An MMO Fan Shot By Dean Price
The Mets currently have a glaring hole in center field and there are few difference-making free agents on the market. As Brodie will need to ‘think outside the box’ because the luxury tax threshold is apparently made with steel-reinforced concrete, I propose that the Mets acquire Byron Buxton.
A former number 1 ranked prospect and 2017 Gold Glove winner, Buxton had a great 2019 by cutting his strikeout rate to a tolerable 23.1%, increasing his Z-Swing percentage to 76.4% and posting a career high slugging percentage of .513 last year. The real attraction though is Buxton’s elite defense. He managed 10 defensive runs saved, per Fangraphs metrics, in just 87 games last year and could actually improve if he got better jumps.
Buxton isn’t necessarily a natural defensive whiz, but he’s able to defend so well because of his blazing speed and that speed plays on the base paths. Over a full season Buxton should easily swipe 30 bags which will benefit a lead-footed Mets team which finished 29th in terms of BsR last year. I’m sure Nimmo and McNeil, not to mention the Mets great group of hitting pitchers, will appreciate a hitter in the bottom third of the line-up who can fly round the bases.
There is also the added attraction of Buxton being predicted to make just $3M next year and having two further years of team control. The remaining years won’t be cheap but the Mets have money coming off the books at the end of next season so can easily afford it.
Buxton is injury prone, but if needed Nimmo could revert back to center field, and while Buxton’s healthy putting J.D Davis in left field becomes a viable option. It suits the Mets current roster perfectly as a cast of characters like Brown, Davis and Cespedes (let me dream) can pinch hit for Buxton in games the Mets are chasing.
Take a quick look at the Twins rotation on any depth chart and you’ll see that Jose Berrios is awfully lonely atop it. So Noah Syndergaard, who himself has plenty of unfulfilled potential to dream on, should appeal to the Twins. Having signed deGrom to a long-term deal we have our ace of the future so I’d be looking to keep Stroman and let Noah, who is arguably the grumpiest of an admittedly not grumpy at all clubhouse, leave at the end of 2021. At the same time, Buxton is not necessarily needed by the Twins as they have Max Kepler on a ridiculously team-friendly deal to man center field.
Trading Syndergaard could also allow the Mets to pickup a useful bullpen arm like Trevor May, and/or an interesting prospect who is nearly major league ready like SP Jhoan Duran.
Of course if Noah is willing to sign a long-term contract extension at a discount, and he has indicated that he’s worried about the state of the free-agent market, then this all changes. Having shed Syndergaard’s $9.9M salary for 2020 the Mets should have an extra $6-7M in pocket money to pickup a reliable starter off the free agent market and will look for more balanced as a result of these moves.
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This Fan Shot was contributed by MMO reader Dean Price. Have something you want to say about the Mets? Share your opinions with over 20,000 Met fans who read this site daily.
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