ORLANDO, Fla. — The Mets might not leave these general managers’ meetings with a new player, but they have at least made a significant recruiting pitch.
According to a major league source, team executives secretly met with free-agent Jhonny Peralta on Tuesday night, beginning a courtship they hope will result in making a quick strike to fill a need at shortstop.
Peralta, 31, hit .303 with 11 homers and 55 RBIs for the Tigers, but was suspended 50 games in early August for his role in the Biogenesis performance-enhancing-drug scandal. Peralta returned in late September and was on the Tigers’ postseason roster.
The Mets view Peralta, because of his power potential, as a better fit than free-agent Stephen Drew as they attempt to upgrade a shortstop position at which they have been underwhelmed by Ruben Tejada since Jose Reyes’ departure following the 2011 season.
Mets general manager Sandy Alderson only would say he and members of his staff met with a player on Tuesday at a nearby site. But a source later identified the player as Peralta.
“It just happened he was here with his agent, but any time you get a chance to meet directly with a player, it’s a positive thing,” Alderson said.
Peralta, in his last full season in 2012, hit .239 with 13 homers and 63 RBIs with a .689 OPS. Both of his All-Star selections have come with the Tigers, whom he joined during the 2010 season after beginning his career with the Indians.
Other than shortstop, the Mets are looking to bolster their outfield — with Curtis Granderson and Nelson Cruz as two of the free agents who figure to fit into their price range. But, according to a club source, the Mets are somewhat unsettled by the potential cost of both players.
Also Wednesday, agent Scott Boras — who represents Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury and Shin-Soo Choo among others — gave his annual assessment of the Mets to reporters.
“The Mets are like NASA: They have big rockets, a lot of platforms and very few astronauts,” Boras said. “Astronauts are hard to find. They’ve got one guy with the Wright stuff, and they’ve got a lot of Arm-strongs, too, but they are certainly a club I’m sure that’s in pursuit of a higher level of talent.”
Boras in past years has used supermarket shopping analogies to characterize the Mets. Before the 2012 season, he said the Mets were shopping in the “fruit and nuts” aisle of the store, but last year he promoted them to the “freezer section.” Boras declined to provide a section of the supermarket this year.
“I’ll stick to NASA, I think,” Boras said.
Alderson was asked if the Mets, who haven’t had a winning season since 2008, are a tough sell on free agents.
“You shouldn’t assume that we have to sell the New York Mets,” Alderson said. “There are a lot of players who want to play in New York. A lot of players love their experience in New York, whether it’s for three days when they come in or nine games if they are in our division, so don’t assume we need to sell everybody that we talk to.”
Boras didn’t sound convinced the Mets will spend the $40 million they had removed from their books following the season.
“The ability to spend and actually spending are two different things,” Boras said. “That’s only for the Mets to diagnosis. The Mets have the ability to do pretty much what they want to do, but it’s hard to find astronauts.”