on base every game. He has a decent bat. But he is not the greatest fielder. Nimmo plays much better defensively at a corner spot rather than at center. Luckily for the Mets, one of the games most talented center fielders is currently on the open market: George Springer
George Springer is arguably the best free agent this year and the Mets should be all over him. Springer is not coming off one of his best seasons, but he still managed to get 50 hits in just 51 games including 14 homers and 32 runs batted in. Signing Springer would be a great fit and someone the Mets should definitely go into the winter meetings looking to sign him.
The team also has some holes in the rotation. Besides Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman and David Peterson there are no other locks for the rotation. The Mets should retain Matz for at least another year. So that would give the Mets a fourth starter. But they should look to sign another arm for the rotation, as Noah Syndergaard is still recovering from Tommy John surgery. Guys like Jake Odorizzi, James Paxton and Corey Kluber all seem to be good options. Of course, that is if the Mets don’t sign Trevor Bauer.
The Mets also have a need at the catcher position. Wilson Ramos’ option was declined a couple of weeks ago. So as of now the Mets starting catcher would be Tomás Nido. Nido has been the team’s backup catcher for a couple of years and as of now he has not shown that he is ready to be the everyday catcher. So the Mets will definitely look to sign a starter this off-season and in particular the winter meetings. Star catcher J.T. Realmuto is available. But there are a numerous number of teams looking to add his services. James McCann is also available and the Mets seem to be pursuing him. Mike Zunino who had a pretty good postseason with the Rays is also available. Ideally the Mets should come out of the winter meetings with a starting caliber catcher.
The Mets are looking to make a splash and even if they were to walk out of the winter meetings with their only move being the signing of George Springer it would still make everyone in and around the organization ecstatic. But in a perfect world the Mets will have George Springer, another starting pitcher and an everyday catcher by the end of next week.
Image: Jayne Kamin-Oncea / USA TODAY Sports
