Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Multiple reporters including Will Sammon of The Athletic say the Mets could have interest in bringing back outfielder Michael Conforto, particularly if they aren’t able to re-sign Brandon Nimmo.
Conforto, 29, missed the entire 2022 season after a shoulder injury forced him to have surgery in April. Conforto’s agent, Scott Boras, told reporters on Wednesday that Michael was throwing from 120 feet and is able to generate full extension in his swing.
The left-handed hitter struggled in his final season with the Mets in 2021 when he slashed .232/.344/.388 with 20 doubles and 14 home runs in 125 games. His 106 wRC+ and 1.4 fWAR last year were his worst since his first full season back in 2016. Still, Conforto is fairly young at 29 and has a 124 wRC+ for his career over seven seasons.
As MMO has noted many times before, the outfield market drops off significantly after Nimmo and superstar Aaron Judge. There are some hitters with similar career numbers as Conforto in guys like Joc Pederson (118 wRC+), Mitch Haniger (122 wRC+), and Michael Brantley (118 wRC+), but Michael is still the youngest of the group.
Of course, for the Mets, bringing back Nimmo would be the preference for their outfield situation with him coming off a 5.4 fWAR season and his newfound ability to play center field defense above average. If they aren’t able to do that, the Mets will have to get creative given that the center field market is even worse than the corner outfield group.
Signing Conforto –or one of the other options referenced– means that Starling Marte would have to shift back to center, a move Mets’ GM Billy Eppler says the organization is fine with. Marte didn’t play center field at all in 2022 and recently had surgery to repair a core muscle.
Boras characterizes the free agent interest in Conforto as “so broad” and still believes his client can get a multi-year deal this offseason.
