Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Despite the additions of Mark Canha and Starling Marte, the Mets still need outfield help. While the focus has been on looking for a fourth outfielder, it is very likely the Mets need to do better than that.

When everyone is healthy, this could be a very impressive outfield both offensively and defensively. However, that’s the issue. They just don’t have that history. We got the first glimpse of that when Marte reporting to spring training with a strained oblique.

For as good as he is, Marte has played over 132 games in a season once since 2016. Brandon Nimmo presents a similar problem. Nimmo is arguably the Mets best hitter, and he showed the ability to be a good center fielder in 2021. However, he carries the same injury problems as Marte. In 2018, Nimmo played 140 games. That is his career best with 92 games being his second highest.

Like Marte, you can’t trust Nimmo to stay on the field. Things are not much better with Canha. He did play a career best 141 games in 2021. His previous best was 126 games. Keep in mind, Canha is also going to be 33, and he has shown real signs of decline. Taking it all into account, the Mets still need an everyday outfielder because the Mets don’t have three outfielders who can last a full season.

Fortunately, Michael Conforto is still a free agent, and he would be a very good mix with this outfield.

This is where the universal DH can help the Mets and these outfielders. Remember, Conforto shares the same injury issues as the current Mets outfield. While Conforto played 150 games in consecutive seasons after his shoulder injury, he contracted COVID last year and had leg issues which landed him on the IL.

The presence of the universal DH would permit the Mets to rotate Canha, Conforto, Marte, and Nimmo through the outfield positions without the need of taking any of them out of the lineup. By keeping them fresh by limiting their repetitions in the field, the Mets can maximize the performances of each of these outfielders.

Remember, with Conforto, you still have a player in his prime, and when healthy, Conforto is a great hitter and defender. Yes, Conforto had a down 2021, but that was in part due to his COVID infection and ensuing injuries. Despite that, Conforto still had a 118 wRC+ in the second half. Again, he showed us he can still hit.

This is also a player who has not only been a leader for the Mets, but he has also shown he can handle New York. That is something which gets lost in the shuffle sometimes. Conforto has seen it all with the Mets, and he has been a player with no controversy, emerged as a leader, and has been an All-Star. He knows what it’s like to play on the biggest stage in the biggest city in the world.

Another important consideration here is Nimmo is a free agent who signed on with Scott Boras to represent him. With Steve Cohen at the helm, that does not mean it will be impossible to re-sign Nimmo, but it certainly makes it more difficult. That goes double with the Steve Cohen Tax, and 4/5 of the rotation heading to free agency.

All told, even with all the moves this offseason, this roster is still short, and the team needs to guard against the very real injury risk. Seeing the recent moves for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves, the Mets are still playing catch up. Really, when you break it all down, they are a Michael Conforto short. Luckily for them, he’s still out there giving the Mets the chance to bring him back and let him lead the team to the World Series.