Mets lock up batting champion Jeff McNeil on four-year, $50M deal

Associated PressFeb 1, 2023, 12:39 AM EST
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NEW YORK – Batting champion Jeff McNeil and the New York Mets finalized a four-year, $50 million contract that avoided a salary arbitration hearing.

The move was the latest by the high-spending Mets. who added pitcher Justin Verlander and David Robertson, catcher Omar Narváez and outfielder Tommy Pham, and also reached a $162 million, eight-year deal to keep outfielder Brandon Nimmo.

“It starts with ownership,” McNeil said at a news conference. “They want to put a winner on the field. It’s been pretty amazing to see what that’s looked like the last few years.”

He gets $6.25 million this year, $10.25 million in 2024 and $15.75 million in each of the following two years. The Mets have a $15.75 million option for 2027 with a $2 million buyout, a season that if exercised would make the agreement worth $63.75 million over five years.

He would get $100,000 for winning the World Series MVP, $50,000 for League Championship Series MVP, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger or making the All-Star team. McNeil would receive a one-time $500,000 assignment bonus if traded, payable by the receiving team. He also gets a hotel suite on road trips.

A two-time All-Star, McNeil led the majors with a .326 average last season. The second baseman asked for a raise from $3 million to $7.75 million this year, while New York offered $6.25 million.

He was the only one of seven Mets eligible for arbitration who did not agree to terms on a deal and formally exchanged salary proposals with the team at the Jan. 13 deadline.

But the sides settled on a multiyear agreement weeks later, avoiding arguments before a three-person panel in St. Petersburg, Florida.

McNeil, who turns 31 in April, could have become a free agent following the 2024 season but agreed to push that back at least two years, possibly three.

An excellent contact hitter and a versatile defender, McNeil also made 44 starts in the outfield last season: 33 in left field and 11 in right. He had an .836 OPS at the plate with nine home runs, 39 doubles and 62 RBIs in 148 games for a Mets team that made its first playoff appearance in six years.

He won a Silver Slugger Award and finished 15th in NL MVP voting.

McNeil is a .307 career hitter in 4 1/2 big league seasons with 46 homers and an .827 OPS. He has struck out only 242 times in 2,039 plate appearances.

McNeil was drafted by the Mets in the 12th round out of Long Beach State in 2013.

MLB free agent watch: Ohtani leads possible 2023-24 class

Associated PressMar 28, 2023, 9:26 PM EDT
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CHICAGO – The number will follow Shohei Ohtani until it is over. No, not Ohtani’s home runs or strikeouts or any of his magnificent numbers from the field. Nothing like that.

It’s all about how much. As in how much will his next contract be worth.

Ohtani is among several players going into their final seasons before they are eligible for free agency. There is still time for signatures and press conferences before opening day, but history shows a new contract becomes less likely once the real games begin.

There is no real precedent for placing a value on Ohtani’s remarkable skills, especially after baseball’s epic offseason spending spree. And that doesn’t factor in the potential business opportunities that go along with the majors’ only truly global star.

Ohtani hit .273 with 34 homers and 95 RBIs last season in his fifth year with the Los Angeles Angels. The 2021 AL MVP also went 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA in 28 starts on the mound.

He prepared for this season by leading Japan to the World Baseball Classic championship, striking out fellow Angels star Mike Trout for the final out in a 3-2 victory over the United States in the final.

Ohtani, who turns 29 in July, could set multiple records with his next contract, likely in the neighborhood of a $45 million average annual value and quite possibly reaching $500 million in total.

If the Angels drop out of contention in the rough-and-tumble AL West, Ohtani likely becomes the top name on the trade market this summer. If the Angels are in the mix for the playoffs, the pressure builds on the team to get something done before possibly losing Ohtani in free agency for nothing more than a compensatory draft pick.

So yeah, definitely high stakes with Ohtani and the Angels.

Here is a closer look at five more players eligible for free agency after this season:

RHP Aaron Nola, PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Nola, who turns 30 in June, went 11-13 with a 3.25 ERA in 32 starts for Philadelphia last year. He also had a career-best 235 strikeouts in 205 innings for the NL champions.

Nola was selected by the Phillies with the seventh overall pick in the 2014 amateur draft. There were extension talks during spring training, but it didn’t work out.

“We are very open-minded to trying to sign him at the end of the season,” President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski said. “We’re hopeful that he’ll remain a Phillie for a long time.”

3B Matt Chapman, TORONTO BLUE JAYS

Chapman hit 36 homers and drove in 91 runs for Oakland in 2019. He hasn’t been able to duplicate that production, but the three-time Gold Glover finished with 27 homers and 76 RBIs in 155 games last year in his first season with Toronto.

Chapman turns 30 on April 28. Long one of the game’s top fielding third basemen, he is represented by Scott Boras, who generally takes his clients to free agency.

OF TEOSCAR HERNÁNDEZ, SEATTLE MARINERS

Hernández was acquired in a November trade with Toronto. He hit .267 with 25 homers and 77 RBIs in his final year with the Blue Jays. He was terrific in 2021, batting .296 with 32 homers, 116 RBIs and a .870 OPS.

The change of scenery could help the 30-year-old Hernández set himself up for a big payday. He is a .357 hitter with three homers and seven RBIs in 16 games at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park.

OF Ian Happ, CHICAGO CUBS

The switch-hitting Happ is coming off perhaps his best big league season, setting career highs with a .271 batting average, 72 RBIs and 42 doubles in 158 games. He also won his first Gold Glove and made the NL All-Star team for the first time.

Chicago had struggled to re-sign its own players in recent years, but it agreed to a $35 million, three-year contract with infielder Nico Hoerner on Monday. The 28-year-old Happ, a first-round pick in the 2015 amateur draft, is on the executive subcommittee for the players’ union.

LHP JULIO URÍAS, LOS ANGELES DODGERS

Urías, who turns 27 in August, likely will have plenty of suitors if he reaches free agency. He went 17-7 with an NL-low 2.16 ERA in 31 starts for the NL West champions in 2022, finishing third in NL Cy Young Award balloting. That’s after he went 20-3 with a 2.96 ERA in the previous season.

Urías also is a Boras client, but the Dodgers have one of the majors’ biggest payrolls. Los Angeles also could make a run at Ohtani, which could factor into its discussions with Urías’ camp.