One New York team gave a star player a $122 million extension while the other New York team allowed its starting catcher to sign with Pittsburgh as they seek to cut payroll for 2014. And the first team is the Mets and the second team is the Yankees. It’s Backwards Day!
The Mets had no choice but to lock up David Wright. Even the dollar store Tampa Bay Rays just gave a big contract to their star third baseman Evan Longoria.
But Tampa Bay still has a good chance of eventually trading 2012 AL Cy Young winner David Price. And the Mets still have a chance of trading 2012 NL Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey. If the Mets are really starting to make the transition back to big-market team, they’ll keep Dickey.
As for trading Jon Niese, it depends on what they can get for him. I don’t buy the “Mets have a surplus of starting pitching” theory. And Niese is not yet the kind of pitcher who can fetch a big return. But there is that little matter of not having an outfield.
At least there no longer seems to be any talk of trading Ike Davis.
I’m going to enjoy this Backwards Day while I can, because it is no indication of a long-term trend. Even if the Yankees do slash payroll to reach their 2014 goal of $189 million, that’s still double the Mets 2012 payroll. The Yankees will end up with some sort of name catcher, while the Mets will proclaim faith in Josh (.584 OPS in 2012) Thole.
But as we head into the Winter Meetings, at least there’s some good news from the Mets for a change.
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