The New York Mets made a nice little splash at the winter meetings after signing Bartolo Colon to add to Curtis Granderson this offseason and while the team has been mentioned in trade rumors for Daniel Murphy and Ike Davis, they will not just give them away and they won't overpay players either, including shortstop Stephen Drew.
The Mets have been linked to Drew all offseason, as they have a glaring hole at shortstop and likely would not want to start the season with Rueben Tejada there. The Mets signed Granderson to a four year deal and Colon to a two year deal in the $80 million range combined and they would like to get a shortstop, but reports say that Drew is looking for more money than they are willing to spend. According to Newsday and SB Nation, the Mets will not "overpay" for Drew just to get a shortstop and they rather would like to find a cheaper option or a trade if possible with Davis or Murphy.
The report says that there is "little chance" that the Mets would be willing to go three years for the SS, which is what drew wants and at 30-years-old, Drew sees that he is a bit "hot" right now after helping the Red Sox win the World Series. Drew had a solid season and since he was given a $14 million qualifying offer, it means the Mets would have to give up a draft pick to sign him and they did that already with Granderson.
According to the report, Drew has had interest from a number of teams and with Scott Boras his agent, chances are the Mets will get outbid for his services. The team has kept payroll down for years and while they have spent a bit on Granderson and Colon, that won't be enough to get back to the playoffs, but if they add another bat or Drew, things could be looking much better. The team has a solid rotation with Zack Wheeler, Dillon Gee and Jonothon Niese while adding Colon and the team could be adding more if they trade Murphy, Lucas Duda or Davis, which has been mentioned all through the offseason.
The two will make more money in arbitration and that's why the Mets are looking to deal at least one of them and the team also added Chris Young on a free agent deal. Young along with Granderson and Colon cost the team $87.25 million and that means they have some wiggle room but not much and that is why a trade is more likely than the team signing Drew based on what offers he is getting.
