DOUBLE DOWN

After Zobrist gets away, Mets overhaul DP Combo with Walker, Cabrera

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As the clock ticked toward Ben Zobrist’s big decision, the free agent’s representatives believed the Mets would go as high as $60 million over four years to secure their top target.

But a maneuver outside the Mets’ control superseded that, and that’s why Zobrist wore a Cubs cap as he spoke to the media on Wednesday afternoon at the Gaylord Opryland.

“I was very serious about going there,” Zobrist said of the Mets. “I was serious about going every place that I looked at. And I think in the end, the main theme that we talked about at the beginning of the process that was going to be important was proximity to here, where we live. Proximity to my family. I grew up in Illinois.

“… We didn’t know if we were ever going to get that choice throughout the process,” continued Zobrist, who lives in nearby Franklin, Tenn. “So we seriously considered all of the other options. We could’ve gone to the East Coast, West Coast. But I think in the end, this was the one that really motivated me the most as well. Knowing the opportunity to win a championship here in Chicago, right now, that’s the main motivation for me. Those things put together is why we ended up here.”

The Cubs will pay Zobrist, who turns 35 in May, $56 million over four years. Interestingly, given all the questions about committing so much to such an older player, Zobrist’s contract is structured like a parabola so that he’ll make just $12 million in 2019, when he’ll be 38. He also secured full no-trade protection for the first three years and yielded on the fourth, when he can submit eight teams to which he can’t be traded. Translation: If Zobrist regresses considerably in 2018, he’d be in position to retire — or for the Cubs to release him — with lesser impact on the bottom line.

Regression was not the talk of this day, though. It was how the Cubs, who loved Zobrist all along and whom Zobrist wanted to join, found room for Zobrist just in time, as they agreed in principle on Monday to trade Starlin Castro to the Yankees for Adam Warren and Brendan Ryan, thereby opening up the second-base job for Zobrist. Both the trade and Zobrist’s agreement with the Cubs were finalized Tuesday.

While Zobrist went to bed Monday knowing he’d be a Cub, the Mets operated Tuesday as if Zobrist would be joining them.

A day after losing out on top free-agent target Ben Zobrist, the Mets recovered quickly on Wednesday. First, they got Neil Walker to fill the second base hole in a deal with the Pirates for Jon Niese. Then, the Amazin’s agreed to terms with shortstop...