Mets to meet with agents for Axford and Gregg

The Mets plan to meet with agents for free agent relievers John Axford and Kevin Gregg. As well as them, the team has also been linked to Chris Perez and Mitchell Boggs. 

Axford, 30, split the 2013 season with Milwaukee and St. Louis, posting a combined 4.02 ERA in 75 relief appearances. He played significantly better in his brief stint with the Cardinals, as he had a 1.74 ERA in 13 games. 

From 2010-2012, the right-hander was known as one of the more dominant closers in the game, putting up a 3.04 ERA during that time while notching 105 saves. There have been some criticisms over his control, as he does sport a 4.0 BB/9 ratio, but his strong strikeout numbers (career 10.8 K/9) tend to overshadow that. 

Gregg, an 11 year veteran, spent the entire 2013 season with the Cubs organization, and had a solid comeback season. The 35 year old had a 3.48 ERA in 62 relief appearances, while racking up 33 saves and finishing 52 games.

He put up similar numbers back in his prime with the Marlins from 2007-2008. During that time, he posted a 3.48 ERA with 61 saves in 146 relief appearances. 

The Mets are clearly concerned about Bobby Parnell heading into the 2014 season. As you recall, he underwent neck surgery that ended his 2013 season a little early, but it was expected that he would be ready for Opening Day of this coming season. 

To me, Axford is the more appealing option, simply because of his track record. Not too long ago he was one of the best closers in the game for the Brewers, but after a year and a half of so-so numbers, he was dealt to the Cardinals and seemed to rediscover himself. I would take him on an incentive-based deal, and give him the opportunity to close some games if Parnell isn't ready. 

Of-course, it's worth mentioning that Vic Black will be in the running for some sort of late-inning role for the Mets next year. Bringing in a veteran like Axford, Gregg, etc., could prove to help Black out quite a bit in his development. 

Mets to sign Bartolo Colon

The Mets will sign pitcher Bartolo Colon to a two year deal worth $20 million. The deal is pending a physical.

Colon, 40, went 18-6 with an impressive 2.65 ERA with Oakland last season. There was interest in a reunion between Colon and the Athletics, but that faded away when the club inked Scott Kazmir to a multiyear deal. 

Fangraphs valued Colon at 3.9 WAR in 2013, whereas Baseball Reference labeled him at 5.0 WAR. The 16 year veteran has a combined 3.94 ERA in his career while playing for Cleveland, Montreal, the White Sox, Angels, Red Sox, Yankees, and Athletics. He is a four-time All-Star, and won the Cy Young award in 2005 as a member of the Angels.

The Mets had been searching for a veteran pitcher to eat up some innings in 2014, but this signing comes as a surprise. Not only is Colon an extremely effective option, he will now be locked up at a reasonable price. Last year he managed to put up that 2.65 ERA against tough competitors in the American League, so one could imagine how his numbers who be in the National League. 

I'm very pleased by this signing. Colon isn't going to be the team's ace, but he'll be very serviceable in the middle of the rotation, and despite the old age and weight problems, I have a hunch that he'll turn in a very solid 2014 season, and perhaps look at being dealt next winter depending on where the Mets are in their rebuilding effort.

The Mets have signed three Major League caliber players this winter, totaling at a combined $31 million. It is predicted that they will now shop Ike Davis and/or Daniel Murphy to try and clear some payroll space, and perhaps look at a more expensive shortstop option such as Stephen Drew, as well as bring in some veteran relievers. 

Mets announce Granderson signing

The Mets have officially announced the Curtis Granderson signing via press conference. The details of Granderson's contract were also announced and will go as follows: $13 million in 2014, $16 million in each of 2015 and 2016, and $15 million in 2017. It does not include an option year or a no trade clause. He will wear number 3, as shown below. 

Granderson addressed reporters during the press conference and had the following to say:

"Today is an amazing day, I'm really excited to be a part of the New York Mets organization." 

"A lot of people I've met in New York said, 'True New Yorkers are Mets fans." 

When asked why he chose the Mets, he replied saying "When weighing every possible opportunity, it was the best fit possible." 

Sandy Alderson said that the Mets were set on signing him before other teams showed a strong interest. 

"We focused on Curtis." he said. "We felt he would add the most to our team, given where we were and we're very pleased to have him." 

Granderson also tipped his cap to David Wright for reaching out to him when the season ended.

"Wright was one of the first people to contact me, before we even got to the negotiation stage," he said. "It's like we've known each other our whole career and I'm really excited to get to play with him."

Mets looking at a pair of relievers

The Mets are looking at a pair of relief pitchers to bolster their 2014 bullpen. They have interest in Chris Perez and Mitchell Boggs. Both players are free agents. 

