In the eyes of NY Mets fans, there’s a new Trent Grisham in free agency we’re sick of

Remember when everyone's favorite free agency prediction was Trent Grisham to the New York Mets? Dark times. Everyone who follows the team knew there would be no way David Stearns would bring in a clearly declining defensive center fielder who was coming off the outlier of all outlier career years. That didn't stop the pundits from making the connection until mercifully, Grisham accepted the qualifying offer, saving us from having to hear about how "perfect" the fit was all offseason.

Unfortunately, a new player has risen to claim that mantle. Framber Valdez is the talking heads' new Mets darling, even though there are so many reasons why a match makes little sense.

The incessant linking of Framber Valdez and the Mets is growing tiresome

First, let's take a look at how this offseason has played out. The Mets swapped five years of Brandon Nimmo for three years of Marcus Semien, despite the higher annual expenditure Semien requires. Second, they lost Edwin Diaz to the Los Angeles Dodgers on a three-year deal. Diaz was said to be seeking five years, yet both the Mets and Dodgers offered only three. One has to think that if the Mets had upped their offer to four or five years, they might have been able to get it across the finish line.

Next, Pete Alonso signs a five-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles, and the Mets never make a formal offer. Had Alonso hung around and not gotten the long-term deal he sought, as was the case last winter, the Mets probably would have gotten back into the mix, but once it became clear they'd have to pony up long-term, they lost interest and instead pivoted to Jorge Polanco for only two years.

See a trend? David Stearns really doesn't like to go beyond three years for starting pitchers, but it appears that financial flexibility is the name of the game in all facets this offseason.

Second, there are some real concerns about Valdez handling New York. The "cross-up" incident after (ironically) Trent Grisham took Valdez deep for a grand slam is well known at this point, and would've become incessant fodder for the New York tabloids and talk radio, but that wasn't the only questionable behavior from Valdez last season.

In July, Valdez openly questioned the Houston coaching staff after a choice in defensive alignment led to a ground ball going down the right field line, scoring a run against Valdez in the Astros' 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Washington Nationals.

“I saw the right fielder playing center field and, you know, we have a center fielder for that,” Valdez told reporters. “I feel like the right fielder should have been playing right field. I was uncomfortable with that.”

When reporters questioned if Valdez asked the coaches what the reasoning for the position of the right fielder was, he responded by saying, “I don’t have to ask the coaches about that. I feel like baseball is a game of common sense. With me as a lefty pitcher, they don’t hit a lot of fly balls against me.”

When the Astros succumbed to a crushing wave of injuries in the second half and started spiraling, Valdez threw gas on the fire with his poor performance, posting a 5.20 ERA down the stretch. The Mets are looking for a stopper to help them right the ship in hard times, not someone who drives things further out of hand.

It should be clear by now that the Mets would prefer to address the rotation market on the trade market, with Freddy Peralta and Joe Ryan likely at the top of their list. If they do need to dip into the free-agent market to find a starter, the likely solution would be Michael King, who has proven he can pitch in New York and will only command a three or four-year deal, versus six-plus for Valdez.

Framber Valdez won't be a Met. There just aren't enough selling points to believe the Mets would consider him a viable option, so we hope sooner or later the insiders get it and stop trying to force a fit that doesn't exist.