Reese Kaplan -- To Improve the Mets, Improve the Outfield

Over the 60 years of the Mets franchise existence there have been any number of solid and memorable outfielders at play in Shea Stadium and then later in Citifield. Some were legitimate stars whose time was either glorified in other ballparks or existed in the past.  Occasionally the best of the best made their way in their prime to the Mets, but sometimes it seemed as if hitting was always a distant second priority to the team after pitching.

Take the 2022 squad for example.  Everyone was very happy when Steve Cohen swooped in to sign Starling Marte to become a member of the Mets.  At the middle/late stage of his career he's not the building block around which you envision a guy for the next decade, but his career prior to his arrival in Pittsburgh, Arizona, Miami and Oakland was full of solid performances at the plate, in the field and on the basepaths.  He was an All Star back in 2016 which was his second straight year winning a Gold Glove as well.  He's topped out with as many as 47 stolen bases (done twice) and can boast a career batting average of .289.  He's the type of complementary player who could help push an otherwise star laden team over the top.  

Unfortunately, the Mets have mirror images of one another in lefty hitting Brandon Nimmo and righty hitting Mark Canha manning the other two outfield positions.  Neither are renowned for their batting averages.  Both have flashed some power with Canha besting Nimmo with a career best season of 26 dingers in 2019 compared to Nimmo's 17 done in 2018.  Both have had some issues with playing time due to health and/or lackluster batting average, but they are aligned in their tremendous ability to get on base.  While that attribute is certainly a great one to have, neither are performing at All Star levels.  

Some folks ponder whether a more potent bat like Dominic Smith would be a better choice to take the field and replace some of the lost offense Michael Conforto provided in his better years.  Smith had a monster Spring which kept him in and out of trade rumors for the duration of the preseason.  He can hit for average and hit for power, though his greatest talent is likely his ability to field at first base which is currently occupied by All Star home run derby back-to-back winner, Pete Alonso.  He turned himself into an acceptable if not stellar fielder, but you would be giving up some skills with the glove if he appeared regularly in left field.  

Looking at the upcoming outfield prospects it's possible to see some better weapons in the future, but it's not likely going to impact this season barring a tremendous number of long term injuries.  With a bevy of people capable of playing the infield, some are being worked out in the grass to see if that route to the majors is more viable.  

When you view the Mets outfield as it stands right now, it's not the stuff of which dreams are made.  You have a career .244 hitter in Mark Canha and a career .266 hitter playing either left field or center field in Brandon Nimmo.  Without a major amount of power nor baserunning speed, neither are terribly exciting nor will they likely inspire fear in opposing teams.  They will both have to work mighty hard wearing out pitchers with foul balls and pitches taken rather than contacted.  If they are slated to be in the top of the order, that's a fairly weak slate of prospective baserunners.  Then you're left wondering where Starling Marte, Francisco Lindor, Robinson Cano and Jeff McNeil will be slated to appear.  

Now if Dominic Smith is part of the mix, reducing both Nimmo and Canha to part-time players alternating between a lefty or righty on the mound, then it becomes a bit clearer.  However, no one has made that commitment, and unless Nimmo's neck injury is far worse than anyone is letting on, that's a problem that may not need to be solved.  Then you're left wondering what arguably potent bats like J.D. Davis and Dom Smith will do collecting dust on the bench.  

If the Mets are going to look beyond the fragile pitching rotation and unsteady bullpen for offensive help, the outfield might be a place to consider.  They are overfilled on the infield, have two capable defensive catchers with Francisco Alvarez working on his glove game in Binghamton.  That leaves the less-than-All-Star-Worthy duo of Canha and Nimmo as possible replacement candidates if they start off weakly or have injury issues keeping them off the field.