Ben Zobrist
Position: 2B/3B/SS/LF/RF
Bats: Switch — Throws: Right
Born: May 26, 1981 (Age 34)
To sum him up quickly, Ben Zobrist is a switch-hitting, two-time All Star and World Series champion who can play a variety of positions. He is a career .265/.355/.431 hitter with 127 home runs, 567 RBIs, and 105 stolen bases.
Last season in 126 games with the Athletics and Royals, the 34-year old Zobrist hit .276/.359/.450 with 13 home runs, 36 doubles and 56 RBIs. He had a strong postseason, batting .303 with two home runs and six RBIs.
Struggling to come back from an injury in April and May, Zobrist had a down year in 2015. But his .349 wOBA and 123 wRC+ were still better than Daniel Murphy who had his best season and produced a .325 wOBA and 110 wRC+.
Zobrist batted a respectable .253 with a .753 OPS against right-handed pitching last season. But he absolutely torched left-handers with a .329 average against them with a .409 on-base and .926 OPS.
This is the kind of player that any team should be interested in at least a little bit. His experience, talent, and versatility are all qualities that make him attractive as a free agent. The Cubs, White Sox, Braves, Yankees, and Royals have all shown some sort of interest. The Mets are reportedly meeting with the agents for Zobrist in the near future.
For the most part, Zobrist is an infielder. His best position is second base, but he also plays an adequate third base, all three outfield positions, and shortstop.
The Mets are expected to replace Murphy with Dilson Herrera, but if he isn’t ready or doesn’t pan out they could slide Wilmer Flores over to second base and turn to Ruben Tejada at shortstop. Matt Reynolds could also be in the mix.
The switch-hitting Zobrist would obviously be more of a sure thing at second base for the Mets and he could even spell David Wright at third base whenever he needs to be rested.
Contract: Zobrist will likely get a 3-4-year deal worth $15-17 million annually.
Recommendation: Pass. While Zobrist is obviously a great player and would help the Mets in 2016, it’s 2017-2019 I’m worried about. With some solid prospects expected to be ready by late 2016 and 2017, I don’t want to see the Mets paying a 36-38 year old Zobrist upwards of $15 million a year when they could be paying a younger player a lot less for better production.
