Mets: Best non-tendered hitters to better the Mets’ World Series odds

Outfield depth is the Mets biggest need and David Dahl is the answer

As the Mets 40-man roster currently stands there are three natural outfielders. Three. That is a legitimate problem that Sandy Alderson needs to fix.

Some fans are going to say that the Mets have Jeff McNeil, Dom Smith, and J.D Davis who could play the corner outfield positions. However, they are not natural outfielders and by playing them there the Mets would be sacrificing some level of defense.

So how could the Mets resolve this issue?

I think we can all agree that signing a George Springer or Jackie Bradley Jr. would be a step in the right direction but that doesn’t directly fix the problem.

Here is why. The three natural outfielders on the Mets 40-man roster are Michael Conforto, starting right fielder, Brandon Nimmo, starting left fielder, and Guillermo Heredia, depth outfielder. So the signing of a Springer or JBJ would fix the issue of the Mets currently having no starting center fielder but it would not fix their depth problem.

One injury and the Mets could be in a very bad situation so that is where David Dahl comes in.

Dahl, an outfielder that can play all three outfield positions, was non-tendered by the Colorado Rockies. Dahl has battled several injuries throughout his career including a torn hamstring and lacerated spleen but was an all-star in 2019 in which he hit .302/.353/.524/.877 with 48 extra-base hits and 61 RBIs.

Another layer to this is that back in 2012 the Mets and Sandy Alderson were big fans of Dahl’s during the MLB draft but was taken two spots before the Mets selection so there could be an affinity with Dahl to try and get him back to the player he was when he was coming out of high school.

Dahl may not be the perfect fit due to his injury history, but he has had three seasons over 110 OPS+. When healthy Dahl has been a good offensive outfielder and can be a solid fourth outfielder depth option for the Mets that has some upside.