With Trevor Bauer officially a Los Angeles Dodger, the Mets will now look for other ways to round out their rotation. In addition, they can now turn their attention to money to meet other list needs. One of those list needs is a strong defensive center player.
According to Ken Davidoff and Joel Sherman from New York Post, Mets can intensify their efforts to bring Jackie Bradley Jr. the Queens. It seems logical that the Mets would wait for the Bauer chip to drop before making any other moves. Din Sportrac, The Mets were about $ 28 million below the luxury tax threshold on January 16, 2021. Add Aaron Wolf ‘they have risen to $ 3 million, and the Mets are now about $ 25 million below the starting point of the tax.
The Dodgers will pay Bauer $ 40 million in the first year of his contract, according to Mark Feinsand.
Trevor Bauer receives $ 102 million for 3 years from the Dodgers, according to the source. He has an eight-out after each of the first two years; $ 40 million in 2021, $ 45 million in 2022. He will be the highest paid player in MLB history in ’21, then again in ’22. Good job @AgentRachelLuba & Jon Fetterolf of the @zssports_law.
– Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) February 5, 2021
Joel Sherman posted on Twitter that the Mets offered Bauer more money, so if he had signed Bauer, the Mets would have significantly exceeded the luxury tax and would have been faced with the choice of paying the tax or paying the salary. Either way, it’s unlikely you’ve spent Bradley.
MLB commercial rumors predicts that Bradley will order a deal worth about $ 16 million a year. While MLBTR suggests that a two-year contract might be enough for Bradley, others speculate that the former Red Sox center-back could sign for four or five years.
With the Mets $ 25 million under luxury tax, I can definitely frame Bradley and hold for another spin arm ( Jake Odorizzi The rumors “are or are not” continue to circulate).
Bradley is a good, though not ideal, fit for the Mets. Defensive in midfield, would be a significant upgrade Brandon Nimmo. Bradley’s DRS in 2020 was 5 (career 48), compared to Nimmo at -5 in 2020 (career -14). Bradley in midfield would allow Nimmo to move to the left field, where he is over defensive and far superior to the Mets’ other options. Dominic Smith and Jd Davis (if Davis is not at third base).
However, the Virginia native is not a great offensive player, with a career slash of .239 / .321 / .412, with 98 home runs in eight seasons. He has a bWAR career of 18.0, his best season being 2016, when he posted a 5.8 bWAR.
Another reason Bradley doesn’t fit in ideally is that he’s a left-handed bully and would join a group already leaning to the left (Jeff McNeil, Nimmo, Smith, Michael Comfort). The other concern is the duration of the potential contract. If Bradley signed for four or five years, he would be 30 at the end of his contract.
There are other options the Mets need to consider for central field defense. None of them would be ideal matches (Albert Almora, Delino DeShields Jr. are among the options). Both DeShields and Almora are right-handed hitters, but neither is as good a defender as Bradley.
In the end, the Mets missed Bauer, whose addition to the rotation would have given the Mets some of the best, if not the best, rotation in the game.
However, the Mets are still under the luxury tax and have working capital and the opportunity to meet other needs. It will be interesting to see how they continue to add to their list in the declining days of the season.
