New York Mets: Locking up starting pitchers is a great idea
By Nick Ziegler
The New York Mets are poised for great things in 2016, but the organization and its fans are still looking toward the future.
Now that the Mets’ top pitching prospects have all been called up to the majors, the focus has turned to trying to keep all of them.
This free agency, we have seen elite pitchers like Zack Greinke and David Price get contracts worth more than $30 million annually, and that has to scare the Mets, who have a few up-and-coming elite pitchers.
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It isn’t unheard of for teams to sign their players before they become free agents, as players will generally give the teams a discount to take away arbitration years, and the deals usually help the teams in the long run to save money.
There does come a risk with signing players early on in their careers as they can fizzle out quickly, but avoiding paying a player top dollar towards the end of his career is a another plus for an organization.
For the Mets, the idea of signing some of their young pitchers is already being tossed around, as if any of them hit free agent it will likely be a feeding frenzy with big market teams.
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“I think it could happen,” Alderson said Wednesday at Citi Field to Mike Puma of the New York Post. “It’s a lot of money and you might have to look at other aspects of your roster — and that is where the farm system comes into play as well — but I don’t want to foreclose any possibilities.
“Sometimes we have a habit — we as an organization and fans as well — of thinking about the guys we have now, but thinking more about when we’re going to lose them than enjoying the moment, and that moment hopefully lasts two, three, four, five years.”
The first pitcher that can hit free agency is Matt Harvey, as he is under the control of the team through the 2018 season. Harvey will be a tricky player to try and sign, as his agent is Scott Boras, which is never good for a team trying to save a few dollars.
The Mets recently showed a willingness to spend money, as they shocked many by giving Yoenis Cespedes as a new three-year contract.
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“If the [Yoenis] Cespedes signing says anything, there are no possibilities that will be dismissed out of hand strictly for financial reasons,” Alderson said to Puma.
The backbone of the Mets is going to be their pitching for the next few seasons, but if the Mets hope to keep this unit together, they are going to have to be creative with their contracts.