Ian Desmond
Position: Outfield/SS
Bats: Right – Throws: Right
Born: September, 1985 (Age 31)
For the second straight year Ian Desmond hits free agency after getting the qualifying offer and rejecting it. Unlike last offseason though, he is coming off a solid overall year at the plate. He also improved his value by showing he can play in the outfield.
Desmond, 31, had a hard time finding a deal last offseason that he felt was market value after rejecting the qualifying offer. He was also coming off a 2015 season in which he hit just .233/.290/.384 and struck out 187 times in 156 games. Ultimately, he had to settle for a one-year, $8 million deal from the Texas Rangers in late February.
Desmond had what was seemingly a bounce back season offensively in 2016 hitting .285/.335/.446 with 29 doubles, three triples, 22 home runs, 86 RBI, 21 stolen bases and a career high 107 runs scored. He struck out 160 times and walked 44 in a career high 677 plate appearances.
The numbers away from Globe Life Park in 2016 were ugly for Desmond with a .241/.305/.398 slash line in 351 plate appearances. His offense fell off the map in the second half with just a .630 OPS and 66 strikeouts in 294 plate appearances. Desmond was 1 of 4 players that were among the top 30 of qualified hitters in worst K% (23.6%) and in worst BB% (6.5%) during the 2016 season.
Coming into the 2016 season, Desmond had played a grand total of 7.1 major league innings in the outfield (all in RF in 2009/2010). That changed drastically this year when played 130 games in center field and 29 in left field. He graded out poorly in center (-6 DRS, -4.9 UZR), but good in left (2 DRS, 3.5 UZR). He did commit 12 errors in the outfield which is the most for a major league outfielder in the last five seasons.
Contract:
Desmond is likely to get the multi-year deal he was seeking last offseason. The added versatility will surely help him on the open market while the qualifying offer will hurt yet again. I would expect to see him get a 3 or 4 year deal worth $14-16 million per year, probably slightly more than Josh Reddick recently got from the Houston Astros. The Texas Rangers have already shown interest in bringing him back and he could receive interest from teams that miss out on Yoenis Cespedes and/or Dexter Fowler.
Recommendation:
While the Mets could certainly a right-handed hitting outfielder I believe that Desmond would be at best plan C and hopefully it doesn’t come to that. Desmond would have more value if he ended up playing left field with whatever team he signed with because he’s stretched in center. I would stay away from Desmond given his lack of experience and success in the outfield, having no success offensively away from a hitter’s park in 2016 (little at all in 2015), and his high strikeout/low walk numbers.
