The Mets have weakened a divisional rival.
Okay look, that’s the way I choose to look at this because I don’t want to be depressed all the time. But the Mets have signed former Washington National catcher Jose Lobaton to a minor league deal. Now Lobaton had a good season against the Mets last year (.318) so it surprised me to look him up and find out that he only hit .170 last season. Although it shouldn’t. And it probably means that while he’s not going to threaten Travis d’Arnaud’s or Kevin Plawecki’s playing time just yet, the Mets have probably given up waiting for Jonathan Lucroy’s market to “come back around.”
The memory that’s fresh in our minds of Lobaton is getting picked off first base during the Nats’ Game 5 loss against the Cubs, though it happened after a replay and only because Anthony Rizzo held his tag on Lobaton for a millisecond after Lobaton’s foot slipped off the bag. I can’t even blame him for that. Instead, I’ll choose to remember his best season which was 2013 with the Tampa Bay Rays. He hit .248 with 7 HR’s and capped off the season with a walk off home run in the playoffs against Boston for the Rays’ only victory in that series.
Best part? The home run went right in the drink.
Perhaps the Mets will next acquire a stingray tank.
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