A discussion we hope the NY Mets had with Griffin Canning before agreeing to a deal

Griffin Canning to the New York Mets failed to move worlds, but maybe there’s more to this deal than first meets the eye. An underwhelming career spent entirely with the Los Angeles Angels aside from a few weeks as a member of the Atlanta Braves this offseason, Canning joins the Mets as yet another project piece.

The hollow opinion is to dismiss the signing entirely. The fanatical, Kool-Aid drinking one is to blindly trust the Mets will get the most out of him simply because David Stearns signed him. Then there’s somewhere in between.

Could Canning turn into a steal for the Mets? Absolutely. Could be next year’s Adrian Houser? Perhaps. Better yet, we can hope Canning is more along the lines of Shintaro Fujinami who came to the ball club last offseason and was sent to the minors before the season even began.

Griffin Canning and the Mets should have an agreement and understanding the plan is to start him off in the minor leagues

Canning’s 5+ years of MLB service time eliminates the ability to send him to the minors without his consent. Times are-a-changin. Although not directly related, we saw how J.D. Martinez was willing to spend some time in Syracuse before joining the Mets in the big leagues. In Fujinami’s case, he had the available minor league options he wouldn’t have to approve.

The Mets don’t come off as an organization that would overpromise anything. With a player like Clay Holmes, the expectation is for him to seriously compete for a starting rotation spot. The commitment they made to him sure seems like they’re determined to make that happen. Canning, despite being on a major league deal, should be open to a minor league assignment.

Unlike out of options players, Canning wouldn’t need to be DFA’d and passed through waivers in order to be demoted. His contract is fully guaranteed, unlike Fujinami who had to stick around with the Mets last season in order to receive his pay day.

The only trouble the Mets may face is if Canning is good (some trouble to have, eh?) and they end up having to make some hard decisions with other members of the pitching staff. A spectacular spring from him might have Canning second-guessing a trip to Syracuse. They don’t have a whole lot of optional pitchers who could get sent to the minors without first passing through waivers.

It will be interesting to see if anything in his contract, or at least a handshake agreement, assures Canning is buried on the depth chart and guaranteed very little.

TLDR; Griffin Canning is replacing Joey Lucchesi.