The New York Mets are entering an offseason of hope after years and years of money troubles with the Wilpons.
Steve Cohen, Sandy Alderson and company are ready to go to work this offseason, with tons of money to operate with.
For the first time in many years, it feels like the Mets could pretty much land any free agent they want to and with that, they should turn to George Springer.
Springer, 31, is everything the Mets currently need with him being a center fielder and right-handed bat in a very left-handed lineup.
The New Britain, Connecticut native has been one of the best center fielders in baseball for the last seven seasons, compiling a .270/.361/.491 slash line and 134 wRC+.
Defensively, he’s been slightly above league average in center field since 2016 with a +3 OAA according to Baseball Savant.
FanGraphs actually lists Springer as having 14 DRS and a 2.6 UZR since 2014, including 6 DRS and a -0.4 UZR over 338 innings in center field in 2020.
Given that Brandon Nimmo nor Michael Conforto can really play center field at an adequate level, bringing in Springer and moving them to the corners would be more than ideal right now.
Ken Davidoff of the New York Post predicted that it would take a five year, $110 million contract to secure the now-former Houston Astros’ star.
For that price tag, the Mets can certainly justify signing him. However, there would be two things that would have to be kept in mind while doing this.
Signing Springer to play center field will be great for the 2021 New York Mets. However, the 2025 Mets might not want him roaming center field regularly, if at all.
Moving him into a corner spot is almost inevitable to happen at some point during the life of the contract, meaning the team will have to be prepared to move him there in, at least, the latter half of it.
Another thing to consider is that the signing of Springer could create a logjam on the roster.
Robinson Cano getting suspended for PED’s for the 2021 season, though, has made that less of a pressing concern as Jeff McNeil will now slide over to second base. J.D. Davis could theoretically play third base and Brandon Nimmo could move to left field.
If there is no DH in 2021, the Mets could find themselves in a tricky spot as that would mean Dominic Smith and Pete Alonso would both have to play in the field.
While having a surplus is a good problem to have, it also could potentially lead to some tough decisions and one’s that the team could regret if not handled correctly.
However, it also could be beneficial for the Mets who could theoretically use one or more of these players to acquire a starter via a trade given the overall weakness of the starting pitching options on the free agent market.
George Springer certainly could make an impact on his own by joining the Mets, but signing him also gives the Mets many interesting possibilities this offseason that would be worthwhile to pursue.
