Mets must make fans' wildest free-agent dreams come true - New York Post

The Mets are stocking up on simple proteins, no small thing for an organization that too often, for too long, led the major leagues in baloney.

Admit it, though, Mets fans: You’re antsy. You’re ready for something (or some things) fancier and pricier. You feel that you earned that, or those.

Therein lies the emotional truth of this Mets offseason: Sure, the Mets could stockpile good players and create the sort of roster diversity and depth that their new general manager Jared Porter promoted Monday during his introductory Zoom news conference. Yet if they want to build immediately on the momentum they already have created in the Steve Cohen era, then they must serve filet mignon and Baked Alaska — in the form of Trevor Bauer, DJ LeMahieu, George Springer or two of the above — to their patrons before the Hot Stove turns off.

“We’ve been running up and down that aisle over the last couple of weeks,” Sandy Alderson said Monday, referring to the “gourmet section” of high-end free agents. “Right now, I don’t think that part of the market is moving all that quickly. And so when you have different parts of the market that are moving at different paces, you have to make some decisions. You have to make choices not only based on the player alternatives but also the timing. So it’s really hard to say right now.

“Things are a little slower in the gourmet section than they are in the meat department. But that’ll change.”

The fourth gourmet item in this free-agent market, All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto, will officially depart the Mets’ shopping list once the club announces the signing of receiver James McCann to a four-year contract for a little more than $40 million; Alderson indicated that announcement will come later this week. McCann will join reliever Trevor May as a smart, sensible Mets signing. Porter, a rising star in the baseball operations world, can be described similarly, a fine result of the Mets downshifting after originally aiming high for a big-name, highly accomplished president of baseball operations.

Being smart and sensible can get you very far in life, and in baseball. However, these Mets aren’t merely trying to be good in 2021 and beyond. They want to transform their culture, their brand identity, now that the industry’s richest owner has taken over for a group that hadn’t honored its market size since Bernie Madoff’s arrest. Landing a big fish (sorry to mix the food metaphors) carries value symbolic and beyond as the expedition of the coronavirus vaccine distribution brings hope that baseball teams will be able to sell tickets to their games next season.

All the more so when Springer — a high-character, righty-hitting center fielder looking to move closer to his Connecticut roots after spending his entire career with the Astros — looks like such a tremendous fit. When LeMahieu has proven himself to be such a tremendous player who can thrive in New York (and grabbing him would strike quite a blow against the Yankees). When, even if you wonder how the social media maven Bauer would handle the New York scrutiny, no one questions his commitment to excellence.

“As Steve has said, we’re not going to be drunken sailors, either,” Alderson said. “So look, everybody knows how we’re positioned right now. There’s no secret there. But the fact that we’re involved in those conversations [for expensive free agents], I don’t think puts any more pressure on us. I think what the fans want is not that we win the offseason but that we win the season. And there are several different ways to achieve that.”

My bet remains that the Mets sign Springer as well as another starting pitcher (Masahiro Tanaka? Taijuan Walker?) and some lower-priced items, which would give their customers the gourmet feast they desire as well as some simple proteins they need.

Alderson’s right: The offseason gets forgotten once the regular season begins. Alderson also recognizes the juice, the buzz, that star players bring. And, being around the Mets for most of the past decade, he appreciates how much these customers, starved for a consistent winner, would revel in a great meal. All he has to do now is acquire the entrée.

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Mets must make fans' wildest free-agent dreams come true - New York Post
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