Joel Sherman

Joel Sherman

MLB

Key issues in spotlight at MLB GM meetings

If one team spends $30 million-to-$40 million on outside acquisitions this offseason, and another spends roughly double that, how is it that the first club is looked at as opening its wallet and the second as going cheap?

That is one of many questions intriguing me at the outset of this offseason about our New York squads.

For this has been the offseason the Mets have been targeting to catapult into contention. Johan Santana and Jason Bay were coming off the books. General manager Sandy Alderson would have had three full years to lay the groundwork for a contender. The idea was to finish it off this winter with a piece or three.

And, compared to their recent history, the Mets are going to be spending lavishly. But it still will not be the kind of spree or final payroll that makes sense for a New York team with a rabid fan base, a relatively new stadium and its own TV network.

Is this the frugality of ownership? The natural caution of Alderson? Part of an over-arching plan to gradually take the Mets toward, say, a $130 million-to-$150 million payroll over the next few years?

Conversely, the Yankees will be slashing about $40 million from their payroll in attempts to drop under the $189 million luxury-tax threshold for next season. Nevertheless, they almost certainly still will have the second-largest payroll in the sport and — restrictions or not — are intending to shop for luxury items.

If Alex Rodriguez’s entire salary goes away with his suspension upheld, the Yanks will have $70 million-ish to spend on players not currently on their roster — notably their own free agent Robinson Cano. But they also are trying to figure how much could fit into the $189 million shopping cart, with Masahiro Tanaka, Brian McCann, Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Beltran all enticing them.

Here are some other questions buzzing around my mind as the General Manager Meetings get underway Monday:

What is the impact of Jay Z?

Is the rapper/mogul such an iconic figure that he can be a Mariano Rivera-like closer in the Cano negotiations and — cult of personality alert — seduce an owner or an owner’s child into adding an extra year or extra millions? Or does his inexperience in negotiating baseball contracts — although he is paired with veteran agent Brodie Van Wagenen — hurt the process?

What kind of pressure does Jay Z feel to set records with Cano — his first major baseball client — to lure others to his stable? Which leads to this question:

What does Cano want?

The Yanks vow they are not going to the last dollar if an organization jumps into, say, the 10-year, $250 million realm. The Yanks’ limit currently appears somewhere between Mark Teixeira’s eight-year, $180 million pact and, perhaps, eight at $200 million.

Does Cano want to stay and, thus, all negotiations simply are a strategy to push the Yanks beyond their comfort zone? Or will he really go if the Tigers or Nationals or Rangers or Marlins — yep, there are some folks who think Miami might open up for him — or some other club outdo the Yanks? Which leads to this question:

What do the Yankees do if Cano leaves?

I don’t think they will punt on next season, especially after missing the playoffs in 2013. If they don’t have to budget for A-Rod or Cano, the Yanks probably will do everything possible to make sure they win for Tanaka, McCann and Choo or Beltran (assuming Curtis Granderson turns down the $14.1 million tender).

The problem here is that not long ago the Yanks simply could remove their money clip and make the rest of the industry faint. But not any longer. There are many heavyweights and an anticipation of many big spenders this offseason.

Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik just got to hire his third manager without yet making the playoffs and is feeling extreme pressure to add necessary offense. The Rangers have had two World Series disappointments followed by two regular-season fades, which will motivate bold moves, especially as the front office wants to prove its mettle following the exit of frenemy Nolan Ryan.

The Astros could add $40 million-ish to begin the process of trying to contend in the near future. The Red Sox could lose several big championship contributors (notably Jacoby Ellsbury, Stephen Drew and Jarrod Saltalamacchia; I think Mike Napoli will stay) and will be aggressive in the market.

In fact, it would be a shorter list to attempt to identify the more passive teams in this market. Which leads to this question:

What do the Mets do when $30 million-to-$40 million does not go as far as they once hoped?

Like the Yanks, they can’t punt. They have been selling their fans on contention in 2014, and they can’t table that now because Matt Harvey will miss the season and others are flexing their financial muscles.

In fact, few front offices have more pressure to deliver this offseason. Alderson’s Mets have won 77, 74 and 74 games, and the GM has mostly gotten a pass to pursue a big-picture agenda — cleanse the payroll of bad contracts, pump up the farm system. There is no 2014 mulligan. There is money to spend, and there is this: Alderson and loyal lieutenants Paul DePodesta and J.P. Ricciardi were part of the incubation of the Moneyball A’s. Their claim to fame was finding gems others did not see. It is what made them so attractive to a Wilpon ownership that was about to go into a financial Four Corners.

Yep, the Moneyball secrets got out to an entire industry, and so, now that is a far tougher trick. But it is a trick they must make work again. Alderson and his crew need to get perhaps double the value of the $30 million-to-$40 million they spend. That means no more Frank Franciscos.

What it further means is a fascinating offseason in which we see just what the Mets do when they have some money to spend — but so does pretty much every other team.