While his role has yet to be defined for the 2016 season, Juan Lagares has already made quite the impression on Terry Collins who was incredibly impressed with how good Lagares looked after he reported to spring training on Thursday.
“Did you see him? Oh my God. Unbelievable shape,” the Mets manager told reporters. “Tremendous shape.”
According to Collins, Lagares is ready to fight for playing time. However, with the return of Yoenis Cespedes as the primary center fielder, and with Michael Conforto and Curtis Granderson essentially entrenched in left field and right respectively, playing time will be sparse for Lagares and Alejandro De Aza.
Lagares hit .259 with a .289 OBP and a .647 OPS over 465 plate appearances last season, but against left-handed pitching those numbers improve to a .273 average with a .333 OBP and .771 OPS.
Considering Granderson’s .558 OPS versus LHP, Lagares could find a way to squeeze into the starting outfield when the Mets are facing a southpaw.
Conforto has already been working out in right field in preparation for an alignment that would like Cespedes in LF, Lagares in CF and Conforto in RF versus LHP.
There’s also a chance that De Aza could be dealt this Spring according to GM Sandy Alderson.
The Texas Rangers are reportedly one team that is monitoring De Aza as they seek an outfielder that can give them some insurance in the event Josh Hamilton begins the year on the disabled list.
It will be interesting to see how this evolves over the next four weeks. De Aza is owed $5.75 million, while Lagares is owed $22.5 million over the next four seasons.
