Billy Eppler spoke for the primary time following the tip of the Carlos Correa negotiations Tuesday afternoon. There has been numerous finger-pointing and blame-shifting during the last week with Correa returning to the Minnesota Twins after two failed offers with the San Francisco Giants and the Mets.
Scott Boras appears sad that the Mets consulted with the identical physician the Giants consulted with about his surgically-repaired ankle. Mets followers are offended Correa remains to be being talked about in New York contemplating he by no means truly turned a Met.
So, Billy Eppler opted to not discuss what went mistaken within the deal Tuesday throughout a Zoom press convention with the media that was held to formally introduce catcher Omar Narvaez and re-introduce reliever Adam Ottavino. The GM can’t say a complete lot since Correa is now a member of one other group, to start with, however he declined to debate the dealings from the Mets’ perspective.
“Appreciate the question and the purpose behind asking it,” Eppler mentioned. “However, I’m not going to go into any detail there just out of privacy reasons, as well as out of respect to Carlos. So I appreciate the question, but I’m not going to elaborate.”
Shortly after the Mets and Correa got here to phrases on what was initially a 12-year, $315 million contract, proprietor Steve Cohen mentioned the group had been in want of “one more thing” and that Correa, a 28-year-old two-time All-Star shortstop, was that factor. Last yr’s lineup produced runs however didn’t hit many dwelling runs. Correa is just not a long-ball hitter, although he’s good for about 20-25 every season. However, he would have made the lineup extra formidable within the center.
So the largest query remaining is whether or not or not the Mets will attempt to herald one other hitter so as to add depth to the lineup. They had been in talks with outfielder Andrew McCutchen final week earlier than he went again to the Pittsburgh Pirates, so the opportunity of including one other hitter is just not out of the query.
“I think we have a strong and deep lineup. I’m confident in our group’s ability to score runs,” Eppler mentioned. “I think this goes without saying and I think I’ve said in the past — relating that to any one of the areas of the organization — you can always be better. That’s kind of the purpose of making sure that you’re not sitting in a fixed mindset and you kind of adopt a more of a growth-based mindset where you can always improve. That’s what we’re going to look to do. You have to look for opportunities out there.”
The commerce market is at the moment quiet and all the elite free brokers have already signed with different groups. In current winters we’ve seen influence gamers languish in free company generally till April however the market was extraordinarily strong this winter. The solely gamers left are of the depth selection, which isn’t essentially a foul factor for a group that already has a really sturdy lineup however may nonetheless afford so as to add a couple of items to bolster that depth.
But if the Mets enter spring with the present roster, Eppler is assured that it will likely be aggressive. He additionally thinks the brand new rule modifications relating to shifts and defensive positioning may benefit a lineup that’s heavy on contact and on-base talents.
“Some reasons for optimism on our part is one we’re going to see a little bit more restriction of defensive positioning,” Eppler mentioned. “As we see the restrictions on defensive positioning that occurred within the recreation. I feel it stands to purpose that some contact and a contact method would get rewarded. There’d be extra visitors on the bases to couple with that prime on-base proportion. You’re in all probability going to see common go up a little bit bit.
“If you look at our offensive environment, there are many ways to score.”
Eppler can be open to including one other bullpen piece, ought to a transfer current itself. The phrase he has used all all through the winter has been “opportunistic” and it doesn’t sound like that’s about to vary anytime quickly.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com