Did the Mets back out on a trade for Jason Kipnis over money?

by Brian Erni January 11, 2018

Mets fans have just cause to feel good this morning. The team brought back All Star outfielder Jay Bruce on a three-year deal at an affordable price ($39 million, $13 million AAV), but you kind of knew something was going to happen to keep your level of frustration where it always is, didn't you?

New York was apparently close to a deal for Jason Kipnis before someone pulled the plug. Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports has the details:

"The New York Mets [...] nearly had a deal worked out with the Cleveland Indians for Jason Kipnis, according to sources. And in fact, there were people on both sides who thought they had a deal. But apparently it was killed by someone at the top, very likely over money."

Heyman's sources and accuracy in his reporting are beyond reproach, so this is likely 100 percent accurate. And if it is, it doesn't necessarily mean it's the wrong thing.

I personally love Kipnis as an option for this team. I think he's a great buy-low candidate, and without knowing what the perimeters of the trade would have been, I'm disappointed they couldn't swing a deal.

However...

The Mets have a ton of options to round out their infield. Free agent options at third base, which would force Asdrubal Cabrera to second, or a trade for a second baseman and keeping Asdrubal at third. Heck, trading for Kipnis is still theoretically an option, and most of the leg work has been done there.

Maybe it's possible Mets ownership killed this simply over money. Maybe it's possible that they wanted to see if they could get one of their free agent targets (i.e. Bruce) before they threw money at the infield. And now that they have Bruce in the fold, they'll double back to all options, including Kipnis. 

There is still a lot of offseason, and the Mets still have holes to fill. But before we get too pessimistic about this report, let's see if there is something else on the horizon.

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