Mets confirm they're not pursuing Machado, Harper

Scratch the New York Mets off the list of potential landing spots for free agent superstars Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, team officials confirmed. Chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon and first-year general manager Brodie Van Wagenen responded to questions from reporters Thursday about why they weren't raising the payroll to pursue either player.

"I don't know how many teams have two $30 million players. I think that's a bit of the answer," Wilpon said, referring to outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and infielder Robinson Cano, who are set to make $29 million and $24 million, respectively, in 2019. Van Wagenen said the Mets needed to address multiple needs that wouldn't be fixed by signing Harper or Machado.

"When we looked at our roster, we recognized we had multiple needs that needed to be addressed," he said. "I think the execution of our plan shows what our intentions were of trying to fill those multiple positions. We never looked at this offseason as having one player in mind of looking at this offseason to make one significant investment." --Field Level Media