Mets have arbitration decisions to make on 12 players
Lots of the decisions the Mets have to make should be no-brainers
The Mets will have 12 players eligible for salary arbitration this offseason, with a bunch of them due for substantial raises.
The list (2016 salary/expected 2017 salary per MLB Trade Rumors):
C Travis d’Arnaud: $540K / $1.7M
RHP Jacob deGrom: $600K / $4.5M
1B Lucas Duda: $4.2M / $6.7M
LHP Josh Edgin: $500K / $800K
RHP Jeurys Familia: $4.1M / $8.8M
IF Wilmer Flores: $520K / $1.9M
RHP Matt Harvey: $4.3M / $5.2M
RHP Jim Henderson: $507K / $1.4M
RHP Addison Reed: $5.2M / $11.1M
C Rene Rivera: $443K / $2.2M
OF Justin Ruggiano: $180K / $1.5M
RHP Zack Wheeler: $546K / $1M
Glancing at that list, there should be eight players viewed as locks (by the Mets, not me, though I’d also bring all eight players back) to be offered arbitration.
Those players are DeGrom, Edgin, Familia, Flores, Harvey, Reed, Rivera, and Wheeler.
And there are two players (Henderson, Ruggiano) who will almost certainly be non-tendered.
Numbers are exchanged in January, with an independent arbitrator setting the salary if the player and team can’t come to an agreement.
There are two players whose status is likely up in the air…
I’ve been higher on d’Arnaud than most, and he hit .268/.340/.485 with 12 HR and 41 RBI in just 67 games in 2015. The ability is there.
When healthy, d’Arnaud profiles as one of the better offensive catchers in baseball. The problem is that like in 2015 and most seasons before, he was besieged by injuries in 2016.
Missing lots of time due to a strained rotator cuff, d’Arnaud hit just .247/.307/.323 with four HR and 15 RBI in 75 games this past season.
Most glaring was his lack of power, which makes me wonder whether he was ever fully healthy. Seeing his slugging percentage drop from .485 to .323 is alarming, and perhaps we’ll find out at some point during the offseason that he was playing hurt the whole time.
D’Arnaud, who does a tremendous job framing pitches but struggled throwing out runners, eventually lost his starting job to Rene Rivera.
The Mets still believe in d’Arnaud, but should they?
He’ll be only 28 years old next April, set to earn $1.7 million. And as much as the pitchers love throwing to Rene Rivera, he’s not a starting catcher.
Additionally, the free agent market at catcher is basically barren with Wilson Ramos out. The best option might be Matt Wieters, who isn’t really a good option.
Translation: the Mets should take one more gamble on d’Arnaud and see if he finally stays healthy.
Ahh, Duda. The player so many Mets fans have irrational hate for.
Here’s what his 162 game average has been in in seven seasons as a Met:
.246/.343/.449 with 26 HR, 30 doubles, and 81 RBI
Duda is also really solid at first base, though lots of people thought James Loney — who has no range and doesn’t stretch for throws — was better. That one was quite puzzling.
Loney will almost certainly not be brought back and the Mets don’t have any other left-handed first base options on the roster, so bringing Duda back should be an easy choice.
Potentially throwing a wrench into things is the back injury that kept Duda out for roughly 100 games this past season. But if the Mets think he’ll be healthy in 2017, they need to bring him back.
Perhaps 2017 will be Duda’s last as a Met, with him set for free agency after the year and Dominic Smith potentially ready to take over by then. But we need more #DUDASMASH moments in 2017.
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