Mets Unwilling To Part With A Second Round Pick?

Mets are discussing whether they are willing to forfeit a second-round draft pick for any of the 13 players who received a qualifying offer.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) November 4, 2013

I'm going to do my very best not to overreact to this for only one reason, I wouldn't expect anything less than internal discussion about such a thing.  Sandy Alderson's front office over analyzes damn near everything, so why should this be any different?  With that said, here are the thirteen players who received qualifying offers:

Carlos Beltran, Robinson Cano, Shin-Soo Choo, Nelson Cruz, Steven Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Curtis Granderson, Ubaldo Jimenez, Hiroki Kuroda, Brian McCann, Kendrys Morales, Mike Napoli and Ervin Santana.

When it comes to comparing picks versus players, here is the way I view it.  These players are already quality major leaguers.  A second round pick in 2014 may never sniff the major leagues, never mind be this type of impact player.  If the Mets can get one of these guys at their number, I think they pull the trigger with little hesitation.

As I've said before on this blog, I expect to address one corner outfield spot, shortstop and starting pitching via the free agent market.  I still expect that to be the case (maybe I'm going down with the ship).  I also expect them to sign an outfielder off this list, likely either Choo or the less expensive Granderson.  After that, I believe it will be other free agents who did not receive qualifying offers.

There remains a lot of skepticism about what the Mets will do this winter and honestly, there should be.  The Mets need to earn back the trust of their fanbase.  It will take impact acquisition this offseason to begin that healing process.  I certainly hope they don't balk at such a move over a second round pick.