In a recent column by Jon Heyman of Fan Rag Sports, he reports that the New York Mets seriously discussed a deal with the Detroit Tigers that would’ve swapped young outfielder Michael Conforto for veteran outfielder J.D. Martinez.
It was, of course, before the Mets re-signed outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to a four year, $110 million deal. The Mets ultimately decided that one year of Martinez (free agent after season, making $11,750,000) wasn’t enough to entice them to trade the still promising Conforto.
Conforto, 23, struggled mightily in 2016 with a slash line of .220/.310/.414 and 89 strikeouts in 304 at-bats. He had two different stints in Triple-A for the Las Vegas 51s in which he hit a ridiculous .422/.483/.727 over 128 at-bats.
Martinez, 29, had a great season at the plate hitting .307/.373/.535 with 35 doubles, 22 home runs and 68 RBI. Despite the strong offensive season, he was worth only 1.8 bWAR (4.2 oWAR) because of his atrocious defense (-22 DRS, -2.7 dWAR). He also missed time during the season with a non-displaced fracture of the radial neck in his right elbow.
Conforto played all three outfield positions last season including his first taste of center field. He is likely headed to Triple-A to begin the 2017 season with Jay Bruce occupying right field everyday for the Mets.
When he does return to the big leagues, the Mets hope he can get back to being the player that had a 130 OPS+ during his rookie season.
In an interview Joe D. had with Dan Szymborski of FanGraphs, the ZiPS inventor frowned on the Mets for panicking instead of letting Conforto work through his first prolonged slump in the major leagues. He had projected a huge comeback season for Conforto in 2017, second only to Yoenis Cespedes in zWAR and OPS+.
