The New York Mets were almost perfect with their 13 settlements as 12 agreed to salaries for the 2021 season. J.D. Davis was the lone Met who did not settle and will head to an arbitration hearing if both sides do not figure out a salary.
Full #Mets arbitration settlements:
Barnes – $750K
Castro – $1.7M
Conforto – $12.3M
Davis – Did not settle
Díaz – $7M
Gsellman – $1.3M
Heredia – $1M
Lindor – $22.3M
Lugo – $2.9M
Matz – $5.2M
Nimmo – $4.7M
Smith – $2.6M
Syndergaard – $9.8M— Jacob Resnick (@Jacob_Resnick) January 15, 2021
Davis and the Mets are not far off on their offers, and it does not seem like the hearing is likely. Whether the settled salary is Davis’s $2.475 million or the Mets $2.1 million, it will be a low price for his ability. Davis emerged as the everyday third baseman, and he will likely remain there when the season begins.
His production fell off from his breakout season in 2019, but he finished with his career’s best walk rate. Davis should produce in between his 2019 and 2020 numbers and continue to have great power from foul pole to foul pole. His power numbers diminished in 2020 but there no reason to doubt it from returning. Davis exit velocity and hard-hit percentage remained the same, while the only drop off was his average launch angle.
Davis had -3 outs above average and -8 defensive runs saved at third base. Spending most of spring training and summer camp in the left-field hurt his sudden change to third base. Davis is unlikely to become a plus defender, but his numbers should improve for the 2021 campaign.
Overall, the Mets did a terrific job handling significant settlements with their key players.