Son of former NY Mets player sounds like a Scrooge with his Sean Manaea contract take

When the New York Mets inked Sean Manaea in the wee hours of the morning for the first time, we had our hesitation. When they did it again this week, some frolicking was in order.

Manaea was the free agent starter to get. His success with the Mets and strong performance down the stretch helped make him a hot commodity to re-sign for the coming year. A three year contract worth $75 million with some deferrals, it was the bare bones of what we could’ve asked for.

Not everyone seemed joyous about the deal. Gary Sheffield Jr., the son of the only man to hit career home run number 500 in a Mets uniform, Gary Sheffield, went full on Scrooge with his assessment of the situation.

How is the Sean Manaea contract a bad deal for the Mets?

First of all, it’s only a bad amount of money to spend if it stops the Mets from doing something else. It won’t. It never has under Steve Cohen. While there is a budget and all of the general managers have had a limit of how much they’d pay a particular player, this contract isn’t outrageous.

The total amount isn’t much higher than what Luis Severino got from the No-City-Needed Athletics. It’s more than what the Los Angeles Angels awarded to Yusei Kikuchi whose amazing stuff doesn’t always yield the greatest results. Keeping Manaea under $100 million seems like a huge win in this free agent pitching market. Add in how it’s for three years and it’s tough to criticize this.

The preference for the Mets and many teams seems to favor high AAVs over a longer length. Paying Manaea through his age 35 season is completely rational. One could argue the opposite for Max Fried who’ll be under contract with the New York Yankees through his age 38 season. It’s not a matter of who you’d rather have—Fried is the superior arm. But what fair critique is there for Manaea when the difference in AAV is inconsequential to future moves the Mets will make?

Sheffield Jr. making any comparison to the Walker Buehler signing is strange because each was in a completely different position this offseason. Almost any one-year contract can be viewed favorably.

The Manaea contract is an exact replica of what Sonny Gray got last winter and what Nathan Eovaldi received more recently. The Boston Red Sox got a good deal with Buehler because it was money they had already hoped to spend on retaining Nick Pivetta through the qualifying offer. The Mets got a good one, too. It’s not always about the dollar amount when that’s not relevant.

This isn’t a contract like the one Carlos Rodon received. A guy who capitalized on a big year before free agency, the Yankees will be paying him $27.83 million per year through age 35. A much better sophomore campaign in the Bronx than year one, that’s the kind of contract you can go Ebenezer on.