
Originally Posted by
acerimusdux
At this point, they probably need to sign Bourn even if it means overpaying a bit in the loss of the draft pick. Not saying they should be desperate and be held up by Scott Boras. But if he's really available on a 4-year deal at $12M-$13M per, it just makes too much sense to pass up.
I think it's just too much to ask fans in a NY market to put up with three years of doing nothing to help the big league team. And I also think sometimes in an offseason you have to overpay for that last piece that it takes to field a competitive team. Even if you give up a pick for Bourn, you end the offseason having lost Marte and a high pick from the farm, but having added d'Arnaud, Syndergaard, Bucera. The farm is still getting better. And the big league team still looks at least as good as last year, when they were actually competitive for the first half.
Building an organization to be a long term contender is a long process. You can't afford to ignore the needs of the big league team entirely while you carry it out. You ought you be able to build up the organization long term while also fielding a decent MLB team.
The Mets right now are a very young club, and for the most part, passing on free agents and relying on those young players right now makes some sense. It makes sense right now to go with an infield of Wright, Tejada, Murphy and Davis. It makes sense to be waiting on d'Arnaud in the catching spot. It makes sense to be relying on young arms like Niese, Harvey, and Gee in the rotation, and waiting on Wheeler. It even makes some sense in the pen not to overload it with pricey veterans when guys like Familia, Mejia, Mazzoni, Montero, Pill, and Goeddel can probably help as soon as this year.
But it doesn't make a lot of sense to go into a season with an oufield of Duda, Nieuwenhuis, and Baxter/Cowgill, when there is no one close on the farm worth waiting for, either. The team quite obviously needs a CF/leadoff guy. And the cost for one isn't likely to be less in another year. Especially if you add the cost of a lost season to the tab.