The New York Mets have acquired center fielder Jake Marisnick via a trade with the Houston Astros. Reporter Anthony DiComo revealed the news via his Twitter account, and later the team confirmed it.
The Mets are sending a couple of prospects to the Astros. They are 24-year-old left-handed reliever Blake Taylor and 19-year-old outfielder Kenedy Corona.
Marisnick mostly played against lefties and as a defensive specialist in late innings under Astros manager A.J. Hinch. He will presumably play in a similar role with the Mets‘ this time around.
Strenghtening the Mets‘ defense
Marisnick is widely regarded as a very strong defensive outfielder, and the numbers mostly back that up. According to Fangraphs, he had +4.0 fielding runs in 2019 after registering +4.3 in 2018.
Both UZR and DRS are huge Marisnick fans: he put 4.0 and 3.4 UZR in 2018 and 2019, respectively, with +12 and +5 DRS in center field.
Offensively, he doesn’t bring an overly exciting profile, as he owns a .224/.283/.406 batting line in 553 plate appearances in the last two years. Against lefties, he has hit for a triple slash line of .234/.291/.410 (90 wRC+) whereas he has a .223/.273/.363 (73 wRC+) versus right-handed pitchers in his career.
He is 28 years old and figures to be an asset with the glove at least for a couple more seasons.
Future plans
It is unclear if the New York Mets will look for another outfielder via free agency or the trade market, but Marisnick’s acquisition will at least guarantee that the team maintains above-average defensive performance in a key position after Juan Lagares left via free agency.
Just a few days ago, Pittsburgh’s starting center fielder Starling Marte said he wanted to be traded to a contender and he would be honored to play with the Mets, sparking speculation about a potential deal.
Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, J.D. Davis, and Dominic Smith complete the Mets‘ outfield corps, with Yoenis Cespedes’ return date still in question.