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Today we will talk about George Springer signing with the Blue Jays, but we start with the news.
⏰ Catch me up in 60(ish) seconds…
The fallout from the Jared Porter text scandal continued yesterday.
🚨 STATE OF THE FRONT OFFICE: With Jared Porter fired 37 days into his tenure as GM, Sandy Alderson told reporters on Tuesday that the team will not seek a replacement in the short-term.
WHY: Alderson explained, “It was late in the process when we made a search for a GM, we're even later now…While Jared presents a void, I'm very confident in the group we have."
BIGGER ROLES: Obviously, the door is now open for recently-hired assistant GM Zack Scott, who worked alongside Porter in Boston. And mainstays John Ricco, Bryn Alderson and Tommy Tanous will continue to be strong voices in the organization’s decision-making process.
NEW ADDITION: We also learned during the press conference that the Mets have stolen Ben Zauzmer away from the Dodgers to oversee research & development (meaning “analytics”).
🤷♀️ BACKGROUND CHECK: Upon being asked whether the Mets had consulted with any women before hiring Porter, Alderson responded: “No, that’s one of the unfortunate circumstances in the game. There aren’t women in those positions with which one can have a convo and get info or check references.”
WHAT DID THEY KNOW? Alderson: “I wouldn’t say Jared was misleading. However, we didn’t understand the full scope of this situation until we had a chance to read the article,” as transcribed my MetsMerized Online. “I don’t want to suggest that Jared was not totally forthcoming. On the other hand, the full breadth of the situation was not really apparent to us until the article was written and we had a chance to read it.”
📺 MISTAKE: After revealing the home country of the reporter who was harassed by Porter (which some suggested could put her in danger), the Mets pulled the press conference from all social media platforms.
🕵️ INVESTIGATION: Per USA Today, MLB will launch an investigation into Jared Porter’s inappropriate behavior that was revealed by ESPN on Sunday and led to his firing on Monday.
FOR CAUSE: The Mets fired Porter “for cause” after learning he had sent lewd text messages and harassing a female reporter in 2016. This means he won’t be paid for the vast majority of his four-year contract, per USA Today.
POSSIBLE SUSPENSION: The investigation could lead to a suspension which would require Porter to apply for reinstatement to work in baseball again, per USA Today.
🍎 MORE TREVORS: Before his firing, Jared Porter had been negotiating with right-hander Trevor Williams, per Mike Puma. It’s unclear if the Mets will remain interested.
🗣 VERSATILITY: Mets were in “pretty strong” on Kike’ Hernandez under Porter. Hard to say where things stand now. The Red Sox are among others in on the energetic Jack-of-all-trades, but his versatility means he fits lots of teams.
🍎 FORMER MET: Juan Lagares was named MVP of the Dominican Winter League Finals after hitting close to .400 in the seven-game series, with 3 home runs, 10 RBIs and two clutch home runs in Game 6 (a grand slam to take the lead) and Game 7 (a game-tying long ball).
📚 ON THIS DATE IN 1984: The Mets botch their second go around with Tom Seaver, when the White Sox claim him from the unprotected list. Frank Cashen later replied to fans, “Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.” Read more.
GEORGE SPRINGER SIGNS WITH BLUE JAYS
🧓 by Jeffrey Bellone
Following the George Springer-to-the-Mets rumors all offseason felt like watching George Costanza playing Frogger with the actual Frogger game. Two steps forward, one step back, another move sideways, a little bump in the road, and then a giant truck with a Canadian license plate blows up the entire plan.
The summer of George (Springer) will not happen in New York this year, or for the next six, as the free agent outfielder reportedly signed a 6-year, $150 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.
While the Mets have been tied to the Connecticut native for seemingly forever now, once they acquired superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor, the calculus changed. New owner Steve Cohen has significant resources but leaving himself some breathing room before spending into infinity might be a wise choice for his baseball team.
