The Mets hope to learn more this week about the outfield trade market. That would be the outfield trade market they’ve been trying to infiltrate for over a month now with their attempts to deal away Jay Bruce and, in turn, using their increased payroll flexibility to bolster their bullpen.
Will the turn of the calendar provide the Mets — and baseball’s Hot Stove League, overall — with the smelling salts they sure as heck appear to need? Nothing else so far has worked.
“I’ve never seen it like this,” one veteran agent said Monday.
For sure, other Januarys have been busy. Last January, six guys, including Yoenis Cespedes, signed deals for over $50 million, finishing off a robust free-agent class.
No one left out there from this weak group, including 10 of The Post’s Top 30 free agents, will be getting as much as $50 million. What makes this winter so odd is how we haven’t seen the natural trickle-down effect that has characterized its predecessors.
Super-closers Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon all cashed in handsomely … and besides lefties Brett Cecil and Mike Dunn, all of the other worthwhile relievers remain unemployed.
Cespedes re-signed with the Mets on Nov. 30. Then Edwin Encarnacion landed with the Indians on Dec. 22. Since then? Crickets on the hitter front.
Rich Hill, the top starting pitcher, re-signed with the Dodgers on Dec. 5, and a few guys found employers before and after. A gaggle of buy-low guys, starting with Jason Hammel, remain out there.
And all of this gridlock, some of it surely inspired by the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, in turn slows down potential trades.
So what will get things going? Here are the potential sparks we await:
1. The new year. While teams never shut it down completely, the holidays do bring with them an organic slowdown. Just like many of us, team officials will show up at work Tuesday with a little more focus and re-engage agents and other clubs.
So maybe the Blue Jays get moving on their need for an outfielder by trading for Bruce or re-signing Jose Bautista. Or perhaps the Rangers acquire Mike Napoli for a third time. Or it could be the Dodgers re-signing a fourth player this winter (in addition to Hill, Jansen and Justin Turner) in Joe Blanton.
2. Owners’ adjustments. A year ago, the Tigers insisted they were done … until their big boss Mike Ilitch pushed general manager Al Avila to add another big bat (which became Justin Upton). Two years ago, the Nationals’ patriarchs, the Lerners, essentially informed their general manager Mike Rizzo that they were signing Max Scherzer.
So while Hal Steinbrenner seems determined to lock down the Yankees’ payroll unless Brett Gardner or Chase Headley gets traded, he could call an audible and add a starting pitcher. Or the Lerners, who still need a closer, can do more January business with Scott Boras, like with Scherzer two years ago, and add catcher Matt Wieters.
3. Player injuries. You can’t bank on this if you’re repping a free agent, yet it does happen on occasion. Prince Fielder earned his nine-year, $214 million contract with the Tigers in January 2012 only after Victor Martinez suffered a season-ending left knee injury. The benefit to standing still as a free agent is that the rest of the world keeps moving. And sometimes, it trips.
4. The countdown to spring training. Vote on this factor having the most impact. Only players with the strongest of stomachs want to stay unemployed when it’s time to go to work. As exemplified by the underwhelming Encarnacion contract, the market already has flipped from a seller’s to a buyer’s. Count on plenty of one-year contracts with players aiming to better position themselves for a year from now.
It looks good for the Mets to get a reliever — maybe a reunion with Jerry Blevins? — on their terms. For the same reason, they might have to pay some of Bruce’s $13 million salary just to unload him when so many similar players are obtainable at bargain rates.
For once, the drama lies not only in where everyone is going, but when it will finally happen already. Weird. We’ll see if this week brings back any semblance of normalcy or whether we’ll keep moving as slowly as a veteran catcher.