MLB: Mets Will Not Pursue Holliday or Bay
Take the New York Mets off the list of potential suitors for Matt Holliday and Jason Bay. Adam Rubin for the New York Daily News is reporting that a team insider informed him the asking price for either left fielder is expected to be too high for the Mets to consider making a serious offer.
It is expected that the Mets will go after a second tier free agent to plug into left field with eyes on moving Daniel Murphy to first base. If so this means Carlos Delgado’s days in New York are over unless he signs with the Yankees or agrees to a one year deal and a significant pay cut.
The article mentions Mike Cameron as a possible target for the Mets, but, to me, former Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel seems like a likely target for the Mets. He is six years younger than Cameron, an above average defensive outfielder, and will likely come significantly cheaper than Cameron will.
Ankiel struggled with injuries last season and became the odd man out in the outfield rotation in St. Louis with the emergence of Colby Rasmus as the every day center fielder and the acquisition of Matt Holliday at the trade deadline. Ankiel would give the Mets a defensive upgrade over Murphy in left and if he stays healthy potentially gives them a bat worth 25 to 30 homers in the bottom half of the order.
