According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the New York Mets “were in pretty strong” on free-agent utilityman Enrique Hernandez before Jared Porter was relieved of his general manager duties on Tuesday morning.
Hernandez, 29, played every position on the diamond but pitcher and catcher last season for the Dodgers and has done so quite regularly — and efficiently — over the past few seasons.
In extended showings, Hernandez recorded +4 outs above average over 589.1 innings at second base in 2019 and logged +4 OAA in center for Los Angeles in 2018 over just 372.1 innings played.
Hernandez’s offense isn’t much to speak of (.235/.296/.410, 22 home runs, 86 wRC+, 1.1 fWAR since 2019; 608 plate appearances), but the Puerto Rican product’s versatility on defense would certainly fit in well in Flushing.
Without a true center fielder on the roster and with the team’s middle-infield depth a bit thin in the wake of Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez being traded to Cleveland and Robinson Cano being suspended for the season, a malleable cog in Hernandez would fill a handful of gaps in the Mets’ roster sufficiently.
Whether the team is still interested in Hernandez without Porter at the helm is unknown at this point, but we will keep you posted with any new information as it becomes available.
