With Trevor Bauer Officially a Los Angeles Dodger, the Mets will now seek other ways to complete their rotation. In addition, they can now focus their attention and money on meeting other scheduling needs. One of those selection needs is a strong defensive midfielder.
According to Ken Davidoff and Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Mets can intensify their efforts to convey Jackie Bradley Jr. to Queens. It seems logical that the Mets waited for the Bauer chip to drop before making other moves. From SportracOn January 16, 2021, the Mets were about $ 28 million below the luxury tax line. add Aaron Wolf ‘s $ 3 million, and the Mets are now about $ 25 million below the tax-taking point.
The Dodgers will pay Bauer $ 40 million in the first year of his contract, according to Mark Feinsand.
Trevor Bauer gets $ 102 million for 3 years from Dodgers, per source. He has opt-outs 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 and again in ’22. Well done by @AgentRachelLuba & Jon Fetterolf from @zssports_law.
– Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) February 5, 2021
Joel Sherman tweeted that the Mets had offered Bauer more money, so had they signed Bauer, the Mets would have significantly exceeded the luxury tax and faced the choice of either paying the fee or losing the payroll. In either case, it’s unlikely they would have spent on Bradley as well.
MLB trading rumors predicts Bradley will close a deal worth about $ 16 million a year. While MLBTR suggests a two-year contract could be enough for Bradley, others speculate that the former Red Sox midfielder will eventually sign for four or five years.
With the Mets $ 25 million under the luxury tax, they can certainly fit in Bradley and have room for another pivot arm (the Jake Odorizzi “Is he or isn’t he?” Rumors continue to circulate).
Bradley is a good, if not ideal, fit for the Mets. Defending in midfield, he would be a major upgrade Brandon Nimmo. Bradley’s DRS in 2020 was 5 (career 48), versus Nimmo at -5 in 2020 (career -14). Bradley in midfield would allow Nimmo to move to leftfield, where he is defensively above average and far superior to the Mets’ other options. Dominic Smith and Jd Davis (if Davis is not on third base).
The Virginia native isn’t a great offensive player, though, with a career slash of .239 / .321 / .412 with 98 home runs in eight seasons. He has a career bWAR of 18.0, with his best season in 2016 when he posted a 5.8 bWAR.
Another reason Bradley is not ideal is that he is a left-handed batter and would join a line-up that is already tilted to the left (Jeff McNeil, Nimmo, Smith, Michael Comfort). The other concern is the length of a potential contract. If Bradley signs for four or five years, he would be in his mid-thirties by the end of the contract.
There are other options for the Mets to consider for midfield defense. None of them would be the ideal fit (Albert Almora, Delino DeShields Jr. are among the options). Both DeShields and Almora are righthanded hitters, but neither is as good a defender as Bradley.
In the end, the Mets missed Bauer, whose addition to the rotation would have made the Mets the best, if not the best rotation in the game.
However, the Mets are still under the luxury tax and have the working capital and the ability to meet other needs. It will be interesting to see how they keep topping up their roster in the dwindling days of the low season.
