Mets made a huge mistake signing a broken down Adrian Gonzalez

The New York Mets needed to do something about their first base situation. Unfortunately, they chose a broken down Adrian Gonzalez instead of someone who can actually play a full season.

What can Adrian Gonzalez give the New York Mets this year? If they’re lucky, Gonzalez saves them from being a joke at first base.

When the Mets entered the offseason, they had an obvious need at first base. Instead of going big and signing Eric Hosmer or Carlos Santana, they went about as small as one could go. When the year’s over, it will end up as the team’s biggest mistake of the winter.

It’s strange that the Mets would believe in Gonzalez so much to pass on cheaper quality bats like Yonder Alonso or Logan Morrison. The same way they signed Todd Frazier when they could have waited longer and nabbed Mike Moustakas for cheaper, maybe this was a case of the Mets getting trigger-happy.

Instead of letting free agents lower their asking price, they went after the one guy who was already willing to get paid as little as possible to keep his MLB dreams alive.

So far, Gonzalez has hit well in the limited action he has seen. Baseball’s a long season. If the way he ended his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers is any indication, a crash is inevitable.

How the New York Mets could correct this mistake

Sometimes, a team makes a transaction and has to eat a big plate of crow to rectify it. In other words, in order to release the player, they need to pay him to go away.

The Mets would have been wise to cut Gonzalez in Spring Training and sign someone else. Since it’s obvious at this point that Dominic Smith needs more minor league seasoning, they were foolish not to make a move. Jay Bruce could save them as he’s a candidate to play a lot of first base. Unfortunately, that may only create new problems.

There are many better players than Gonzalez out there who could offer the Mets more. Signing Adam Lind or Brandon Moss would be far better. Each can play the outfield when called upon, adding another element. You also can’t convince me Matt Adams would have refused equal or more money to play for the Mets rather than riding the bench for the Washington Nationals.

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My guess is that the Mets do get someone in July. It won’t be a big bopper or someone who has done anything more than watch the All-Star Game from his living room. They will land a quality player with some versatility. Considering the weak farm system they have, it’s about as good as they can get.