McNeil extension signals Mets’ commitment to homegrown players

NEW YORK — Jeff McNeil’s disjointed path to the Majors is, by this level, properly documented. He didn’t play highschool baseball till his senior yr, preferring to concentrate on golf. He earned a scholarship to Cal State Long Beach anyway, grew to become a Twelfth-round decide of the Mets and, after an injury-riddled Minor League profession through which he basically wanted to pressure his means into each promotion, debuted amid as a lot skepticism as fanfare in 2018.

“I always thought he would be a good baseball player, but I’d be lying if I said he’d be an All-Star or a batting champion,” stated Drew Toussaint, the scout who signed McNeil again in 2013. “That would be crazy.”

Now, McNeil isn’t solely each of these loopy issues, but additionally the poster youngster for the way the Mets want to deal with their homegrown stars. Upon signing a four-year, $50 million contract extension, which the workforce made official at a Citi Field press convention on Tuesday, McNeil grew to become the primary Met to waive a number of arbitration years in favor of an extension since Juan Lagares in 2015. It’s simply not the type of factor that was once executed round Flushing, the place fiscal austerity usually drove gamers to free company whether or not they needed to go there or not. Outside of the David Wrights and Jacob deGroms of the world, extension conversations tended by no means to occur in any respect.

These Mets, for many who haven’t been paying consideration since Steve Cohen took possession of the workforce in 2020, are completely different. In addition to filling numerous wants by the highest of the free-agent market, Cohen’s Mets like the concept of attractive their homegrown gamers to remain put. In New York’s personal division, the Braves have proven how efficient the technique might be, all however making certain long-term competitiveness by providing aggressive extensions to comparatively unproven gamers.

The Mets have curiosity in that type of factor, too.

“[I’m] always open to having dialogue if it makes sense for both sides,” common supervisor Billy Eppler stated.

In McNeil’s case, the four-year cope with a $13.75 million fifth-year membership choice took a few week to get executed. The Mets preferred the concept due to McNeil’s elite bat-to-ball abilities, competitiveness and positional versatility. McNeil favored the idea as a result of it assured him generational cash, took away the stress of potential free company at a comparatively superior age and since, in his phrases, “New York is my home.”

These aren’t uncommon circumstances. Plenty of Mets over time have felt equally with out ever having the possibility to barter. There are some across the workforce who imagine that if the Mets had approached Pete Alonso early in his profession a few cheap extension, for instance, he would have signed away his arbitration years at a far decrease fee than it’ll now price to maintain him in Flushing.

In Alonso’s particular case, an extension remains to be potential, albeit at a big nine-figure price. (Neither his camp nor the Mets are commenting on whether or not talks have occurred this offseason, however these types of offers are inclined to get executed in February and March.) Longer time period, the Mets’ urge for food for extensions might permit them to comply with Atlanta’s mannequin in locking up high-upside gamers similar to Francisco Álvarez or Brett Baty lengthy earlier than they method free company.

“I think it’s huge,” McNeil stated. “We’re taking care of homegrown players who have been here a long time. It gives hope to the younger guys who are just coming up.”

Of the Mets’ core offensive items who debuted across the finish of final decade, McNeil and Brandon Nimmo are actually beneath assured contract for years to come back. Alonso might signal a long-term deal subsequent; if nothing else, he’ll be right here by 2024. After that, the speed of extensions appears prone to enhance a superb deal past what it was final decade.

“That’s the longer-term blueprint for the organization,” Eppler stated. “The organization would love to be in a spot where we can use free agency to supplement and not have to go out and sign several or more players every given winter.”

McNeil is just the primary of this period, serving to the Mets modernize and enrich their baseball operations. His path to Flushing might certainly have been rocky, however he’s paving a smoother one for the homegrown gamers behind him.