Mets decide not to tender Green a contract
Sean Green pitching the 7th inning at Citi Field. (April 7, 2010) Credit: David Pokress
Whether Sean Green pitches for the Mets in 2011 isn't likely to keep even the most devoted Mets fan up late at night. Last night, however, that precise subject kept the Mets burning the midnight oil.
And when the 11:59 deadline passed, the Mets decided not to tender the righthanded reliever a contract, making him a free agent. The Mets also non-tendered outfielder Chris Carter and righthander John Maine.
Green made $975,000 in 2010 and pitched in only 11 games last season, and the Mets tried to sign him to a contract for similar terms. They didn't want to advance his case to arbitration, however, and when the Mets and Green couldn't find common ground, they simply let him go.
The two sides can continue to negotiate, but now the Mets aren't confined by the arbitration rules that state a pay cut can't be for more than 20 percent.
The non-tender to Maine was expected. Carter didn't have the service time to qualify for arbitration, when players start to earn big dollars, but the Mets simply decided they didn't want him on their roster anymore.
The Mets tendered contracts to R.A. Dickey, Angel Pagan and Mike Pelfrey, all easy decisions.
Dickey, 36, can be a free agent after the 2011 season; Pagan, 29, is under team control for three more years, and Pelfrey, who turns 27 in January, can't become a free agent until after the 2013 season.
General manager Sandy Alderson hasn't been inclined to offer multiyear contracts to any of his current players, as he wants to take the 2011 campaign to assess the club's inventory. All three players likely will sign one-year contracts.
Meanwhile, the Mets continued their conversations with free-agent righthander Chris Young, whom team officials like as a good fit for pitcher-friendly Citi Field.
The teams have yet to engage in serious financial discussions, but the Mets surely will be looking to sign Young, who has totaled only 36 appearances (all starts) in the last three seasons, to a low base salary with incentives.
Alderson is personally conducting the talks with Young, whom he knows from their time together in San Diego.
