The Mets have already checked off a number of items on the team’s offseason to-do list, or at least the version of that list that the fans have put together.
They’ve acquired a superstar in Francisco Lindor, added a new starting catcher in James McCann, and added quality arms both in the rotation and in the bullpen with the addition of Carlos Carrasco, Trevor May, Aaron Loup, and others.
But, some fans may ask, what about that Michael Conforto extension?
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A free agent at the end of the upcoming season, Conforto was asked on Tuesday as he was honored during the Thurman Munson Awards Dinner where things stand on his contract talks with the team.
“As far as extension talks go, myself and the Mets, myself and Sandy [Alderson] in particular, haven’t spoken since -- he did give me a call to let me know that I was going to be honored as a Second-Team outfielder on that All-MLB list. Our conversations haven’t gone anywhere past that. He just let me know that I was going to be a Second-Team All-MLB outfielder.
“He was on record saying that we’re going to broach that topic when we get closer to spring training. Now that we have a solid date for spring training I think things may progress, but at this point we really haven’t talked about extension stuff and all that stuff. We’ll see what happens here in the next week or two as we get closer to spring training and I think things will probably progress as we get closer.”
Aside from just Conforto, the Mets have other extension candidates to keep in mind, such as Lindor, Marcus Stroman and Noah Syndergaard.
When it comes to Lindor, the Mets clearly invested a lot of assets in bringing the shortstop to Queens, which would seem to make it obvious that the team is committed to keeping him around for more than one season.
But according to Conforto, whatever Lindor and the Mets negotiate does not affect his own situation with the team.
“That’s not a concern of mine. Whatever Lindor negotiates and whatever contract he ends up getting, whether or not the Mets are going to reach a deal with him I have no idea, but that’s completely his deal,” Conforto said. “That has nothing to do with me. Like I’ve said before, and I think Francisco would tell you the same thing, we are completed committed to winning games this year. That’s our No. 1 concern. That’s our No. 1 motivation for what we’re doing this year in the offseason as we show up to spring training.
“That’s just not something that, personally, I’m concerned with. I don’t want to speak for Francisco, but I know the kind of guy that he is and I’m sure that he would say the same thing. That’s just not a factor that I’m thinking about in this offseason as I’m going into the season.
“Like I said before, it’s about winning games. It’s about being ready to go when the bell rings, and the rest will take care of itself. Myself and Francisco, we’re probably going to be the leaders of the offense this year, the leaders of the team. We’re both involved with the union and all that. We try to lead by example and be the guys who pull for the team no matter what. It’s not about our numbers. It’s not about what kind of money we’re going to make. It’s about how many games we win this year.”