Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Pillar

Position: OF
Bats/Throws: R/R
Age: 32 (1/4/1989)

Traditional Stats: .288/.336/.462, 6 HR, 34 runs, 26 RBI, 223 PA, 41 K, 13 BB
Advanced Stats:.341 wOBA, 106 wRC+, 1.1 fWAR, 1 bWAR
Defensive Stats: -2 DRS, 1.7 UZR, -2 OAA

Rundown

Once upon a time, Kevin Pillar was a very good defensive center fielder. It is 2020 now and Pillar is more of a backup outfielder. With Francisco Lindor on board, the Mets might be out on George Springer so maybe they will have some interest in Pillar. Pillar was great defensively from 2015-2017 but has fallen off a cliff since. For a player who used to be a glove-first player, this would mean that most of his value has gone down the drain too.

From 2015-2017, Pillar had 52 defensive runs saved in center field. Since then, he has had -14 DRS in center. To make matters worse, his UZR/150 has also diminished drastically. He had -11.2 UZR/150 in 2020 which would seem to indicate that he is not a byproduct of bad positioning.

I’ll be honest, I usually look for upside in my profiles but I see nothing here. He does not hit the ball particularly hard, he does not have good plate discipline, and he cannot field his position anymore. He becomes borderline unplayable in the corner outfield position.

He had a .288/.336/.462 slash which was well above his career slash. His success seems to be driven by a career high .335 BABIP but assuming that number regresses to the norm, his OBP and BA will as well.

Baseball Savant’s expected stats would seem to agree with that assessment. They have his expected slash at .270/.318/.432 with a .312 xwOBA. Those numbers are rather underwhelming, especially considering he played half the season with the Rockies.

Contract

I think some team will offer him a one-year deal to start with them. Maybe a rebuilding team who is looking for someone to make it look like they’re not intentionally losing. I really do not see anyway the Mets should approach him about a contract. They should not be offering him a starting position and he probably would not want a bench role.

Recommendation

Well judging by this entire article, I think you know what my suggestion would be here. If he’s willing to be a fifth outfielder, sure. Otherwise, please don’t sign him. For all of Brandon Nimmo‘s issues in center, he is still a way better option out there than Pillar. The only way I can see the Mets going after him is if the Mets wait for Springer and miss on him and also end up missing on Bradley. As a result, they would need to potentially get a centerfielder and Pillar would be the only one left.

That being said, I can’t see how Pillar upgrades the team in any which way. I think you can make a pretty decent case that they would be better off just re-signing Jake Marisnick. Even if you miss out on Springer, they should not get Pillar. Signing Pillar to take away at-bats from better player would be a Wilpon/Brodie move and we are past that era in Mets baseball.