Mets: Three sneaky free agent moves that can improve the Mets in 2021

Catcher James McCann

Many baseball insiders around the league are predicting a high price bidding war this winter between the Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies for catcher J.T. Realmuto. While many can assume that Realmuto could wind up with the highest bidder, there is still no guarantee that he could leave Philadelphia, the place where he has called home the last two seasons.

If Realmuto does not pan out in the Mets plans this winter for whatever reason, there is a solid backup plan in current Chicago White Sox catcher James McCann. The 30-year old McCann may be one of the most under-appreciated players in baseball and could do well for himself this winter with his bat finally catching up to his great defense over the past couple of seasons.

McCann is highly regarded around the league for his defense and many wondered if his bat would ever be able to catch up to his glove. That transition has occurred with McCann having a .288 batting average and 0.848 OPS between the past two seasons with the White Sox. Also with the White Sox signing catcher Yasmani Grandal last offseason, you can bet that McCann will be looking for a starting catcher situation next spring after his offensive breakout over the past two seasons.

Both McCann and Realmuto will be 30-years old at the beginning of next season, and they both also are around the same exact OPS mark over the past two seasons. If the Mets want to throw more money at Trevor Bauer, they could certainly sign the former All-Star in McCann who would still provide the Mets with an upgrade at the catching position both offensively as well as defensively while allocating money towards other needs.

Starting Pitcher Jake Odorizzi

The Mets are going to need multiple arms to fill out their starting rotation next season. At this point, it would only be safe to pencil in Jacob deGrom and David Peterson in rotation slots, with Noah Syndergaard returning when he is healthy after undergoing Tommy John Surgery earlier this spring. One potential arm that the Mets could show interest in this winter is current Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi.

The 30-year old Odorizzi hasn’t had the best of luck this season as he has battled a wide variety of injuries and his time on the Injured List has certainly affected his performance on the mound as he’s only pitched 13.1 innings this season and not proven as effective in year’s past. However, Odorizzi’s track record is a reason the Mets should be interested this offseason, as his 13 innings pitched this season is not entirely representative of the pitcher the Mets would be getting.

The former All-Star has a career 3.92 ERA at the Major League level in 192 career starts and has averaged 30 starts a season since his first full season in the majors in 2014. Let’s not also forget to mention Odorizzi’s really good career WHIP of 1.24. It’s also interesting to note that since Odorizzi’s debut in 2012, his average fastball velocity has increased every season, and this season his average fastball topped out at 93 MPH.

While Odorizzi has battled a wide variety of ailments this season, he has proven in the past he is somebody that can take the ball every fifth day and provide you with quality results. He doesn’t walk very many batters and doesn’t allow many home runs either. Odorizzi could slot nicely as a third or fourth starter in the Mets rotation next season and is a prime bounce-back candidate after an injury-shortened 2020 regular season.

Relief Pitcher Pedro Baez

With the rebound of Edwin Diaz this season the Mets seemed to be locked in at the closer position heading into 2021. There is still the question of who the Mets will use in the late innings of games however next season, as we don’t know whether Seth Lugo will be a starter or a reliever, Jeurys Familia has been wildly inconsistent, and it’s very tough to see the Mets wanting to go another round with Dellin Betances. The jury is also still out on Miguel Castro filling a late-inning role.

This is where reliever Pedro Baez fits into the Mets plans in 2021. The 32-year old reliever has long been regarded as one of the most consistent arms out of the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen over the past seven seasons and with relievers performance varying from season to season, having an arm providing consistency in the bullpen late in games is undeniably valuable.

The right-handed Baez would take the ball every night if he could as he is nicknamed “LA Mula”, which is Spanish for the mule. Baez has a career 3.06 ERA with a sparkling 1.10 career WHIP while striking out 25% of the batters he has faced in his career. Baez gets his work done with a three-pitch repertoire that includes a four-seam fastball, a slider, and a changeup, but he tends to lean more towards using his fastball and changeup than his slider.

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In high leverage situations throughout his entire career, Baez is holding batters to a ridiculous .182 batting average. Baez could provide more value to the Mets roster than many people realize, as he could take the ball most nights late in games and also can step in as the closer if Diaz is unavailable.