New York Mets sign OF Tim Locastro to minor league deal

The New York Mets signed outfielder Tim Locastro to a minor league contract this morning. He will be invited to Major League Spring Training.

New York Mets add speedy OF Tim Locastro:

Locastro is 30 years old and has six years of MLB experience. He spent the first two years of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2017-18) before two and a half years with the Arizona Diamondbacks (2019-21), and he most recently spent the last year and a half of his career across town with the Yankees.

Locastro has 247 games of MLB experience under his belt. In 2022, Locastro played in 38 games for the Yankees. He batted a very low .186. Locastro started 10 games for the Yankees last year and split his time at each outfield position as evenly as possible. He made four starts in right field and three in both center and left.

The right-handed hitter put together his best year offensively in 2020 when he batted .290 and had a .859 OPS. His second-best year came in 2019 when he hit .250 in 91 games played. Ultimately, for his career, Locastro has hit pretty poorly, with a batting average of .227 (108 hits, 475 at-bats).

Despite a lack of a decent presence at the plate, Locastro, in a utility role, offers some nice traits to the Mets. Most notably, Locastro brings elite speed on both the bases and with the range he has in the outfield. He stole eight bases for the Yankees in 38 games last year. His season-high was recorded in 2019 when he had 17 in 91 games. Over his six-year career, Locastro has stolen 39 bases and been caught stealing just five times. He could provide value to the Mets as a pinch runner.

While Locastro is not the ideal fourth outfielder the Mets still need, with some power and the ability to play in a consistent part-time role, he does offer some upside with his unique speed and provide depth and competition for the Mets entering Spring Training.