New York Mets: Disappointed after failing to sign Ben Zobrist
By Nick Ziegler
The New York Mets’ top target in free agency this offseason was utility man Ben Zobrist, but the Mets have come up just short of landing the World Series Champion according to reports.
On Tuesday night, the Chicago Cubs were able to swoop in and sign Zobrist to a four-year, $56 million deal. Zobrist will be reunited with his former manager of the Tampa Bay Rays in Joe Maddon, and will also be a key veteran on a young and talented team. Shortly afterwards, the Cubs then traded Starlin Castro to the New York Yankees to help make room some room for Zobrist.
Zobrist did the very classy thing and spoke on the phone directly with Mets’ assistant general manager John Ricco, and informed him that he would be signing with the Cubs.
“He let me know he was going to go in a different direction and thanked us for everything we did the process,” Ricco said to Maria Guardado of NJ.com. “He felt we did a good job, but he decided to go in a different direction, which we knew all along could be a possibility.”
Source: Zobrist in agreement with #Cubs on four-year, $56M contract, pending a physical.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 9, 2015
“I don’t think this was about money,” Ricco said to Guardado. “It was about him finding a place that fit. I think he liked a lot about what we were, and as you mentioned, he has some history with the manager in Chicago, it’s a little closer to home for him, so he made that decision. We’ll move on.”
The Mets really seemed to be all-in on trying to sign Zobrist, who was a major reason why the Mets lost in the World Series.
“It’s disappointing. I’m going to be honest,” Ricco said to Guardado. “He’s a guy that we thought fit very well for us, so I will say that. But again, we’ve been through many situations where you have to adjust and adapt, and that’s why you have a plan and have multiple options and don’t go all-in on any one of them. So I think we’ll be fine.”
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With Zobrist now off the market, the Mets will have to readjust their game plan for the rest of the offseason. Mets’ second baseman Daniel Murphy is still a free agent, and the Mets are still talking to one of their postseason heroes.
“We’ve been in contact with him and continue to stay in contact,” Ricco said. “We’ll see where that goes.”
There have also been rumors about the Mets looking to acquire Neil Walker from the Pittsburgh Pirates to fill the void left by Murphy.
Zobrist signing with the Cubs was certainly a big blow to the Mets, who despite making the World Series last season, have a lot of areas that need to be addressed this offseason.
The Mets haven’t shown any real urgency or desire to re-sign Murphy, but with Zobrist choosing the Cubs, the Mets may want to take a long hard look at a player who was vital in their World Series run last season.