I dont know why you dont think this will help us for the future as well. As far as I know 2014 we are expecting to compete. Correct me if im wrong but Bourne will still be at the back end of his prime for 2014 AND 2015. He would be a great player to have in those years if we want to compete, of course with a 2nd or 3rd outfield acquisition.

He is an above average leadoff hitter and if signed he will be important to us in the future! Not too far id say 2016+ we look elsewhere.

Ideal Contract: 3 year 30-35 million. Since Boras is his agent its most likely gunna be 3 yr 45 mill

PS: I still like it even with giving up a pick...yea its not ideal but honestly its not as if every first round pick is guaranteed to be an mlb talent

(Disclaimer: if the deal is anything above 50 Million and 4 years or more I change my stance. But I stll wouldnt be that upset about it)

" Bourne will still be at the back end of his prime for 2014 AND 2015"

Even at the front end of his prime he was never that great....that's the problem., the only things that stand out are his above average base stealing and fielding. Don't get me wrong those are valuable assets but all this hoopla for someone who doesn't excel at anything else?? I would not mind passing. Or the very most 1 year deal with an option...depending what he does this year we can retain him.

"Ideal Contract: 3 year 30-35 million. Since Boras is his agent its most likely gunna be 3 yr 45 mill"
Seems way too cheap.

Thagreat1 has it 100% right. Bourn is overrated.

Good defense in CF shouldn't be underrated. His OBP hasn't been bad either: 354, 341, 349, 348. I agree with your thoughts to an extent. He def is not a star, but would be a solid player contributing to a winning team.

Yes, not worth $15M per season. He strikes out too much for a singles and doubles hitter. He steals bases. He's worth $8-$10M max. Not worth losing a first round pick. Mike Cameron without the homers.

" the only things that stand out are his above average base stealing and fielding."
Well, the thing is...where are these coming out of? Center field, a premium position. Last five years there's only a few guys ahead of him in value provided and they include Kemp and McCutchen.

If you don't want to sign him, it should be based on how you think his skillset will age, not the skillset, or what he's done, because that's impressive.

I agree with that, but we are a week away from pitchers and catchers hes gotta sign soon and they clearly haven't gotten what they wanted

The only reason the Mets are involved is because of who's not involved and where the potential contract is - it's obvious the market never developed properly for him and that there's lack of interest, and while a surprise contract may be signed if the Mets can get over the draft pick hurdle I'd love to sign a team-friendly deal.

Could you elaborate on "value provided" ? Thanks.

I agree. What most ppl don't understand is Bourne is a top 10 cf in the game. Maybe many people think the Carlos Beltran's of the world are everywhere.

Everything combined. Fielding, hitting, baserunning, position played, etc.

A snapshot of this is WAR, but when you break it down you can see the value provided.

On his defense:
"Michael Bourn is a pretty terrific defensive center fielder. Last year, he was the best defensive outfielder in baseball by UZR (after you account for the positional differences), grading out as 25 runs above an average defensive player, and it wasn’t a one year aberration, as no player has a higher FLD+POS rating over the last four years either. With over 6,500 innings big league innings, we’re not dealing with problematic small samples either. Bourn has been a tremendous defensive asset this far in his career."

But to be fair here's the rest of the article:
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/michael-bourns-questionable-future-defensive-value/



My final thoughts on him:
Would love not to lose a draft pick and get him on a deal less than five years. Wouldn't be surprised to see a bottom ten protected team sign him for what's he's looking for or a build-up year for the next off-season, or even see a big team with a later pick sign up in a lineup that can "build him up."

His defensive prowess impresses me more than his other qualities (by other qualities I mean top ten base stealing and at average hitting..there really is nothing else to rave about). That's the reason I wouldn't lose sleep if we signed him. Playing in this cavernous ballpark we're going to need really good outfielders to collects all these deep outs. However just because he's the best available at the moment doesn't mean we should treat him like some fr.iggin superstar. He is what he is, nothing more.

Thing is, he's not being treated as a star. He's not going to get the contract he wanted. He's probably not going to sign with the team that he wanted, and I'm sure he wanted to sign much earlier.

If he gets three years/50M, he is not being paid like one, and if we can save a draft pick on such a deal, I'd love it. He'd be a Jose Reyes light in Citi Field with better defense. If anything, it just proves we're actively in the market at the very least.

I wish he was a Jose Reyes light. My boy Reyes was stealing 70 bases and winning batting titles. Bourne would be a very very very impoverished mans, Jose Reyes. Unless he hones his few trades and can really make more a niche of it, I can't see this man being an impact player (aside from his fielding,.I do admit he'd probably save a chunk of runs.)

I think why I like him is because he fits more than one hole for us...not only do we get an OF which we desperately need, we also get a legit LEADOFF hitter....with him and murph 1-2 it will def help david and Ike drive in more runs rather than having the bases empty ahead of them

I agree with you on that actually. If Davis has a breakout 40 homerun season like everyone anticipates and Wright can stay consistent Bourn and Murphy ahead of them can definitely provide big innings.

i disagree that 3/50 wouldn't be paying him like a star because it certainly would....17 million a year is way over the top for a nice player like Bourn,i would never pay him that much and i'm pretty sure Sandy won't either...Jose is making 17-18 a year why would we pay Jose-Light close to the same yearly salary?

no loss of the draft pick and 3/36 with 39 the max,IMO

"Don't get me wrong those are valuable assets but all this hoopla for someone who doesn't excel at anything else??"

There are only five tools in baseball and Bourn has two.That's not too shabby.

i agree, i would go 3 to 5 yrs with an aav of $13m and a player opt out after yr 2. 3yrs for $40m works as well. slightly backloaded, so we save more $ if he opts out. 3yrs $40m is slightly better than braves qualifying offer aav.