Mets: At least Juan team interested in Lagares

The Mets overcrowded outfield has been a topic of discussion for most of the offseason, but the issue has mostly been focused around Michael Conforto. Another player that’s definitely going to be affected by the amount of starting outfielders on the roster, however, is Juan Lagares.

The 24-year-old Dominican might not see as much playing time as he’d like this upcoming season, even if he remains healthy. Interesting to note though, that he is reportedly drawing interest from at least one club about his services now.

The New York Post’s Mike Puma broke the story on Twitter, and added the fact that should the Mets be able to move him, they could use the $4.5 million owed to him to sign some relief help off the free agent market.

Back in April of 2015, the Mets gave Lagares a five-year extension that would be more and more costly as the years went on. With three years left, the Mets still have a long ways to go before freeing up that money. As mentioned, in 2017, he’s owed $4.5 million. In 2018, that number goes up to $6.5 million, and in 2019, it turns to $9 million.

While Lagares is a personal favorite, if the Mets can figure out a way to get someone to not only trade for him, but also take most of the money left on his deal, they need to make it happen.

Lagares is a great defensive center fielder, but his bat just hasn’t been there the past couple of seasons. He’s also been hit with the injury bug on multiple instances which has surely not helped him have a consistent approach at the plate.

Add to that the already mentioned overcrowding issue in the outfield, and you have a player that really should be moved if possible.

Of course, the big downfall of moving a player like Lagares is that the Mets outfield defense would definitely go down. Lagares is a Gold Glove winner, and can still throw hard. It’s one of those things that the Mets will have to weigh, and see if it’s even worth it.

Next: Mets 2017 ZiPS Projections released

Should they decide it is, it’ll be interesting to see if Sandy is able to work his magic and get a deal done. We’re not exactly sure how many teams are interest or how serious it is, but if there’s interest, something could definitely work out in the end.