DALLAS — Scott Boras saved certainly one of his greatest (or worst, relying in your humorousness) strains to handle the standing of free agent left-hander Sean Manaea throughout his annual state-of-baseball press convention on the Winter Conferences Wednesday.
“There’s a new Sean arising,” Boras stated from the Hilton Anatole foyer whereas standing in entrance of a customized Boras Corp banner. “It’s something that teams have recognized. The demand is really something that I think is going to happen soon.”
The Mets are nonetheless occupied with bringing Manaea again to Queens. The curiosity stage might improve after the staff missed out on right-handed ace Garrett Crochet, who was traded to the Boston Crimson Sox on Wednesday morning. The White Sox obtained a haul, headlined by Boston’s high catching prospect Kyle Teel. The Crimson Sox additionally despatched outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth and right-hander Wikelman Gonzalez to the South Facet for the ace that also has two seasons of staff management.
The Mets have been engaged in talks with the White Sox, however president of baseball operations David Stearns is not sure of how shut the Mets got here to touchdown Crochet. It’s a steep value to pay and whereas the Mets do have highly-ranked infield prospects to spare, the staff nonetheless has to steadiness the long run with the current.
“Certainly there have been times where we’ve done it and will continue to do it, and there are times where the price just gets too steep for us and we choose to keep our prospect value,” Stearns stated. “We’re going to have to keep having those discussions and kind of keep having those judgment calls as we engage on different players.”
Stearns is assured that the farm system is in a ok place to have the ability to make up for any expertise dealt in trades. However the costs for beginning pitching — be it although trades or free company — are steep proper now. After seeing how costly pitching grew to become final winter, the Mets bought forward of the curve by signing right-handers Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes final week. They want to add extra, presumably Manaea, however Stearns doesn’t see it as a “necessity.”
“We have options to fill out our major league rotation and I think it’s certainly a possibility that we’ll continue to add,” Stearns stated. “But if we were to go in as we are right now, I think we have options to fill out our major league rotation that we feel good about.”
RULE 5
A yr in the past, the Mets had right-hander Mike Vasil and left-hander Nate Lavender penciled into the 2025 massive league rotation and the bullpen. However with Vasil not thought of a high pitching prospect and Lavender having undergone Tommy John in Might, the Mets left them uncovered within the Rule 5 draft and so they have been each chosen by different groups.
Lavender was chosen by the Tampa Bay Rays and Vasil by the Philadelphia Phillies, who then traded him to the Rays. The 2 are shut pals, however as Stearns famous, there are not any ensures they may keep in Tampa. They every need to be on the injured record the whole season or on the lively roster to stay with the Rays.
“You never want to lose pitchers or any player in a Rule 5 draft,” Stearns stated. “There’s a long way to go between having a player selected and actually losing the player. But those are two good pitchers. We knew, certainly, because of the unique circumstance with Nate, and because of Vasil’s pedigree, that these were possibilities.”
FEELING 22
Juan Soto will put on No. 22 with the Mets, along with his contract making certain he’s allowed the quantity. Brett Baty at present wears the identical quantity and should choose a brand new one.
Initially Revealed: December 11, 2024 at 9:18 PM EST
