The New York Mets, heavily criticized for their inactivity during the free agency period, made a huge statement on Friday and signed three players to bolster their lineup: outfielders Starling Marte and Mark Canha, and infielder Eduardo Escobar.
Marte was the prize among free agent outfielders, and he will be going to the Mets in a four-year, $78 million deal. The 33-year-old is coming off his best season, slashing .310/.383/.458 with 12 home runs and 47 stolen bases between the Miami Marlins and the Oakland Athletics. He remains a good center fielder, and that’s the position he will play in New York while Brandon Nimmo slides over to a corner.
Canha is known as a fantastic on-base threat with some power and versatility. The 32-year-old is very capable: he hit 17 home runs in 141 games to go along with a .746 OPS last year, and it was a somewhat down season for him. He owns a career .244 average and a .344 on-base percentage, and has averaged 20 homers per season over his last three full campaigns, per the Mets official site.
The Mets added experience and versatility; now they will seek pitching
Escobar is a good solution for the infield. He is an All-Star, has experience playing both second and third base, and hit 28 homers and drove in 90 runs last year for the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Milwaukee Brewers. He hit a career-high 35 homers while tying for the Major League lead with 10 triples in 2019.
With those three pieces, the Mets’ lineup is dramatically improved over what they had to finish the season.
The Mets are now focused on adding some pitching. At the moment, they have only five viable starting pitchers in Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker, David Peterson, and Tylor Megill, and they would like to add at least a couple of names to the mix before the expected lockout date of December 1.