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The Mets have come to an agreement with Albert Almora pending a physical exam, and it’s possible that will settle how they will approach center field this season, with the former Cub serving as a caddy for Brandon Nimmo.
But they worked so hard on Jackie Bradley Jr. that I’ll continue to believe that if the designated hitter is adopted by the NL and Bradley remains a free agent at that point, the Mets will at least consider him.
Last week, the Mets had a lengthy Zoom reunion with Bradley which included team president Sandy Alderson, interim general manager Zack Scott, coach Chili Davis and first base / away coach Tony Tarasco. Scott, in particular, knows Bradley well through their time-sharing work with the Red Sox.
The problem is, Bradley was never fully adapted to the Mets, as they are built without them being able to use a DH. His presence would have forced the Mets to decide every day who doesn’t play among Bradley, Nimmo, Pete Alonso and Dom Smith.
Right now, MLB is proceeding as if there won’t be a universal DH in 2021. But many team leaders and agents believe there may still be a last-second reversal, in part because the union wants it, but so do the clubs. to further protect the pitchers. The MLB has been reluctant to give in and hand it over to the union without securing reciprocity in one form or another. Their preference has been to trade it for an extended playoffs. The union was firm that it would not make a trade.
If NL adopted DH, an argument could be made that no free agent yet available would help the 2021 Mets more than Bradley due to a domino effect: Bradley is an elite defensive center back, he would move Nimmo of a lower level. an average center-back to an above-average left-back, which would take Dom Smith from an below-average left fielder to at least average first baseman and make Pete Alonso – an below average first baseman. Smith – the DH.
This would improve the Mets’ attack by keeping all of the bats in line. But that would particularly help the pitching staff to defend better. The Mets have been a terrible defensive team in recent years. But if they ever did manage to land Bradley in free agency or Milwaukee’s Lorenzo Cain in a trade (Cain owes $ 35 million for the next two years), their midfield roster would go from Wilson Ramos, Robinson Cano, Amed Rosario. and Nimmo to James McCann, Jeff McNeil, Francisco Lindor and Bradley / Cain. So from one of the worst to one of the best.
In theory, if DH came to NL, the Mets could try to recruit Justin Turner to, say, play third base 110 games and DH 50. But that wouldn’t have as much of an impact on defense.
For now, the Mets are making a low-cost protective move with Almora. He would essentially fill the role of Jake Marisnick last year as a right-side addition to Nimmo. Except Marisnick is better on both sides of the ball than Almora.
Now, former Mets general manager Jared Porter was the Cubs’ professional scout leader in 2016, when Almora broke in, and there were beliefs he would become a two-way street. But Almora looks a lot like Juan Lagares. He had a promise of early and offensive defense. But the attack never came and even now the defense has taken at least one rating down.
Perhaps Almora is starting against lefties, although he has only hit 0.212 against lefties with a 0.533 OPS over the past two seasons. He’s probably playing defense late, although among the 59 center players with the most attempts last year, Almora placed 45th in above-average strikeouts. Nimmo, however, was 58th. Bradley finished second.
Almora essentially ticks one box – a right-handed hitter who is better down center than Nimmo. So the Mets enlisted him to fill a role. Bradley is a much bigger difference maker, which is why teams like the Red Sox, Giants, Astros and a few others remain committed. If DH arrives at NL and Bradley remains available, the Mets should come back to him or try to trade for Cain.
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