Stephen Drew has agreed to play baseball in New York in 2015 — with the Yankees.
Drew will get a guarantee of $5M for the season, and can earn another $1.5M in incentives.
According to people with knowledge of the situation, the Mets would have considered trying out Drew during spring training had he offered to pay them $3.5M.
With Drew off the board, the only other free-agent shortstop with Major League experience is Everth Cabrera.
Check that — it appears that Omar Quintanilla is still available.
If nothing else, we can put a quick end to the Stephen Drew – to – Mets rumors. (Exhale.)
Continues to seem like Flores will be the starter at SS.
SS that are or could be available:
-Everth Cab (Free agent)
-Arruebarrena (Dodgers)
-Miller or Taylor (Mariners)
-Tulo (unlikely Mets would consider trading for him before he proves himself healthy, but of course the Rockies asking price will go up if he does)
The Mets could move David Wright to short (heck, he is there a lot during shifts anyway). Then they could move Murphy to third. Then they could trade with the Phillies for Ryne Sandberg and have him come out of retirement and play second AND manage. Collins remains with the team as the designated press conference apologist. Or they can sit on their hands and hope for lightening in the bottle. Isn’t that how most good teams develop — they hope for good luck? (Geez, I am getting bitter!) By the way, 2015 will be the fourth year since Reyes left and in that time, the Mets still haven’t addressed shortstop.
I kind of like that infield setup! Surely, Ryno can still rake and turn a double play.
Has it been four years without a shortstop? Man, time flies when you’re having fun. Except, time didn’t exactly fly by since ’11, so …
“the Mets would have considered trying out Drew during spring training had he offered to pay them $3.5M”
This could be good if it becomes general policy. It would likely mean that Omar Quintanilla can’t afford to offer to pay the Mets enough money to be considered.
On the contrary, I think the Mets would be open to receiving his unused Mets Money, the iTunes gift card he received for Christmas, and two Bed Bath & Beyond coupons that just came in the mail.
He might even throw in a few Pokeman Dollars, Farm Bucks, and a jar of peppercorns if it means a few at-bats in spring training — I’m sure the Mets would jump at the offer.
I’ll bet that you’re trying to get me to say something about peppercorns. Well, okay, I’ll just say that I get it, and it’s a great reference, and leave it at that.