Report: Giants Unlikely To Retain Mets' Free Agent Target Kris Bryant
The probability has increased for the Mets to land Kris Bryant.
After spending $81 million on a trio of starting pitchers in Anthony DeSclafani (three-years, $36 million), Alex Wood (two-years, $25 million) and Alex Cobb (two-years, $20 million), the San Francisco Giants let ace pitcher Kevin Gausman walk in free agency (five-years, $110 million with Blue Jays) and appear to be out of the running to retain their top trade deadline acquisition from a season ago in Bryant.
According to ESPN, the current belief is that the Giants are not looking to sign any nine-figure targets on the free agent market after the lockout ends.
This makes things more clear as to why they didn't try re-signing Gausman, and it also means they are unlikely to dish out big money for Bryant.
That's where the Mets come in. Prior to the work stoppage, New York was among several teams showing interest in Bryant, per MLB Network.
Although their own biggest trade deadline acquisition, Javier Báez, bolted for the Detroit Tigers on a six-year, $140 million deal, SNY reported that the Mets were willing to go as high as $125 million to bring him back.
Now, that offer can potentially be allocated to Bryant across a five-year deal, as the Mets are still planning on being opportunistic when it comes to adding position players.
If the Mets were to sign Bryant, he would slide in at third base and push Eduardo Escobar over to second. However, Escobar mentioned he prefers the hot corner during his introductory press conference with the Mets on Dec. 1.
Regardless, the Mets could certainly use one more big bat, and Escobar has experience playing second base. The team already plans on moving the versatile Escobar around the infield next season after signing him to a two-year, $20 million deal in free agency.
Not to mention, Bryant's abilities fit in with Mets general manager Billy Eppler's desire for players that can play both infield and outfield. Bryant's natural position is third base, but he has logged innings in all three outfield spots with the Cubs and Giants over the course of his seven-year big-league career.
Earlier this month, multiple agents and executives around the league told Inside the Mets that if team owner Steve Cohen wants Bryant, he will find a way to sign him. To sum things up, don't count out Cohen making another big splash after the Mets committed a total of $254.5 million to Escobar, Max Scherzer (three-years, $130 million), Starling Marte (four-years, $78 million) and Mark Canha (two-years, $26.5 million) in late-November.
Cohen, Eppler and the Mets are headed in the right direction and already have the team's payroll sitting around $270 million. But there are still improvements to be made on their roster once MLB and MLBPA strike a deal for a new collective bargaining agreement. And the addition of Bryant would transform the Mets' lineup into an offensive juggernaut.
