The Mets signed Alejandro De Aza in Decemberto a one-year contract that could reportedly be worth $7 millionwith incentives. He will be the platoon centerfielder with Juan Lagares in 2016.
De Aza is not Yoenis Cespedes and that is going to bother Mets fans across this city. Realizing the time to strike is now, why not go and invest and spend more in free agency and go for the World Series title next year? Nobody has said the Metsare NOTgoing to go for it next season, just maybe not in the way that we all originally envisioned.
I am not excusing the years of patience and small market payrolls. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to understand why the Metsdid it.Bernard Madoff was certainly a factor. But that was then and this is now. The Mets are already set up to win without having to make a major free agent signings or off-season trades. Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, and Steven Matz are the reasons why. They have a young and dynamic starting rotation that will give them an opportunity to win 3-of-5 games every turn through. A report came out on Christmas Eve that the Mets were officially out of the Cespedes sweepstakes.Not surprising at all. My question is, were they ever really in?
The Mets are not going to spend like the Cubs or Red Sox or Dodgers or Yankees. They are not doing that now and will not be doing that anytime soon. They will soon have to make some very difficult decisions on their starting pitchers.Keep and pay, or trade. Those decisions will be made another day. Right now, just be happy about what you do have and that isa starting rotation that will make most, if not all teams in Major League Baseball jealous.Just know that if the Mets do make it to playoff baseball in 2016, their rotation will give them an opportunity to win any series that they are in come October. As a group,they have a special quality.We have already witnessed it. They represent potential realized, each and every one of them. So, as the Cubs spend like drunken sailors, know that whoever they sign and whatever they do, they can not replicate the rotation that will be featured at CitiField next year and for years to come.The Mets will spend more in the future as the winning days replace the memories of the losing ones. They have a new middle infield and a stronger bench already as compared to a year ago. They did not trust Cespedes or Upton in terms of givingout big-money, long-term contracts. You can’t just spend for the sake of spending. You need to believe in the player. They did believe in David Wright at one point and paid him a ton of money.They will spend like that again in the future, just not now.
As we have hit 2016, the Mets are relevant. They will win.The rotation is too good for them not to. They may not make the big splash move this off-season, but they do not have to right now.They are really good, with the potential to be great.They are the National League champs and they are the hunted,not the hunters. You may not like to hear it, but they are dealing from a position of strength. Some of the names have changed and they will continue to, but the rotation remains the same and that is the most important thing to remember. You believed this past October and they will continue to make you believe.
Malusis: Yoenis Cespedes not worth it as Mets stick to their budget
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