The New York Mets were on the right track with free agent outfielder Kyle Tucker. They made a high-value offer for $50 million a year, but the Los Angeles Dodgers swooped in and did what they always do, which is to outspend everyone else.
But the Mets can apply this strategy to the pitching market, too. Pivoting to sign infielder Bo Bichette wasn’t very smart, but there’s a top free agent pitcher waiting for a long-term offer that apparently isn’t going to come.
That would be Framber Valdez, and the Mets definitely need a pitcher with his resume. Not for 6-8 years, of course, but an AAV offer of, say, $50 million for three or four years might entice Valdez to sign in a market that’s basically come to a near-standstill.
We know that owner Steve Cohen wants to spend, too. That’s what happened with Bichette, apparently—Cohen got tired of being sensible and patient, not to mention out of the limelight, so he decided to spend big on an overrated infielder who will now play a position where the Mets don’t really have a need.
Valdez is the opposite of that. The Mets need an ace while they continue to develop their trio of young starters, Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat and Jonah Tong, and Valdez would fit perfectly in that role.
Could the Mets get outbid again if they made an offer like that? Of course. Hot stove league baseball is about fiscal insanity, mostly, and very few teams are able to stay the course, make sensible moves and put together a roster that’s built to win.
Cohen swooped in and botched their bid to do just that, but he is the boss, after all, and GM David Stearns was able to limit him to three years with Bichette. That $50 million AAV might resonate with Valdez given that the battle between long-term deals and shorter contracts with high AAV looks like it will extend into February.
That’s too long to wait, and Stearns knows it. He’s got some excess starters he still needs to deal, and there’s still that gaping hole in left field after the departure of outfielder Brandon Nimmo.
Adding Valdez would change the top of the Mets rotation completely. The Mets would have a power pitcher at the top, followed by a young starter, McLean, whose arsenal made him unhittable at times when he first came up. Filling out the rest of the rotation would become easier, and facing Valdez and McLean back to back in a playoff series would be an opponent’s worst nightmare.