Van Wagenen: Outfield is Not a “Top Priority”

The Mets introduced Jed Lowrie as the newest Met today. Brodie Van Wagenen said the Jed Lowrie was a very popular one in the organization. He mentioned Jeff Wilpon, Omar Minaya, Ian Levin, Adam Gutteridge, David Wright, Ruben Amaro, Allard Baird, John Ricco, and Jared Banner by name as people who liked the move.

He went on to say the Mets are very happy with the upgrades that they have made but also mentioned keeping his options for other opportunities this offseason.

“With the players we’ve added, we feel really, really good about where we are right now.”

Van Wagenen said flat out that Lowrie will be in the lineup every day and will play multiple positions while doing so. He also mentioned Jed Lowrie as someone who can hit in front of Robinson Cano and behind Brandon Nimmo, essentially hinting that he will hit second in the order in 2019.

Brodie also said that the outfield will is not a priority and mentioned Jeff McNeil as someone who will see a lot of time in the outfield. It does make sense seeing as how Brodie still talks about Yoenis Cespedes being a contributor and McNeil is more athletic than other guys the Mets have thrown into the outfield.

It is important to remember that GMs don’t come out and say what move they will make next. I suspect they will monitor the A.J. Pollock market. Ultimately, there is still a lot of talent left in free agency so I don’t know if Van Wagenen in quite done yet.

However, that response is less than promising considering it was prompted by a question about any potential interest in Bryce Harper, which, much to the disdain of many Mets fans, appears unlikely to sign with the Mets this offseason.

Furthermore, Van Wagenen went onto clarify that he isn’t concerned about what the Phillies or Nationals do the rest of the offseason in regards to signing Harper or Manny Machado, which it is starting to appear likely that at least one of them will be playing in the NL East in 2019.

This statement is obviously ironic given the fact that when the team traded for Edwin Diaz and Robinson Cano, Jeff Wilpon said that the Mets felt pressure to get the deal done given the Phillies interest in acquiring Diaz as well. Diaz, though, was making the minimum salary as compared to Harper or Machado, whose prices could exceed $300 million.