Overpaying to keep young talent

By foxsports
Published

The Colorado Rockies, to everyone's surprise, gave a qualifying offer to OF/1B Michael Cuddyer. Somewhat more surprisingly was that he turned down the $15.3 million guaranteed salary to explore free agency. Significantly more surprising than that was that the New York Mets gave the soon-to-be 36-year-old and defensively challenged Cuddyer a two-year contract for $21 million while forfeiting their No. 15 overall draft pick.

Cuddyer can hit, and in an era where offense is so difficult to come by, the Mets did well in signing him. Sure, the last two seasons playing half his games at Coors Field -- where he slashed a .367/.425/.639 line -- skew things for a career .279/.347/.466 hitter. The production will undoubtedly come down but Cuddyer is essentially replacing the horrific .209/.306/.309 line that Mets left fielders posted last year. Yes, you read that right: from left field, the Mets produced a .309 slugging percentage in 2014. That was Major League baseball's worst.

While some railed the Mets for giving up the No. 15 overall draft pick, I applaud them. I always like a win-now move, even if it involves some risk. I also really liked what Mets GM Sandy Alderson said:

Two things here. First, Sandy would rather keep the talent that they already have. Talent like pitchers Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero that they have already developed. Both could reasonably be expected to help the Mets win at some point next season.

Secondly, there was a financial risk taken here, two years at $21 million for a cash-strapped team isn't perfect. But this is a calculated risk that, barring a major injury to a player with a history of injury issues, is an offensive upgrade for a team that needed one badly. In the end they may have overpaid some, but they paid to keep what they already have and got better in the process. 

This is not the first time we have seen this. Last winter the St. Louis Cardinals were questioned when they gave free agent shortstop Johnny Peralta a four-year, $53 million contract. This could have been viewed as an overpay. St. Louis had plenty of young pitching and could have dealt one or more of their young arms for a shortstop. Instead they paid a little extra for Peralta and kept their system intact.

The Mets did the same thing here, plus they gave up a pick. Risky, yes, but I like the idea behind it.