New York Mets: Interest in Jose Bautista?

After his release from the Atlanta Braves over the weekend, Jose Bautista may have a home with the New York Mets

The New York Mets have dealt with injuries all season long. At times this season, they have been without Jay Bruce, Michael Conforto, Yoenis Cespedes, Juan Lagares and Todd Frazier.

In an era where teams are going younger and younger, especially with position players, the New York Mets went veteran this off-season, bringing back Bruce and Jose Reyes, signing Frazier and Adrian Gonzalez. It appears, they could go the veteran depth route again.

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Yes, that Jose Bautista. The one who was released after 12 games with the Atlanta Braves where he hit .143 with a 63 WRC+. The same player, who last year with the Toronto Blue Jays hit .203 with a .674 OPS.

This is the kind of move you make when you have no quality minor league depth and have a ton of injuries. The only outfielder younger than 30 who they drafted on their AAA roster is Patrick Biondi.

I hadn’t heard of him either until I looked up their roster. By the way, he’s hitting .193 with a .503 OPS. They’ve even moved Dominic Smith into the outfield to experiment.

Unless Bautista is serving as minor league depth, I’m not quite sure this move makes the New York Mets better, especially if he were to replace Luis Guillorme on the roster. Jose Reyes is hitting .132 with a .367 OPS and an OPS+ of 3, but it doesn’t seem like he’s going anywhere anytime soon. Remember, 100 is league average for OPS+.

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If they can get some rebounds from some struggling veterans, plus some returns to health from key pieces, the New York Mets can be contenders. If they do not, they could be one of those clubs who are stuck in the middle, not good enough for the playoffs, but not bad enough to get a top-five pick in the draft — the interest in Bautista adds more to it.

If it’s for minor league depth, sure why not. If it’s for an actual piece to the major league roster, it’s either a lateral move or a downgrade.