Position: Right Field

Bats/Throws: L/R

Age: 28

Traditional Stats: 125 G, 497 PA, 14 HR, 55 RBI, 1 SB, 59 BB, 104 SO, .232 BA, .344 OBP, .384 SLG, .729 OPS

Advanced Stats: .276 BABIP, .322 wOBA, 106 wRC+, 101 OPS+, 0.8 fWAR, 0.9 bWAR

Rundown

Michael Conforto has spent the first seven years of his major league career under the bright lights of Citi Field, dealing with all of the scrutiny that comes with playing for the New York Mets. There have been some struggles along the way, mostly seen in the 2021 season, but his time in New York has possibly come to an end. The 28-year-old should be an interesting option with plenty of potential in a relatively quiet free-agent market for outfielders.

He was set into the middle of the lineup going into Opening Day. To start off the campaign, his controversial walk-off hit by pitch was a main topic of discussion. Going forward, he did not add much for the rest of the month, as he only recorded 15 hits at 71 at-bats, which wasn’t the way he was hoping to start his final year before hitting free agency.

Conforto started off May stronger than he finished April; back-to back multi-hit games and his second homer of the year. Just as he was looking to come around, he suffered a strained right hamstring, costing him more than a month of action. He returned on June 23 with a multi-hit game against the Atlanta Braves before going hitless over his next five games. Between June 29th and the All-Star break, Conforto collected just five base hits in 45 plate appearances.

His numbers were alarmingly low, but the outfielder started resembling his old self during the month of August. He hit nearly a quarter of his 2021 homers and collected five multi-hit games during this time. This was the first moment when the thought of him accepting a qualifying offer from the Mets made sense, but as a Scott Boras client, it won’t be surprising to see him test free agency.

Conforto finished off the year hitting .275/.359/.431 with a 115 wRC+ in September and October. His potential final game at home was an emotional affair. It included a diving catch in the ninth inning of the team’s September 30 contest, and the 28-year-old received a rousing ovation from the crowd. Conforto has meant a lot to the fanbase and the same could be said for him, so regardless of what transpires in the coming months, there will be feelings shared, for sure.

Contract

Conforto’s previous contract with the Mets was a one-year deal with a base salary of $12,250,000. At the start of 2021, it would’ve sounded ridiculous for New York to extend a qualifying offer with any kind of hope that he’d accept it, but his disappointing season has made that a possibility.

The Mets did officially extend a qualifying offer to Conforto over the weekend, although reports from earlier this year indicate he will decline it and instead test the open market as one of the league’s better available outfielders.

Recommendation

The 2021 season is what many people are thinking about when it comes to Conforto’s recent performance, but he’s been a mostly consistent homegrown contributor for the club since debuting in 2015. Those are the types of players an organization should want to keep.

New York already made the right decision by giving him a qualifying offer, because if he takes it, they have a good starting outfielder on a one-year deal. They’d also have a longer window to negotiate something more long-term while closely observing his 2022 performance before investing. If he declines the offer, they get compensation in the form of a draft pick. Let’s hope it’s the former.