The Mets have the option to renew the contract of OF Juan Lagares and bring him back for one more season.
He will never be a .300+ hitter, but we all know how comfortable we are with his defensive game.
And he has to be happy making $9,000,000 to catch fly balls.
So... it falls on the Mets and the decision has to be made post haste.
What would you do guys?
7 comments:
I am not sure he is worth the major league minimum. I would not pick up his option. I think there ought to be better 5th outfielders to be had.
I agree with Thomas.
Sadly for me (knew him from his Savannah days) the Juan Lagares era is over.
The $9 million is the problem, not his ability. Given the opportunity, he'd likely hit in the .250 range and play stellar defense, but you can't spend that kind of money for such little production in a log jammed outfield as it is. Thanks for a job done, Juan.
The smarter decision would be to promote whomever is regarded as the best defensive centerfielder in the organization and pay minimum wage, or do the same with someone from the outside.
27 RBIs in 285 plate appearances in 2019 - weak. Only positive in 2019 was his hitting in July Aug Sep - .254, and about .330 on base.
If he is the best option for # 5 OF, and is willing to take $1 MM to $2 MM, preferably, $1 MM, I might consider him, but only after seeing what else is out there.
He has been significantly overpaid vs. his performance in recent years.
If you don't count minor league free agent Broxten Lee who played in Syracuse and Binghamton, I think the Best defensive CF was at Brooklyn last year, Jake Mangum. Maybe he can play in Binghamton next year but he is probably two years away.
I hope they re-sign Lee at the least to be a backup in Syracuse.
I think the biggest off season issue will be just how wise the new FO, analytics and all, will be in finding useful and productive players that fly under the radar screen like J.D. was this off season. The Rays to name one with literally no payroll who continues to find value and add players to function "in there system" as a great article in ESPN today states so the question is why can't we do that? We will go into the off season with a good feeling knowing we have a solid team to field next spring just needing some key additions so is the FO up to it....we'll soon find out.
NO! Ok, maybe that was a bit aggressive, but he represents unrealized potential and I think it is time to move on, personally.
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