Going into the off-season, the Mets had set out a plan for their outfield next season. It appeared that Juan Lagares was going to have a significant role in that and would be the everyday centerfielder.
The 28-year old has never been known for his bat over the course of his career. Lagares has a .257/.297/.366 slash line with a wRC+ of 84 in his five seasons in the majors.
This past season was no different as he hit .250/.296/.365 with three home runs and 37 RBIs to give him a below average 77 wRC+.
As we all know, though, his glove is as good as it gets. He has 79 defensive runs saved for his career, including 15 this past season. That last number is only at his median as well. At his peak in 2013, he recorded an elite 26 defensive runs saved.
If you want to hear more about just how elite Lagares’ defense is, check out this article by Mike Petriello of MLB.com.
However, that plan for Lagares appears to have changed. After signing Jay Bruce to a three-year, $39 million contract, the Mets appear to no longer have room for the one-time Gold Glove winner in the lineup in 2018.
After signing the 30-year old right fielder, the Mets are set to have an outfield featuring Yoenis Cespedes, Michael Conforto, and Bruce. Conforto will likely miss the first month of the season though after receiving shoulder surgery last season.
While that gives the Mets some time to incorporate Lagares, it might not be enough time to warrant the Mets keeping him aboard for the entire season.
Lagares is set to earn $6 million next season and $15.5 million over the next two seasons. For a starting center fielder that is very reasonable.
For a fourth outfielder…..not so much.
He does offer two things the Mets will be lacking next season: outfield defense, as previously mentioned, and speed.
However, he only managed to accumulate seven stolen bases last season despite being a solid baserunner. This number actually is not that low compared to the rest of the roster, though, as he finished tied for second in the category with Amed Rosario, which trailed only Jose Reyes.
Another factor to note with Juan Lagares is that he has been working with Craig Wallenbrock, who is the private hitting coach that helped revitalize the careers of J.D. Martinez and Chris Taylor by having them focus on launch angle in their swings.
Obviously, that is far from a guarantee that Lagares will be able to have the same level of success, but Wallenbrock’s track record bodes pretty well.
Some might wonder if Lagares will ever be able to maintain health. Aside from the 2015 season in which he appeared in 142 games, Lagares has not played in more than 121 games in a season and has played in as little as 79 games.
So while he could have found a revelation in his hitting this off-season, he might never be able to stay on the field enough to see it come to fruition.
What should be the plan for Lagares then?
Well, it will probably cost a few million dollars to sign a backup outfielder such as Jarrod Dyson or Austin Jackson to replace him, therefore only giving the Mets a net profit of around the same number.
Therefore, unless they plan to spend that money to improve another area of the roster, it is not really worth it to try someone else out at the position.
As mentioned before, the team will need someone to play the outfield for about a month, and the Mets would likely be best served playing someone in the outfield who they know they can at least trust for elite-level defense.
If they were to able to use him in a deal for a player to fill another need such as maybe Josh Harrison, that would be another story.
Otherwise, it makes sense for the Mets to keep Lagares on this team for the first month and possibly beyond that as the season is very unpredictable. A lot of things can go wrong and it is better to have depth at the start of Spring Training than to be searching for it in the summer.
So many things could come up over the course of the year and below are just a few just a few questions that would remain unanswered if the Mets were to trade Lagares:
Who splits time with Conforto if he cannot play every day, initially, once he returns from the DL?
What if the outfield defense suffers from Conforto being forced to play center field?
Who enters the lineup if Cespedes or Bruce get hurt?
The point is that it is important to have depth and the Mets could do a lot worse than having Juan Lagares serving in that capacity. If the right deal comes along, trade him to fill a need. If nothing on the trade market seems to be worthwhile, do not just dump his salary.