Perez, a former closer for the Indians, had a 4.33 ERA in 54 appearances for Cleveland in 2013. The two time All-Star had a combined 2.84 ERA with 98 saves from 2010-2012, proving to be one of the game's most dominant closers. However, his numbers slipped in 2013, and he only notched 25 saves. 

Perez earned $7.3 million for the Indians last year, and was ultimately released by the team shortly after the postseason came to a close. 

Boggs, a former dominant setup man, split the 2013 season with the Cardinals and Rockies, where he had a combined 8.10 ERA in 14.2 innings pitched. He was non-tendered by Colorado last week. 

The 29 year old righty was once a fixture in the Cardinals bullpen, as he had a combined 3.08 ERA in 190 relief appearances from 2010-2012. After getting off to a slow start with St. Louis in 2013, he was ultimately traded to Colorado.

Both of these names could be interesting, as they had great success in the game not too long ago.

Perez comes with more baggage, however, since he does like to run his mouth when things aren't going his way. His most recent antic came when he blew a save in August of 2013, and he decided to boycott the media for the rest of the year, leading to a rough relationship between him and the Cleveland faithful. In late September, he eventually came out and talked to the media, however. 

I wouldn't go too crazy over bringing in Perez, just because it would hard to root for someone who has shown disrespect towards the fans in the past. Is/was he talented? Yes. But unless it's a great deal, I don't think it's worth it at all. With the way the market has gone, he'll likely get a guaranteed major league deal anyway, so I don't think he's a good fit for the Mets.

Boggs, on the other hand, could be a perfect pickup. He was very solid for three straight years in the Cardinals bullpen, and his rough 2013 season severely diminished his value. I can see him returning to form just with a change of scenery. In fact, he did better with Colorado during his brief stint with them last year, as he had a 3.12 ERA in 9 appearances. It's a small sample size, but much better then his 11.05 ERA in 18 appearances for St. Louis earlier in the year. 

Mets sign Curtis Granderson

The Mets have signed outfielder Curtis Granderson to a four year, $60 million deal. The move will force the Mets to forfeit their 2014 second-round pick to the Yankees, since he was tied to draft pick compensation. 

Granderson, 32, played just 61 games for the Yankees in 2013 after breaking his hand twice on two hit-by-pitches. During that stint, he hit .229 with 7 homers, and a .317 OBP. 

One of Granderson's best seasons came in 2012, when he hit .232 with 43 homers and 106 RBI in 160 games played. The three time All-Star, and one time Silver Slugger has 217 homers in 10 career seasons with the Tigers and Yankees. Along with that, he also owns a career .261 batting average with a .340 OBP.

Granderson came over to the Yankees in 2009 as part of a three-way deal involving Max Scherzer, Austin Jackson, and others. During his four years in New York, he hit .245 with 115 homers, but struck out 549 times in 2148 plate appearances.

He has been thought of as a player that benefited from the short right field porch at Yankee stadium, but advanced stats show otherwise. 

As seen in the graph, the majority of Granderson's home runs (from 2012) would have gone past the Citi Field fences.

This is a move that many believe had to be made from the Mets standpoint. Granderson alone won't change the entire team around, but bringing him in is definitely a step in the right direction, and makes the Mets a whole lot better looking than yesterday. 

I'm very concerned about Granderson's strikeouts, but from what I've heard his solid clubhouse presence and other intangibles could make him very valuable. In an ideal situation, giving him $15 million, especially when he's coming off of a down year, would seem idiotic. However, given the market and the Mets' need for a power bat, they needed to do this.

I'm hearing a lot of people saying that Granderson could be the next Jason Bay, and I completely disagree. Granderson has handled New York before in his four seasons with the Yankees, and can take the huge spotlight. Bay's big issue was handling the media while trying to fight his declining skills, and I don't think Granderson will come face to face with that problem. 

Overall, it's nice to finally see some real action by the Mets. With Chris Young, Juan Lagares, and now Curtis Granderson likely being the three starting outfielders next season, the team is beginning to take shape. Now, next week at the winter meetings let's just hope that Sandy and Co. go out and acquire a shortstop, maybe a few bullpen arms, and dangle Davis and Duda and see what he can get. 

Hefner to talk after he finds new team

UPDATE: The Mets have re-signed Hefner to a minor league deal. He will not play in 2014 due to Tommy John surgery recovery.

Jeremy Hefner was one of the five players non-tendered by the Mets last night. He will miss the entire 2014 season after having Tommy John surgery a few months ago. The Bergen Record asked him if he would share his thoughts on his future, but he politely declined to discuss the situation, saying that he will talk about it after he finds a new team. 

