The Mets outfield situation for next year is a pretty murky one already with Yoenis Cespedes set to miss potentially half the year and with Jay Bruce‘s long-term health in question as well.
With both of those players out right now, the Mets have been trotting out Michael Conforto, Austin Jackson, and Brandon Nimmo lately, with the latter getting the nod in center field last night.
That position mentioned at the end is one that has plagued the Mets over time, with the team unable to find a viable long-term option at the position.
Juan Lagares at one point was expected to be that guy after inking a five-year, $23.03 million contract extension right before the start of the 2015 season. However, injuries and underperformance have plagued him, and as a result, the Mets have had a revolving door defensively at the position.
According to Kevin Kernan of the New York Post, the Mets are looking to finally solve their center field issues for the long-term, but plan to do so internally.
One interesting option that the team is considering: moving Amed Rosario to center field.
Now, many shortstops have moved to the outfield before so this would not be the first time a team has experimented with this by any means.
Rosario has also been quite bad defensively at shortstop, contrary to what was expected from him when he was a prospect, as he has -16 DRS and a -5.7 UZR at shortstop this year.
His hitting has not really made up for the lack of production on that side of the ball either as he is hitting only .230/.275/.347 with four homers, 28 RBI, and a 68 wRC+ to go along with 10 stolen bases.
All in all, the 22-year-old has a -0.1 WAR on the year, which is obviously less than desirable.
In order to make this switch long-term, an almost perfect storm would have to develop. For starters, and easiest of all, Rosario would have to get reps at the position in Spring Training, as the team almost certainly would not try this mid-season next year.
They could try to do it this year, possibly, considering the team has a 46-65 record and has not been in legitimate contention for the last two months.
Another thing that would need to happen is Andres Gimenez would have to be ready to fill the shortstop hole or the team would have to look outside the organization for a stopgap at that position until he is ready.
Gimenez, 20, was actually recently promoted to Double-A Binghamton, which could be an aggressive approach to get him to the majors. Between Binghamton and Single-A St. Lucie, the team’s top prospect is currently hitting .284/.354/.426 with six homers, 37 RBI, and 31 stolen bases.
The team also has Ronny Mauricio, who has been raking in low-A ball this year. For now, though, remains a non-factor in the discussion to an extent, as he remains a few years away from legitimate call-up consideration.
Right now Brandon Nimmo will likely continue to get reps at the position, with him logging 352 2/3 innings at the position for his career, in which he has -4 DRS. While that number is not strong by any means, if the team wants to go internal without doing anything drastic, that remains their best option right now.
Michael Conforto, though, could represent another option, as he has logged more innings at the position (862 1/3) while recording -10 DRS. He actually proclaimed the position to be his favorite when speaking to the New York Post and would not mind patrolling that spot again if asked.
“I’m always excited to play center field. We’re playing against Billy Hamilton right now and [the Braves] Ender Inciarte the series before. Those guys are great center fielders.’’
None of these options presents an obvious, permanent solution right now, but the one thing that now appears certain is that this is not a spot the team plans to go outside the organization to address.
