Manny Machado not expected to be in Mets' offseason plan as other needs take priority, report says

The Mets are reportedly not expected to be major players for the free-agent slugger this offseason

When the New York Mets officially announced former CAA agent Brodie Van Wagenen as the new general manager, Van Wagenen told members of the media that he expects the Mets "to be in on every free agent" this winter in his introductory press conference.

While that might be partially true, it would be surprising to see the Mets open their coffers and become major players this offseason. That leads us to infielder Manny Machado, ranked second on our list of top free agents, who you can count as one of the free agents the Mets won't be "in on" this offseason. The Mets are not expected to be a player for Machado, Jon Heyman of Fancred reports.

mets are not seen as a player for machado. of course $ are always a consideration, but the sense is that they don't see him as the right player to spend big on. that doesn't mean they won't make a splash. they are looking at catcher, bullpen and infield.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 9, 2018

The Mets certainly need an offensive boost for the 2019 season, which Machado would have been able to provide, but the team is reportedly going to focus on their other areas of need like relief pitching, infield and catching.

Van Wagenen has made it clear that he wants to forgo a rebuild, and make the Mets a contender for this upcoming season after missing the playoffs the last two years. Our own Jonah Keri thinks the Mets could jumpstart the Brodie Van Wagenen era with a few low-cost pickups since the team doesn't have a lot of money to spend this winter.

It's going to be interesting to watch and see what Van Wagenen's first moves are as general manager.