WITH PEN PAL,
Mets focus on Realmuto or another catcher after bullpen
LAS VEGAS — Brodie Van Wagenen wasn’t taking any time to celebrate. He was closing in on his first big free agent signing as a GM and still the Mets were aggressively working the trade markets.
Van Wagenen was quick to say that the Mets’ deal to bring back Jeurys Familia on a three-year, $30 million deal was not final. According to a source, it just requires the 29-year-old reliever to pass a physical.
With the addition of closer Edwin Diaz last month in a trade from the Mariners, the Mets now have a very dangerous back of the bullpen.
“As we talked about all along, trying to improve our bullpen was a real priority this offseason. Once we got (Edwin) Diaz in the fold, we thought if we can keep pushing forward and be aggressive on some of the top guys on the market, the bullpen could be a huge win,” Van Wagenen said on the final day of the annual MLB Winter Meetings at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. “We obviously have some work to do to push it across the finish line, but his familiarity of New York was attractive and we know the makeup of the player, and if we can get it done, we’d be excited.” While Van Wagenen was talking, however, there were still possible deals and trades percolating.
The Mets would like to add a left-handed arm (or two) to the bullpen and a right-handed hitting outfielder before spring.
Mostly, however, they are still pushing hard to upgrade at catcher, pursuing Marlins All-Star J.T. Realmuto relentlessly.
To that end, the Mets let it be known that Noah Syndergaard is still available for the right price.
The big righthander was on the table earlier this week as part of a much-talked about three-way blockbuster that would have had Realmuto heading to Flushing, Yankees players heading to Miami and Syndergaard heading to a barber before he put on some pinstripes.
It wasn’t a one-time, test-the-waters, kind of thing with Syndergaard, whom the Mets have also talked about with the Padres. Sources confirmed an SNY report that the Mets and Padres have circled back on those conversations and discussed adding the Marlins to a potential threeway deal. That scenario would have the Mets, in order to get Realmuto, using Syndergaard to pry away some of the best prospects in the game from San Diego for the Marlins. It’s a creative conversation at this point, and just one of the scenarios the very busy and very aggressive new Mets front office is trying.
The Marlins want a major league player back in any package that also includes top prospects for Realmuto, according to the Miami Herald. So the Mets have also discussed a direct deal using their own young, controllable pieces like Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto or Amed Rosario. The Mets are more reluctant to trade Rosario, according to an industry source and the Marlins, according to the same source, are intrigued by the prospect of acquiring Nimmo.
The Marlins have at least six teams interested in dealing for Realmuto and are expected to make a decision soon.
Van Wagenen, who plugged his own Twitter handle on a national network appearance this week, has brought a different approach to the Mets at his first Winter Meetings as a GM. They flooded the zone, seemingly involved in every possible trade or free-agent negotiation they could this week. A former player agent at CAA, Van Wagenen declared every day how busy they were. The previous regime was much more low key in its deal-making.
But late Wednesday night — very early back in New York — Van Wagenen and the Mets finally had something to show for it.
Familia, who began with