The Mets have agreed with Albert Almora in anticipation of a physical, and it is possible that they will decide how they will approach the center field this season, with the former puppy serving as a caddy for Brandon Nimmo.
But they have so much background work to Jackie Bradley Jr. done that I will continue to believe that if the designated batsman is adopted by the NL and Bradley remains a free agent at that time, the Mets will at least consider him.
Over the past week, the Mets have had an extensive Zoom meeting with Bradley that included team president Sandy Alderson, acting GM Zack Scott, coach Chili Davis, and first base / field coach Tony Tarasco. Scott knows Bradley especially well because of their time together with the Red Sox.
The problem was that Bradley never quite fit the Mets because it was built without them being able to use a DH. His presence would have forced the Mets to decide every day who is not playing under Bradley, Nimmo, Pete Alonso and Dom Smith.
At the moment, MLB continues as if there will be no universal DH in 2021. But many team managers and agents think there could still be a turnaround in the last second, partly because the union wants it, but also clubs as a way to further protect pitchers. MLB was disgusted to just end it and hand it over to the union without getting any retaliation in any form. They prefer to trade it for extended playoffs. The union was a fixed company that would not make an exchange.
If the NL were to adopt the DH, an argument could be made that no free agent still available would help the 2021 Mets more than Bradley due to a domino effect: Bradley is an elite defensive midfielder, he will Nimmo from the bottom moving average midfielder to an above average left fielder, which would move Dom Smith from a below average left fielder to an at least average first starter and Pete Alonso – an inferior first player to Smith – would make the DH.
This would improve the Mets offense by keeping all the bats in line. But it will especially help the staff members with a much better defense. The Mets have been an abysmal defensive team for the past few years. But if they could ever land Bradley in a free agency or Milwaukee’s Lorenzo Cain in a deal (Cain owes $ 35 million for the next two years), their arrangement would come from Wilson Ramos, Robinson Cano, Amed Rosario . and Nimmo for James McCann, Jeff McNeil, Francisco Lindor and Bradley / Cain. So from one of the worst to one of the best.
In theory, if the DH were to come to the NL, the Mets could try to sign Justin Turner to play, for example, 110 games on the third base and DH 50. But that would not affect the defense nearly as much.
For now, the Mets are making a cheap protection with Almora. He would essentially fulfill the role that Jake Marisnick had last year as the legitimate addition to Nimmo. Except that Marisnick is better than Almora on both sides of the ball.
Former Mets GM Jared Porter was the Cubs’ head of pro-exploration in 2016 when Almora broke in, and there was a belief he would become a two-way asset. But Almora is a lot like Juan Lagares. He had an early defense and insulting promise. But the offense never came and now even the defense has fallen back at least a degree.
Maybe Almora starts against leftists, even though he has only beaten .212 against southpaws with a .533 OPS over the past two seasons. He probably plays late defense, although Almora was among the 59 center-backs with the most attempts last year, finishing 45th in above-average. However, Nimmo was 58th. Bradley was second.
Almora essentially looks like a right-hander who is better in the middle than Nimmo. The Mets therefore used him to fulfill a role. Bradley is a much bigger difference provider, so teams like the Red Sox, Giants, Astros and a few others remain engaged. If the DH comes to the NL and Bradley remains available, the Mets should jump on him again or try to trade for Cain.