The Mets ’top baseball executives have arrived in Florida, many of them quarantined to prepare for pitchers and receivers to show up and pitch what figures will be an unpleasant campaign.
Still, that doesn’t mark the end of Mets ’Hot Stove League participation.
“No, we’re not done,” Zets Scott, acting director general of the Mets, said Friday during a Zoom press conference. “We want to do other things. Will everything line up and these things happen? Maybe, maybe not.
“I said [Mets president] Sandy [Alderson] that I am happy with the team as it is, but if we make improvements, we will make improvements. Definitely, we haven’t finished trying to improve the team. “
As a result, the Mets remain in contact with left-wing reliever Justin Wilson, an industry source said. Wilson, 33, has enjoyed the Mets ’throw the past two seasons and is interested in returning. He could make his decision this weekend.
The Mets face obvious depth issues in their initial rotation, with a handful of intriguing free agents such as Jake Odorizzi, James Paxton and Taijuan Walker still unsigned. Scott acknowledged that the team’s defense hasn’t been a recent strength, which explains the Mets ’serious search for free-agent center field Jackie Bradley Jr. (waiting for better deals to appear).
Then there is the third base, which has generated a storm of speculation.
“We really like JD Davis,” Scott said of the current third-place leader. “He is someone who can really hit and obviously we can control him for a while. He is a very valuable player for our organization. So … I know there have been a lot of rumors out there. We will always look for ways to improve the team in the way we can. But we are very comfortable entering the season with JD Davis playing an important role in our club. “
In his first formal appearance in the press since Alderson promoted him following the dismissal of Jared Porter, Scott addressed several issues of the team, including:
• The team has not yet committed to stars Michael Conforto and Francisco Lindor, who have been on foot during the year, over possible extensions.
“I’ve always looked at them, the best time to do that is in spring training and I think we’re going to have those conversations,” Scott said. “It simply came to our notice then [about extensions]. … This is important for us, at the very least, to talk to the players about the potential of such offers. “
Lindor would likely require an extension of more than $ 300 million and Comfort more than $ 100 million to avoid free agency, and both have stated they would prefer not to negotiate during the regular season. Scott said: “There should be plenty of time to talk before the season starts to figure out if there’s anything to do or not.”
• The club still hopes to have Noah Syndergaard, who will recover from Tommy John’s surgery in June.
• Uncertainty about the National League that adds the designated hitter this season will not prevent the Mets from making another sizeable commitment to a position player despite a possible jam.
“I think we have a lot of flexibility here,” Scott said.
• New field coach Tony Tarasco will play a major role in improving field defense, with center-back (for now) Brandon Nimmo and left-back (for now) Dom Smith, both important gears.
• This week’s acquisition of Khalil Lee from the Royals, in a three-team trade that sent Boston’s Andrew Benintendi football field to Kansas City, came as a byproduct of Scott’s relationship with his former co-workers.
“We didn’t have direct conversations with Kansas City about that,” he said. “With my connections in Boston, frankly, they know I liked Khalil Lee. They contacted and asked if there would be interest here. We were excited. Our professional scouts really liked the player. Many tools and athletics. We also liked a lot of his performance. “
• Scott saved his best tap dance for a pair of polarizing players, Trevor Bauer and Tim Tebow. When asked if Tebow, the minor league outfielder, always injured by the Mets, would be invited to the major league camp, as he has been for the past three years, Scott said, “We’re still finishing these things, so I’m hesitant to talk about specific players. ”Major League Baseball limits teams to a maximum of 75 players in the major league camp, for health and safety reasons.
As for the controversial Bauer, to whom the Mets offered $ 105 million in three years, before signing with the Dodgers for $ 3 million less, Scott was asked to what extent the Mets were seriously considering the history of the stalker on the launcher’s social media.
“I don’t hesitate to talk about a player who just signed with another club, but I’ll talk more generally: these things are important to talk about as long as you sign a free agent,” Scott said. “It’s not even so much about investing dollars in a person. Put it aside. You just want to know what kind of person you are joining the organization, so you have to do a lot of testing on that. In some cases, you have to talk directly to the player about some things and ask good questions and see how they handle those things. I think this is a process we do with anyone. ”
• Finally, Scott shed some light on his unusual path to his current place: he did an interview for GM’s opening of the Mets, finished second to Porter, joined the Mets anyway in the December as GM’s assistant and then rose when the Mets learned of Porter’s 2016 harassment of a journalist.
“He’s definitely had his ups and downs,” Scott said. “It simply came to our notice then [the GM job] It was a disappointment, but I was still very excited to join the organization. … One of the reasons I joined the Mets is obviously that I had a long professional relationship with Jared [from working together at the Red Sox]. He is a good friend of mine. It is unfortunate what happened there. … I am here to step up and do whatever it takes to help the organization. Now I have a slightly different role. “