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With the late-night news that George Springer and the Blue Jays had come to an agreement on a six-year, $ 150 million deal, the 31-year-old who had been one of the Mets’ targets during the offseason officially goes elsewhere. The Mets have improved dramatically since the start of the offseason, in large part because they traded for one of the best baseball players in Francisco Lindor.
In the short term, however, failure to land Springer – which the Mets reportedly offered between $ 120 million and $ 125 million over a six-year period – means the Mets are not meeting their center-field needs with the best option. possible. . Springer had already spent more time in right fielder at center during his career, but the Astros used him as the main center-back as recently as last year, when he recorded the vast majority of his times there. defensive sleeves. Over the next six years he will likely spend less time at center and more on the right, but he would have been playable at center on a daily basis – which cannot be said for Michael Conforto or Brandon Nimmo.
Speaking of Conforto and Nimmo, the former is eligible for free agency after the 2021 season, while the latter has one more year of arbitration eligibility in 2022 before he is also eligible to become a free agent. . Whether they keep one or both of those offsets for the long haul, however, the need for central focus right now is clear. In addition to the defensive issues presented by playing either Nimmo or Conforto down center every day, the Mets would have JD Davis, Dominic Smith, or the recent addition Jose Martinez in left field by their side, creating a major defensive issue in the two-thirds. outside fields. And that brings us to the center of the field options remaining in free will.
Among the free agents listed as MLB Trade Rumors center fielder, longtime Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner has led the field since the start of the 2019 season with 4.2 fWAR thanks to an above-average bat. In 708 home plate appearances during that span, he hit .245 / .322 / .480 with 33 homers, 13 stolen goals and a 114 wRC +. Like any left-handed Yankees hitter, playing half of his game in a stadium with an incredibly short porch in right field certainly didn’t hurt. And while the 37-year-old has experience at center, the Yankees have used him in left field much more often during his career.
Jack Bradley Jr. ranks second in that group with 2.8 fWAR since the start of the 2019 season, and he’s the player who will gain the most attention among Mets fans and writers spanning the team. . While Gardner has experience in center field, Bradley is undoubtedly a center-back right now, having played the position almost exclusively in his major league career with just a little bit of time in each of the corners. In wRC +, he has only been above average as a hitter for three seasons of his career, one of which was the shortened 2020 campaign. And since the start of the 2019 season, he’s hit .241 / .330 / .429 with 28 home runs, 13 stolen bases and a 98 WRC +. He is expected to be 31 in April, and there should be no doubt that he can play center – and play him well – for the foreseeable future.
From there it was Kevin Pillar, who hit .266 / .300 / .440 over the same time frame with 27 home runs, 19 bases stolen, a 90 wRC + and 2.5 fWAR. The Mets spent Pillar in free agency last winter, opting for Jake Marisnick instead, but the 32-year-old right-hander has mostly played on center court – except for his time with the Red Sox in latest. year of play on the right ground with Bradley in the middle.
And after Pillar on this list, things get a little less familiar. Brian Goodwin, a 30-year-old left-hander, hit .250 / .319 / .456 with 23 homers, 12 stolen goals and a 105 WRC +. He played at the center of much of his major league career, which he spent with the Nationals, Royals, Angels and Reds. Danny Santana, who has had a good season as a plaque for Rangers in 2019, is on the roster, but he’s hardly an everyday center-back, having played a lot more in other positions including at first base.
As for the rest of the squad, it starts with Marisnick, who hit very, very little playing time with the Mets in 2020, but is still a center-back. 28-year-old Delino DeShields has only had 72 wRC + since the start of the 2019 season, and he’s certainly a center-back and capable of stealing bases. Jarrod Dyson, 36, is similar to DeShields in being able to play center and steal bases, but he’s been even worse at home plate. Billy Hamilton is out there, but he once had a chance with the Mets which saw him get DFA for making several mistakes on the base paths, which is hard to justify for a player whose main asset is base.
Albert Almora Jr., who is still only 26 years old and got off to a good start in his major league career with the Cubs in 2016 and 2017 before his production declined significantly with each subsequent season, is available. Chicago hasn’t done it earlier this offseason, and it was worth -0.8 fWAR since the start of the 2019 season. And Jon Jay, who has 58 wRC + since the start of the 2019 season, ranks bottom of the group. with -1.3 fWAR over this period.
Obviously, there was a huge gap between George Springer and the rest of the free agent market. But even among the players still available, there are clear levels. Maybe the Mets are avoiding all of those players and making a trade instead, but if not, they’d definitely be better off getting someone to help them down the center – preferably one of the good defensemen with a record of d. ‘be an average major. league hitter.
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