Reese Kaplan -- OMG! Jose Iglesias is Still Unemployed

It is interesting to consider what the Mets might do about the tangibles and intangibles brought to the table with gusto by no-one-wanted-him Jose Iglesias.  We all know the OMG story, the replacement ABs he took when others were slumping or unavailable and the fact he finished the season with a .337 batting average.  He always could hit.  He owns a career batting average of .283.  There were some questions about his lack of long ball power, his competent but not stellar defense and the fact he was into his mid 30s made him a bit of a mystery as to why no other teams saw him as a promising addition.

Even the Mets who were looking forward to an infield competition between Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, to a lesser extent Luisangel Acuna and the major league free agent additions of quickly cut loose Zack Short and Joey Wendle.  Iglesias was offered a minor league deal which is not uncommon for less-than-starter level veterans who were not being wined and dined by a variety of front offices.  Iglesias accepted and we all know the rest. 

The question that arises now is whether or not David Stearns wants to reinforce his roster with the addition of a now more expensive free agent in Iglesias, does the player instead expect to find a starting role somewhere else, and what of the mix of Mark Vientos, Brett Baty, Luisangel Acuna and Ronny Mauricio.  Jeff McNeil is still here, too, and assuming that left and right field are currently occupied, there is not really much likelihood that the former NL batting champion will be playing center field for the club except in the case of multiple in-game injuries that rendered more suitable players unavailable.

First there is the question of the money.  Last year he was playing for figurative peanuts given his minor league entry into the Mets franchise.  At the high water mark of his long career it was back in 2018 when he was still a regular he earned $6.25 million from the Detroit Tigers.  It is now seven years later and Iglesias just turned 35.  If he is going to be used by the Mets again as he was last year then it’s possible he’s in the $3 to $4 million range as a valuable substitute and in effect on-field and in-dugout coach to the younger players just starting their careers. 

If indeed Iglesias is amenable to this type of arrangement then the Mets need to revisit their payroll and the tax implications they face.  Right now it is easier to carry multiple AAA graduates earning minimum salary than it is to shoehorn in a seven figure salary for someone who might get 1-2 starts per week 

Now it would become infinitely easier if the Mets were able to pay down and remove the more expensive older regulars on the roster like Starling Marte and Jeff McNeil.  Doing so would make the payroll challenges less dire and would open up multiple positions of opportunity for the AAA players and possibly including the return of Jose Iglesias.

There has not been a whole lot of scuttlebutt regarding Iglesias being wooed elsewhere and perhaps a big credit needs to go to the Mets front office for maintaining radio silence on their personnel moves.  So at this point it’s really a guessing game as to their desire to have him return, Iglesias’ mutual contentment as a 35 year old backup player and the major boost the team would get from both the media and fans for embracing someone who was a key part to their 2024 turnaround.