Mets Not Expected to Give Long-Term Deals to Controlled Players

According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, citing a source, it’s unlikely that the Mets will look to secure any of their under control players with multi-year deals this winter.

Sep 20, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy (28) celebrates scoring with teammates during the seventh inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Mets defeated the Phillies 6-4. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The players Rubin listed as potential recipients for long-term deals were infielder Daniel Murphy, starting pitcher Dillon Gee, and closer Bobby Parnell.  All three players are arbitration eligible, and it’s close to certain that the Mets will offer arbitration to each of them.

Rubin notes that while it’s likely Murphy will be a Met next season, a team insider indicated that the Mets would listen to potential trade offers during the off-season for the 28 year old infielder.

Thoughts:

This news isn’t a surprise, nor is it a bad thing.

The Mets intend to listen to trade offers for Murphy, so it would make little sense attempting to lock him up at this point.  The presence of Wilmer Flores also makes giving a long-term deal to Murphy at this stage unlikely.

Whenever Murphy and trade are mentioned in the same sentence, some fans flip out.  I highly doubt the Mets would trade Murphy unless they were significantly upgrading a position of need, so worrying about a potential deal that is unlikely to happen seems to be a bit of a waste.

As far as Parnell is concerned, while he had a breakout campaign as closer in 2013, he’s coming off surgery to repair a herniated disk in his neck.  Parnell is expected to be ready before spring training, but it would be foolish for the club to give him a multi-year deal before seeing how he responds to the surgery.

Gee is an interesting case.  After missing the end of the 2012 season after a blood clot in his right shoulder led to surgery, Gee started off poorly in 2013 and was in danger of losing his rotation spot.  However, he rebounded to be one of the best pitchers in baseball over the second half of the season.  While Gee was extremely impressive after the All-Star break and his early struggles were likely in part due to rust, I’m guessing the Mets want to see him repeat his second half success in 2014 before they consider locking him up with a multi-year deal.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to follow@RisingAppleBlog on Twitter and Instagram, and Like Rising Apple’s Facebook page  to keep up with the latest news, rumors, and opinion.