Mets Rumors: Signing A.J. Pollock would be an overly aggressive move

According to recent New York Mets rumors, the Amazins reportedly met with A.J. Pollock’s agent. Signing him would be an overly aggressive move they shouldn’t engage in.

The New York Mets got off to a hot start this offseason by acquiring Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz from the Seattle Mariners. On Tuesday morning as both players were introduced, general manager Brodie Van Wagenen made it known the Mets were not done making moves. This didn’t stop new Mets rumors from flooding in.

Now, recent Mets rumors say they are targetting outfielder A.J. Pollock, who Van Wagenen has admitted fits the team very well. Van Wagenen has made it clear he’s willing to lay it all on the line in the attempt to be successful with the Mets, but making a move like signing Pollock would be overly aggressive.

Coming into the offseason the Mets had a logjam when it came to the outfield. Too many outfielders on the roster and only three starting spots on the field. New York did give away Jay Bruce in the Cano/Diaz trade and Yoenis Cespedes is supposed to be sidelined for a good portion of 2019.

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After the impressive year, Brandon Nimmo had and the nice ending Michael Conforto had to 2018, it seems those two are a lock to start next year. That leaves the center field as the open spot at least until Cespedes comes back.

Juan Lagares is currently slated to start in center field to open the 2019 season. Although Lagares has proven he can play Gold Glove caliber defense, he has also proven he can’t stay healthy for an entire season. So it makes sense the Mets want to put themselves in the best position to succeed in the outfield; but is Pollock really the answer?

Pollock was an All-Star in 2015 as he hit for a .315 batting average and had an on-base percentage of .367. In 2015 he also hit 20 home runs and drove in a career-high 76 RBIs. Since 2015 though Pollock was hit with the injury bug as he only appeared in 12 games in 2016.

In 2017, Pollock played 112 games and in 2018 played 113 games but Pollock still spent significant time on the sidelines with injuries. He wrapped up 2018 by batting .257, hitting 21 HR and totaling 65 RBIs.

Although the numbers are pretty consistent with Pollock, landing on the DL for three straight seasons sounds like the player the Mets should be trying to stray away from. Another reason why Pollock is not an ideal fit is that he is turning 31 on December 5th and is rumored to be seeking a contract in the 80 million dollar range. The Mets should not be investing $80 million dollars into another injury prone player.

Van Wagenen wants to be bold and he wants the Mets to succeed, but adding someone like Pollock would just be unnecessary. Mets fans should not put full confidence in Cespedes if he does return in 2019, but if he does and the Mets did sign Pollock, who’s the odd man out? It should not be Nimmo or Conforto and it’s hard to imagine it will be the guy who just received an $80 million dollar contract.

If the Mets are trying to replace an often injured Lagares, it should not be with another often injured Pollock. The Mets should not get caught up in making splashy moves, they should be making smart moves.

It’s totally understandable that there is not a lot of attractive names on the list of free agent center fielders, but there are creative names out there like Jon Jay or players in the trade market like Byron Buxton.

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Met fans can appreciate Van Wagenen being bold to make the team better, but will not appreciate poor choices to chase headlines. As far as Mets rumors go, this isn’t one I want to see come true.