The New York Mets may be engaged in trade talks with the Miami Marlins for J.T. Realmuto, but that isn’t the only iron they have in the fire. The team is listening to offers for center fielder Juan Lagares, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports. Lagares, who hit .339 in 30 games for the Mets in 2018 before undergoing season ending toe surgery, is slated to make $9 million this season before becoming a free agent. The Mets have already been linked to other right handed hitting outfielders, such as A.J. Pollock and Adam Jones, which DiComo notes would make Lagares’ presence on the roster redundant.
This tweet comes shortly after GM Brodie Van Wagenen indicated to the media that the Mets were “counting on” Lagares going forward. The Mets do value Lagares’ defense, but they are reportedly looking at defense first options behind the plate (such as Martin Maldonado) if the trade for Realmuto doesn’t come to fruition. Maldonado is a light hitter, and assuming Amed Rosario doesn’t break out right away the Mets can’t afford to have three relatively light hitters at the bottom of the batting order, making Lagares expendable.
The Mets have also been trying to shuffle out bad contracts as Van Wagenen aims to make more efficient use of his team payroll. The team is stuck with about $44.5 million dollars of dead money in deals for David Wright (who isn’t playing anymore but not technically retired) and Yoenis Cespedes (who is going to miss at least half the season due to dual heel surgeries). The situation was worse when you factored in the limited return the Mets got on hefty salaries for Jay Bruce (due $14 million in 2019), Anthony Swarzak (due $8.5 million), Jason Vargas (due $8 million) and Todd Frazier (due $9 million). Add in the $9 million that the Mets are due to pay Lagares and the $5.1 million Wilmer Flores was poised to earn via salary arbitration, and the Mets had already committed almost $100 million dollars to that collection of eight players which contributed a combined WAR (Wins Above Replacement) of 3.4. Those eight players had less of an impact on the Mets than Brandon Nimmo, who contributed a WAR of 4.5 while making the league minimum.
Van Wagenen has already taken steps to change that, sending out the bad contracts of Bruce and Swarzak to Seattle in a deal that brought Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz to Flushing. The trade was effectively cost neutral in 2018 but added two players that produced a combined WAR of 6.4, creating a more efficient use of funds. The Mets also non-tendered Flores, saving them another $5 million they can use to add a more productive player, and flipping Lagares could free up another $9 million to add a piece to the mix. That $14 million could be the 2019 salary of someone like Yasmani Grandal (3.6 WAR), A.J. Pollock (2.5 WAR), or Adam Ottavino (2.0 WAR). This kind of thinking makes sense for the Mets, who were far too often wasting money on players who were either past their prime or had a limited upside. Van Wagenen is clearly looking for more bang for his buck, which makes sense if the goal is to win right now, and shifting money around more efficiently is the easiest way to do that if the Wilpon’s won’t increase payroll too dramatically. Trading Lagares could definitely be another step in that direction.
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