Best Mets center fielder candidates: Ranking five of the most enticing options

The New York Mets will have no shortage of options to consider this offseason for the starting center field role in 2021.

One of the New York Mets big question marks this offseason is who will be patrolling center field come Opening Day next season. The Mets have not had a true game-changing player in center field since Carlos Beltran departed via trade back in 2011. That also is no disrespect to former center fielder Juan Lagares who more than held his own defensively for the Mets over the better part of five seasons.

When you have sat in front of your television while watching this year’s World Series you may have noticed each team has a true game-changing option patrolling center field. The Los Angeles Dodgers have the reigning National League MVP in Cody Bellinger roaming center, while their opposition in the Tampa Bay Rays has a three-time Gold Glove Award winner Kevin Kiermaier in center field.

If the Mets plan to take that next step into playoff contention next season they have to find a more permanent solution to their center field situation. Championship built teams are constructed up the middle along with great pitching, which are both areas that the Mets will be looking to improve on this offseason. Luckily the Mets will have a plethora of candidates both internally and externally to determine who will be the best fit for the job in 2021.

With that being said, I wanted to look into five of the top candidates that the Mets could explore for their center field void this offseason. These following options are not only internal options that the Mets could consider but also options from outside the organization as well, ranked in descending order of preference for next season.