Mets Showing Interest in Tommy Pham

Updated Post – Jan. 13, 12:45

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that the Mets have interest in outfielder Tommy Pham. The news comes on the same day that veteran outfielder Andrew McCutchen signed with the Pirates. The Mets were one of the teams hoping to sign McCutchen to add outfield depth.

Pham, 34, hit .238/.316/.372 with 23 doubles, 17 home runs, 63 RBIs, and a well-below-average 87 OPS+ in 144 games between the Reds and Red Sox during the 2022 season. The right-handed hitter did fare better against lefties though with a .273/.338/.446 slash line. Pham has experience playing all three outfield spots, but he played only left field in 2022 and was a poor defender there with -6 outs above average.

Original Post – Jan. 12, 16:30

According to MMO sources, the Mets have varying levels of interest in all of the top remaining players in the outfield market that includes Andrew McCutchen, Jurickson Profar, Adam Duvall, and Trey Mancini. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported on Wednesday night that the Mets have interest in McCutchen for their fourth outfielder role.

Profar and Duvall are still looking to find a starting outfield gig and the Mets are seemingly set with Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte, and Mark Canha. However, Marte is coming off core surgery and the Mets prefer Canha as more of a 120-start outfielder than every day. Still wouldn’t ensure Profar or Duvall a starting role, but maybe if their free agency reaches closer to spring training they might have a change of heart.

Here’s a quick breakdown of each player:

Adam Duvall

Duvall was a plus defender for the Braves last season. In 86 games, he posted 5 outs above average. That total ranked 26th among outfielders in baseball last season. Duvall rotated through all three outfield positions, playing the most in center field. Duvall has always shown defensive ability in the outfield but his transition into center didn’t happen until he became a Brave in 2021.

Duvall’s bat has slowed down. Since his career-best 2019 season, his wRC+ has decreased each of the following three seasons, hitting 87 last season or 13% worse than the average major leaguer. Duvall still provides solid power as he was on pace to hit 24 home runs over a full season. That pop is rare among the quality of outfielders available for this position, though Duvall hit just .213/.276/.401 overall in 2022.

Duvall does have three seasons of at least 30 home runs with the most recent being the 38 he blasted in 2021. The 34-year-old doesn’t have significant splits but he has been slightly better vs lefties (.771 OPS) than righties (.749 OPS) during his career.

Jurickson Profar

Profar is the ultimate utility man. He’s played every position except catcher in his career. Unfortunately, he’s not a plus defender at any of them. Still, despite his defensive deficiency, a player with the ability to play everywhere has value in the major leagues.

Profar recorded a 110 wRC+ last season and remains a tough out at the plate. He walked in 11.1% of his at-bats and struck out just 15.7% of the time. He’s a pest and excellent at working deep counts and raising pitch counts. That hitting profile plus his versatility fits what Showalter is ultimately looking for.

He may be out of the Mets price range for the position. Spotrac.com has his market value set at $14.9 million. That’s expensive for a bench bat. The 29-year-old has struggled to be a consistent offensive contributor in his career with a wRC+ below average (100) in four of the seven seasons with at least 200 at-bats. And he certainly doesn’t help the Mets in terms of adding power, one of the offensive needs this offseason.

Andrew McCutchen

McCutchen, 36, slashed 237/.316/.384 in 134 games a season ago for the Brewers, posting career lows in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. However, he still hit 17 homers and collect 69 RBIs.

While he used to be a premier center fielder, McCutchen is now really only a corner outfield option, although he did play all three spots for the Brew Crew in 2022. Despite his age, he finished with plus-4 DRS in the outfield a season ago.

Offensively, Cutch still held his own against lefties in 2022 with a .738 OPS, and the season before he crushed them to the tune of 1.027 OPS. For his career, Cutch is a .300/.394/.542 hitter against left-handed pitching. Given that the Mets don’t currently have a strong candidate to DH vs lefties and that the right-handed hitting Canha has reverse career splits, Cutch’s ability to hit lefties would certainly be a welcome addition.

Trey Mancini

The 30-year-old is certainly familiar with Mets manager Buck Showalter having played multiple seasons under him in Baltimore. Mancini’s 2022 season was off to a solid start with a 116 wRC+ in Baltimore before a deadline deal sent him to the Houston Astros. The right-handed hitter struggled down the stretch for Houston with a 77 wRC+ in 51 regular season games and then he went just 1-for-21 with eight strikeouts in the Astros World Series run.

Mancini struggled a bit during his first season back from beating colon cancer with a 104 wRC+ to go along with 21 home runs and 71 RBIs in 147 games for the Orioles. His best season came in 2019 when he posted career-highs in wRC+ (132), home runs (35), RBIs (97), and fWAR (3.4). Mancini is another player without significant splits with a .786 OPS vs righties and .790 OPS vs lefties in his career.

On the defensive side, Mancini has become primarily a first base/designated hitter while still playing a few games as a corner outfielder each of the last two seasons.

The only other primary outfielder on the Mets 40-man roster besides the three starters is prospect Khalil Lee coming off a season in which he posted an OPS under .700 in Triple-A.

The next tier of free agent outfielders includes Chad Pinder, Lorenzo Cain, Tommy Pham, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Tyler Naquin.