As you can see in the graphic above, even if we assume the roster remains the same heading into 2022 and none of the team-controllable players receive a raise in arbitration (which won’t happen), the Mets’ payroll is set to go up if they extend both Lindor and Michael Conforto while adding Robinson Cano’s salary back to the books.
The Mets, like everyone else, are operating with two major sources of uncertainty:
What will the new CBA (collective bargaining agreement) look like?
Will there be a designated hitter in the National League?
As for the CBA, we don’t know if the competitive balance tax will change in a new agreement. There seems to be a belief by MLB insiders that big market teams will have more flexibility to spend, not less. But if something similar to the current rules were to remain in place, and the Mets became repeat tax offenders who ended up something like $40 million over the tax threshold, that starts to get costly ($14.4MM penalty under current rates), even for a wealthy owner like Cohen.
You might not think so, but then think about the last time you drove to a different gas station to save $0.05/gallon to fill your tank or waited for pasta sauce to drop a dollar at the supermarket before buying a jar. We all have our cost savings points, however trivial they may or may not be relative to our salary.
Everyone will focus on the idea that passing on Springer is an indication the Mets are prioritizing signing both Lindor and Conforto to extensions. I wouldn’t be so sure it was an either/or proposition. Or that Springer didn’t genuinely want to play in Toronto beyond the money difference.
But this does give the Mets opportunity to add other attractive pieces around their extension candidates. With Springer cemented in center field, and without clarity on whether the designated hitter will return, the Mets risked having one of their best young players without an everyday position—if Nimmo moved to left and Alonso manned first, where does that leave Dom Smith long-term?
The Mets are currently around $32 million below the tax line for 2021. You can read in much more detail about that in our Monday newsletter. As I outlined then, signing Springer would have been relatively cheap in terms of this current season. It’s a $2 million penalty if you exceed the tax by $10 million as a first time payor. Alderson could have added Springer and reliever Brad Hand within that budget.
Whether it’s concern the tax will linger in a new CBA, a negotiating stance by Cohen (he’s willing to spend, but he’s not going to send a message to agents across the league that he can be had for any price), a combined salary and roster decision, or something else, the Mets decided paying more than a reported $20 million per season for a 31-year-old centerfielder was too much. And since we are running long, we will talk about how they can use their remaining budget on alternatives in another newsletter.
⚾️ Angels signed left-hander José Quintana to a one-year, $8 million deal, per The Athletic.
⚾️ Blue Jays came to an agreement with reliever Kirby Yates for $5.5 million with up to $4.5MM in performance bonuses.
⚾️ Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton passed away on Monday night, his son announced on social media.
⚾️ Tommy Lasorda was memorialized during a private ceremony at Dodger Stadium.
🔗 Baseball cannot be surprised by Jared Porter, by Deesha Thosar, NY Daily News: “Working in a male-dominated industry has many layers, many of which are degrading, and it’s immediately obvious how singularly unique some of these experiences are. As the only woman on the New York Mets beat, no other person is regularly around to understand the complex heartaches involved in being checked out or harassed when I’m just trying to do my job.”
🎧 WFAN’s Maggie Gray on the Jared Porter saga and firing
🔗 On Sandy Alderson to lead Mets from Jared Porter disaster, by Joel Sherman, NY Post: “Sandy Alderson now has to take over running the Mets baseball operations until next offseason. He needs to bring stability and confidence to that department and make it attractive so that come October/November 2021 the best candidates are lining up to interview as opposed to what happened this last time.”
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So for the record it was never the Wilpons. it was Alderson all along being cheap ! He is the one advising Cohen on what to spend and where. Alderson has blown 5 times 14.4 million dollars putting bad bullpens together for multiple years. To sign second best catcher not get Bauer and now being cheap on Springer is typical Mets. Richest owner in sports and being advised to come up small so they can win what 88 games, hope for a wild card. This news just took all the shine off of the upcoming season. On Springers side it was never about being “close to home” it’s always the money and ego with these guys. Is there really a difference between 125 mil or 150 mil. Apparently Alderson knows that answer.