Mets Make Offers

Mets Make Qualifying Offers To Both Syndergaard And Conforto By Rich Coutinho, The New York Extra/TheNYExtra.com

A day before the MLB deadline to extend qualifying offers the New York Mets did just that–extending offers to both of their candidates who fit that framework– Noah Syndergaard and Michael Conforto .

Both players came up to the Mets in 2015 and were huge parts of NY’s last pennant winning team. Conforto was a home grown product while Synderdaard was obtained from the Blue Jays in the RA Dickey trade and both are parts of that core group in 2015. In fact, Syndergaard carried the 2016 team into the playoffs and pitched an incredible wild card game hurling 7 scoreless innings before the Met bullpen lost the contest. And of course in 2015 he pitched brilliantly in relief to help the Mets win a do or die playoff game on the road at Dodger Stadium.

Syndergaard is coming off Tommy John surgery but did appear in 2 games last September showing an explosive fastball without throwing curves or sliders based on medical advice. Overall the 29 year old righthander is 47-31 with an ERA of 3.32 in his six seasons with the Mets. He told us at the end of the season that he would consider a qualifying offer a true blessing so that strongly indicates that he will accept the qualifying offer that would pay him $18.4 million in 2022.

Conforto could be a different issue as his agent is Scott Boras who tends to believe the open market gives his clients a better price than the qualifying offer does. However, Conforto is coming off a subpar season and it might be wise for him to accept the offer using 2022 as a way to increase his value for a big 2023 payday. That strategy worked out great for Marcus Stroman last year as resetting his value with acceptance of the qualifying offer has put him in a solid position entering free agency this off-season as one of the top pitchers in the free agent marketplace.

Both players will have until November 17 to accept or decline the offer. If either decline and sign with a new team the Mets, according to MLB rules, would receive draft pick compensation. Of course, with the Collective Bargaining Agreement between MLB and the players expiring on December 1 it was imperative to get these two personnel issues resolved by the Mets prior to that date. Who knows? With no CBA there could be a lockout and all business matters of this sort could be suspended.

The fact the Mets will know by November 17th on these 2 issues is key since a general manager is not yet in place. That being said, Sandy Alderson is a very capable hand and lets not forget the is the GM in this town to most recently win a pennant and he did that in the middle of the Madoff mess.

My prediction is Syndergaard will accept the offer and after much thought Conforto will as well despite the begging of his agent to decline it. And I expect both to be core pieces of this 2022 Met team the new general manager has to build this winter.