O Mets made a game for Garrett Richards before the veteran righty signed to the Red Sox, MLB Insider Jon Heyman notes (via Twitter) Mets made their rotation a project this off-season. They are apparently in a good place, even without Richards, however. Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, and Marcus Stroman for a very strong top three, and hopes remain high that David Peterson will keep a place behind them. Noah Syndergaard plans to join that group at some point, and even if Seth Lugo returns to the bullpen, Mets has no lack of depth options – the main one may be the newly acquired Joey Lucchesi. In addition to the former Father, Steven Matz, Robert Gsellman, Franklyn Kilome, Corey Oswalt, and Jerad Eickhoff certainly has eyes for rotation. In other news …
- O Red Sox they were runners-up themselves in an attempt to sign Jurickson Profar, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Boston, of course, ended up with Kiké Hernández in a similar but shorter contract. It is not clear whether the Red Sox preferred Profar to Hernandez, although Hernández signed hours after Profar reopened with San Diego is notable. Still, one does not necessarily follow the other. All we can say for sure is that Profar’s return to San Diego has reduced the Boston market for versatile utility types. The fact that the Red Sox are involved in parallel negotiations with similar players does not really speak of their priorities with respect to these players.
- After all, they may well be interested in signing the two players, as Boston continues to look for a left bench stick. In a perfect world, the Red Sox would find someone who could complement Bobby Dalbec at first, by Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (via Twitter). Cotillo floats Marwin Gonzalez, Brad Miller, and Mitch Moreland like some players that might be suitable. The Boston bank tilts strongly to the right at the moment, with Jonathan Arauz as one of the few organizational options like a left-handed bat outside the bank, unless Jarren Duran makes the team out of spring training.