HERE’S THE PITCH
Mets show Zobrist Queens, await his decision
THE METS expect that the wait for Ben Zobrist will soon be over.
The free agent utility player was in Queens earlier this week so the team could show him around Citi Field and the area, and they came away with the feeling that it would not “be that much longer” until he reached a decision.
The 34-year-old, who lives in Tennessee, is also expected to attend next week’s winter meetings in Nashville. Industry sources said they expect him to decide on which team to sign with by the end of the meetings.
“I don’t think it’s gonna play out over weeks,” Mets assistant GM John Ricco said Friday. “I think he’s getting to the point where he's narrowed it down, it sounds like. You have to ask him, it’s his decision, but it didn’t sound like it’s something he's going to take that much longer with, because he sounded like he had narrowed it down a bit.”
The Mets hosted Zobrist, his wife and their newborn daughter on Wednesday. Chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon, general manager Sandy Alderson — who the team announced Friday has been diagnosed with cancer — and the rest of the front office were involved in the recruiting visit.
“We only had one day, but we packed a lot into it. I think he learned about us, we learned a lot about him,” said Ricco, who is filling in for Alderson in addressing the media at times when the GM is not available. “Sandy was part of that from the beginning to end. We dropped him off at the airport after a nice dinner about 9 p.m. It’s a full day and I think he got to see what we all believe.
“One of the advantages we have with him I think is he just got to see our team,” Ricco said of Zobrist’s Royals facing the Mets in the World Series. “He faced us for (five) games in October and got to see what we have, what we think we are going to be over the next few years which is a pretty good team.”
David Wright would not discuss whether he had spoken to Zobrist, but said he is available to any player who wants to talk about playing for the Mets.
Perhaps the best recruiters for the Mets were the four young starters they sent to the mound to face Zobrist and the Royals in the World Series. Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz have generated plenty of calls from other teams this offseason, Ricco said, but the Mets have made it clear they intend to build their future on those arms.
While declining to get into specifics of negotiating a contract with Zobrist, Ricco said that the Mets had no hesitancy about his age and a deal that could go as long as four years.
“We’re still discussing all of that. I don’t think hesitancy is the right word. We have to do a deal that ultimately makes sense for us in the long term and short term,” Ricco said. “If there is a fit there in terms with what we are comfortable with dollar-wise and years-wise then we’ll get the player. Like any other trying, you try to fit together pieces of the puzzle, one is length and dollars and also trying to put the best team on the field we can. Not only this year but going forward.”
Zobrist, a career .265 hitter with a .355 on-base percentage and .786 OPS, has a versatility that the Mets like. He can play second base to replace Daniel Murphy, another free agent. He can play third base to spell Wright, who is playing through spinal stenosis, and also some outfield.
The Mets feel that if they do not land Zobrist they have other options. Internally, they are ready to let Dilson Herrera start at second base and they are comfortable moving Wilmer Flores there, too. They also have remained in contact with Murphy’s representatives and have not ruled out a return.
Waiting for their top choice — who is also being pursued by the Giants, Nationals, Cardinals and Braves — has not stopped the Mets from making contingency plans. “You’ll start to see guys come off the board once we get to Nashville and the dominos will fall a little more quickly,” Ricco said. “Obviously we don’t want to be held up on any one player, but we don’t get the sense that Ben’s timetable is going to impact us negatively that way.”
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