Late Tuesday, Jon Heyman of MLB Network noted that under now-fired general manager Jared Porter, the New York Mets had shown “pretty strong” interest in free-agent utilityman Enrique Hernandez.
On Wednesday morning, Heyman (Twitter) once again included the Mets among the teams vying to secure the 29-year-old’s services in 2021, naming the Red Sox as another potential suitor, as well as “others”.
Hernandez brings elite defense at a variety of positions and when paired with his potency versus left-handed pitching (.820 career OPS versus southpaws), could certainly offer the Mets a capable platoon option up the middle.
With George Springer now off the board — headed to Toronto on a six-year, $150 million deal confirmed on Tuesday night — the Mets still have a hole to plug in center field. Hernandez would fit that bill.
On the topic of Toronto, while speaking with WFAN‘s Maggie Gray and Marc Malusis on Wednesday morning, Heyman noted another of the Mets’ reported free-agent targets — left-hander Brad Hand — is in the Blue Jays’ sights.
Heyman notes he “wouldn’t be surprised” if Toronto swooped in and nabbed the veteran southpaw. Hand, 30, has been one of the more dominant relief pitchers in baseball in recent years, relying on a nearly unhittable slider and a darting four-seam fastball.
New York is still in need of left-handed help in the back-end of their relief corps, and, like Hernandez above, Hand appears to fit like a glove.
There has been reported traction between the Mets and Hand’s camp. On Saturday, Jon Morosi of MLB Network named the Astros, Blue Jays, and Mets finalists for the lefty’s services.
Shortly after assuming his new position, Mets team president Sandy Alderson noted publicly that the team would have likely been in on Hand after he was waived by Cleveland. However, the prior regime was still at the helm at the time of Hand’s release.
We will keep you posted with any new information as it becomes available.
