New York Mets Willing to Give Ryan Ludwick Two Years

The New York Posts’s Ken Davidoff  has reported that the New York Mets are interested in giving Ryan Ludwick a two-year contract worth between $6 and $7 million, but he also added that the Cincinnati Reds are still the favorites to end up with Ludwick in the end.

Oct 7, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; Cincinnati Reds left fielder Ryan Ludwick (48) runs ahead of San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey (28) after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of game two of the 2012 NLDS at AT

The Reds have maintained interest in re-signing Ludwick after a big bounce back year for him in which he smashed 26 homers and got on base at nearly a .350 clip. That’s a massive improvement from a 2011 season in which he was worth just 0.3 WAR and managed a pathetic .237 batting average with surprisingly very little power to add to it. It looked like Lud was in a massive decline from his big 2008 performance with the St. Louis Cardinals until he finally put it together again in 2012.

An average salary between $3 million and $3.5 million would constitute a good deal for the Mets, and they could use the power that they would be getting with the acquisition of Ludwick. He may be 34, but there is little risk of decline when going after a corner outfielder who bases his game off of power.

The Reds will try to do all they can to re-sign Ludwick- within reason, of course- but it will be interesting to see how many years they offer Ludwick and if the veteran can be swayed to the Big Apple.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.