ORLANDO, Fla. — The Mets’ most direct route back to Playoffville features enough tolls to fill the Florida Turnpike from Wildwood to Florida City.
Just as important, the same path will take them back to a locale (of sorts) where they have struggled mightily to establish permanent residency: Credibility.
Yup, if the Mets want to go for it in 2018 and silence sparring partner and established wordsmith Scott Boras in the process, then they should make a serious bid for Eric Hosmer.
How serious? Match The Post’s predicted Hosmer figure of seven years and $150 million. I had him accepting those terms from the Red Sox, who could decide to make their big buy instead with free agent J.D. Martinez or trade target Giancarlo Stanton.
Knowing you all, you probably want to know why a Hosmer signing would make sense for the Mets. So here’s a list.
1. Talent
While he has not presented a picture of consistency, with underwhelming 2014 and 2016 campaigns, Hosmer has displayed his ceiling with very strong performances in 2013, 2015 and 2017.
Doubts exist, naturally. His defensive metrics are consistently subpar, something I referenced in a recent column. Yet if you talk to people who watch him play first base regularly, they insist Hosmer, the owner of four Gold Glove Awards (including 2017), is a plus fielder.
His offense? As Travis Sawchik noted in an excellent piece for FanGraphs, Hosmer does have a propensity to hit many ground balls. It ranks as a concern. This would call for the Mets to believe in their hitting coach Pat Roessler, who worked with Kevin Long to make Daniel Murphy a launch-angle stud, and to believe in Hosmer’s open-mindedness. Which takes us to…
2. Character
People who know Hosmer well speak very highly of his work ethic and of his willingness to be a leader, which should include a willingness to get better. Holy Callaway, do the Mets need someone like that in their clubhouse to help out their first time manager.
After so many of their veteran position players departed via trade last summer, and with David Wright’s future murky (to put it generously), the Mets could benefit greatly from someone like Hosmer, an out-front cog on the 2015 Royals team that bested the Mets in the World Series.
3. Need
The Mets are off the Dom Smith bandwagon after the rookie first baseman’s 2017 face-plant in the majors. Their get-together with the representatives for free agent Carlos Santana this past week at the general managers’ meetings displays their open-mindedness to acquiring a full-time first baseman.
4. Perception
Yeah, the Mets still face a trust deficit with their customers, even after increasing their payroll to the $155 million neighborhood last season. Their utterly disastrous 2017 resulted more from medical mismanagement and misfortune than penny-pinching. But Sandy Alderson has announced an intention to lower payroll, and that presents the toughest of sells after going 70-92, especially when the team wants to leap right back into contention.
Boras, who represents Hosmer, scored easy points with his “Playoffville” quip. You know your team has image issues when your fans root for Boras, who has no problem playing the heavy in any drama.
5. Fiscal fit
Alderson’s strong payroll management has gotten the team to a point where it wears no financial albatrosses. Yoenis Cespedes? I’d be more concerned as a Mets fan if his production, not his health, led to his 2017 half-season. Hence the Mets can afford to take the sort of risk a Hosmer signing would entail.
From an age standpoint, a seven-year deal for the 28-year-old Hosmer would take him through his age-34 season. Cespedes’ current four-year deal takes him … through his age-34 season.
This won’t be easy to pull off, and success would bring angst of its own. However, if the Mets don’t want to tear down with a trade of Jacob deGrom, then they should ramp back up to ensure deGrom and Noah Syndergaard see postseason action.
The off-ramp toward Playoffville features a high-priced road through Hosmerland. Have the Mets replenished their E-ZPass account lately?