The Mets reached an agreement with Albert Almora pending a physical examination, and it is possible to define how they will approach the field center this season, with the former Cub serving as Brandon Nimmo’s caddy.
But they did so much background work on Jackie Bradley Jr. that I will continue to believe that if the designated hitter is adopted by NL and Bradley remains a free agent at that time, the Mets will at least consider him.
Last week, the Mets had an extended Zoom meeting with Bradley, which included team president Sandy Alderson, GM Zack Scott, striking coach Chili Davis and first baseman / field coach Tony Tarasco. Scott, in particular, knows Bradley well from his time spent working with the Red Sox.
The problem is that Bradley has never fully adapted to the Mets, as they are built without being able to use a DH. His presence would have forced Mets to decide every day who does not play between Bradley, Nimmo, Pete Alonso and Dom Smith.
Right now, the MLB is proceeding as if there were no universal DH in 2021. But many team executives and agents think there may still be a last-second reversal, partly because the union wants it, but clubs also do it as way to further protect the pitchers. The MLB is reluctant to simply give in and hand it over to the union without obtaining reciprocity in any way. Their preference has been to exchange it for expanded playoffs. The union has been firm, it is not an exchange it would make.
If the NL adopted DH, an argument could be made that no free agents still available would help Mets 2021 more than Bradley because of a domino effect: Bradley is an elite defensive central defender, he would move Nimmo from a lower field middle central defender to an above average left defender, which would move Dom Smith from a below average left defender to an at least average first base player and make Pete Alonso – a lower first base player than Smith – DH.
This would improve the Mets’ attack, keeping all bats in the roster. But it would particularly help the pitching team with a much better defense. The Mets have been a terrible defensive team for the past few years. But if they ever managed to put Bradley in a free agency or Lorenzo Cain from Milwaukee in an exchange (Cain owes $ 35 million for the next two years), their average lineup would go from Wilson Ramos, Robinson Cano, Amed Rosario and Nimmo to James McCann , Jeff McNeil, Francisco Lindor and Bradley / Cain. So, from one of the worst to one of the best.
In theory, if DH came to the NL, the Mets could try to hire Justin Turner to, say, play third base 110 and DH 50 games. But that would not affect defense so much.
For now, Mets is making a low-cost protection move with Almora. He would essentially fill Jake Marisnick’s role last year as the perfect complement to Nimmo. Except that Marisnick is better on both sides of the ball than Almora.
Now former Mets GM Jared Porter was the head of professional Scouting for the Cubs in 2016, when Almora invaded, and there were beliefs that he would turn into a two-way asset. But Almora is a lot like Juan Lagares. He had a promise of early and offensive defense. But the attack never came and now even the defense has regressed by at least one degree.
Perhaps Almora starts against left-handed, although he has only hit 0.212 against left-handed with a 0.533 OPS in the past two seasons. He probably plays defense late, although among the 59 central defenders with the most attempts last year, Almora came in at 45th place in above-average eliminations. Nimmo, however, came in 58th. Bradley was second.
Almora essentially marks a right-handed hitter that is better in the center than Nimmo. Therefore, Mets summoned him to a position. Bradley makes a much bigger difference, which is why teams like Red Sox, Giants, Astros and a few others remain engaged. If DH comes to NL and Bradley remains available, Mets must either step back or try to negotiate for Cain.