New York Mets: Four free agents worth a spring training invite

Hunter Pence

A lot of people thought that Hunter Pence‘s career was over following the 2018 season after struggling at the plate and missing time due to injury, but he proved a lot of fans wrong last year.

Pence accepted an invitation to Spring Training from the Texas Rangers and after reworking his swing in the winter leagues, made the team to start the year, forcing his way into their lineup.

For 2019, he batted .297 with a .358 OBP with 18 home runs and 59 RBI, earning himself a spot on the All-Star team in the process.

Unfortunately, he only appeared in 83 games for the Rangers, as he missed time in June – July due to injury, which resurfaced and cut his season short in August of last season.

Despite these injuries, Pence clearly showed that he has something left in the tank, and given the state of the Mets outfield, bringing him in for depth would be a smart move for the club.

The only natural outfielder who did not miss significant time from an injury for the Mets last season is Michael Conforto. Other than him, Dominic Smith, JD Davis and Jeff McNeil are all-natural infielders, and Yoenis Cespedes and Brandon Nimmo each are coming off of injury field years. Jake Marisnick was traded for earlier this off-season, but he only batted as .233 in 2019, so not a great alternative as a starter.

The point is, another natural outfielder who can hit for average and power is a nice insurance option for the Mets to have off the bench, and as previously stated, Pence is not averse to taking a minor league deal.

He’s an old school ball player who plays hard, a solid defender and is still a threat at the plate. If he’s willing to come to New York, the Mets would be fools not to bring him in.

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Which of these players would you like the Mets to bring in?