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The Mets announced on Thursday morning that they’ve signed outfielder Travis Jankowski to a minor league deal with an invitation to major league camp. They also made it official that they’ve signed left-handed reliever Chasen Shreve to a minor league deal with an invitation to major league camp. You can read more on Shreve here.
Jankowski, 30, played in 76 games for the Phillies in 2021 and his 0.4 WAR was his highest since the 2018 season. The left-handed hitter slashed .252/.364/.361 with six doubles, two triples, one home run, and five stolen bases last season for the Phillies.
The former first round pick is known for his speed (88th percentile in 2021) and his defense (2 OAA) in the outfield, particularly center field. The backup outfielder has been 20 outs above average for his career in the outfield defensively and 8 OAA in center field.
The Stony Brook grad posted a .304/.451/.375 batting line in 19 Triple-A games for the Phillies in 2021. As you can see, Jankowski can get on base at a high clip (.371 OBP lifetime in minors), but has virtually no power.
The Mets have Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte, and Mark Canha lined up to start essentially every day as their outfield. But, after that group, the Mets depth chart gets pretty thin on guys with big league outfield experience. They have J.D. Davis and Dominic Smith, but neither of those guys are outfielders and both have struggled out there defensively. Jeff McNeil has been fine in the outfield, but he’s likely to play mostly second base this year.
Outfielders Khalil Lee, Nick Plummer, Jake Mangum, and Carlos Cortes do provide a strong group of depth at the upper minor leagues going into the 2022 season. They also have former White Sox outfielder Daniel Polka in big league camp. The big left-hander hit 27 home runs for Chicago back on 2018. He has also played some first base early in Mets camp.