The 27 year old had a 4.34 ERA ERA in 24 games (23 starts) for the Mets in 2013. He went down with an injury to his right elbow in August. 

This can easily be translated into him not returning to the Mets next season to rehab, and the following season after that. My best guess is that he has some issues with either the front office or the medical staff, as they either mishandled his injury, or overworked him. If that's the case, I don't blame him one bit for trying to move on to another organization.

The injury did come out of nowhere, so maybe it was something that the Mets doctors knew about and downplayed, thus frustrating Hefner when they announced he would require Tommy John surgery. Either way, I really liked Hefner as Met, and while he is replaceable, I would have liked to see him be brought back to rehab, maybe get a few minor league starts in at the end of the season, and come back in 2015 as a rotation piece. Now that he wants a new team, it's safe to say that won't be happening.

Five Mets non-tendered

The Mets have announced that the following players have been non-tendered: Omar Quintanilla, Jordany Valdespin, Justin Turner, Jeremy Hefner, and Scott Atchison. These players are now free agents and can sign with any team. 

The Mets trimmed an estimated $4 million in payroll by cutting these players from their roster, which now stands at 35. 

Monday night marked the deadline for team's to tender contracts to their players. 43 players in total have been added to the current free agent class.

Quintanilla hit .222 with a .306 OBP in 95 games for the Mets last season. He was the team's primary shortstop while Ruben Tejada was in the minor leagues and on the disabled list with a knee injury. The former first round pick is a career .222 hitter with a .288 OBP. 

Coming into the season, Valdespin was expected to see some time in the outfield. In 66 games for New York, he hit .188 with 4 homers and 16 RBI. Following his demotion in June, he ripped manager Terry Collins, which put him in hot water throughout the entire front office. The year got even worse for him when he was suspended 50 games from baseball for using performance-enhancing drugs. He was reinstated on September 25th, but immediately assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas. 

Turner being non-tendered comes as a surprise, as the utility man put up a respectable .280/.319/.385 line in 2013. The 29 year old filled in for David Wright for some time, and also saw some action at shortstop. He was originally acquired by the Mets from the Orioles via waivers in 2010. He hit a combined .267 in 3 career seasons with New York.

Hefner wasn't even arbitration eligible yet, but the move is justified by the fact that he will be missing the entire 2014 season following Tommy John surgery. The 27 year old had a strong 3.39 ERA through his first 18 appearances (17 starts), but fell off a cliff after that. In his final 6 starts, he sported a horrible 7.58 ERA. Most of that can be blamed on a lingering injury he was dealing with. In August he was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas, and a team doctor recommended him to undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

Atchison, 37, came over to the Mets after a relatively solid season with Boston where he had a 1.58 ERA in 42 games. The veteran had a few DL stints with New York in 2013, and wound up putting up a 4.37 ERA in 50 relief appearances. 

Both Atchison and Quintanilla were expected to be cut, and they will probably not be brought back unless it's on minor league deals. Quintanilla did what he needed to do -- fill in for Tejada for the short-term. Atchison didn't really pan out as injuries kept him on the disabled list for a while, but since he was brought over for practically nothing it was a no-harm no foul situation.

I'm not too thrilled about letting Justin Turner go, as his versatility was underrated. Of-course, the Mets could look to bring him back on a cheaper deal, but now he's open to sign with anyone, and I'm already hearing rumblings about the Twins "really liking" him. He's a cheap, versatile player who can come through in the clutch, so I'm not entirely sure what the Mets are thinking here. 

Hefner's success in 2013 got me really excited, as I thought he could be a long-term back-end of the rotation kind of player. Actually, for a certain time in the season, he was the team's second-best pitcher behind Matt Harvey. The problem was his injury that lingered with him up until the point where the Mets couldn't hand him the ball every fifth day. When he was demoted, it was expected that something was up with his arm, as he looked fatigued out there. As for his long-term future, I'm not sure what it will bring. He will clearly miss the entire 2014 season, and after that the Mets may or may not hand him a minor league deal to get his value back up. In my opinion, I feel like he's going to leave the Mets because of either his anger towards the team for overworking him, or not properly diagnosing the injury at first. 

Finally, with Valdespin, he was bound to be let go some way or another, whether it was this or being traded to another club. His antics, ranging from excessive celebrations to even ripping the manager following a demotion, were not liked by the front office, and it was expected that he'd be gone. Many people agree with me when I say this: he's a million dollar player in term's of talent, but has a two cent head. He's the definition of raw talent, and any team that takes a flier on him should know that he comes with a considerable amount of baggage.