Mets trade lands them an intriguing outfield prospect, Khalil Lee

Much of the talk around the New York Mets and their offseason has been centered around nabbing a centerfielder. They missed out on George Springer, deemed Jackie Bradley Jr. out of range, and are prepared to go to war this season with Brandon Nimmo.

However, the Mets did just make a move to sure up their future at the position.

In a trade that happened in a couple of stages, tweets began to go out talking about a trade between the Kansas City Royals and the Boston Red Sox for Andrew Benintendi. Then a few minutes later it appeared that the Mets would be involved.

As others have reported, the Mets are working on part of the three-team trade that would send Boston's Andrew Benintendi to Kansas City. The pieces of the Mets' involvement are unclear. Nothing is done as of this moment, one source cautioned.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) February 11, 2021

Little by little more info came out and then Jeff Passan tweeted what would be the overall core of the trade.

Outfield prospect Khalil Lee is expected to go to the New York Mets in the three-way deal with Boston and KC that would send Andrew Benintendi to the Royals. Outfielder Franchy Cordero would go to the Red Sox once the deal is finalized, sources tell ESPN. Others are involved.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 11, 2021

The Mets sent minor league pitcher Josh Winckowski (acquired in Steven Matz trade) to the Red Sox. There will also be another prospect player to be named later and cash considerations. The Mets would get Khalil Lee.

So with that out of the way, who is Khalil Lee? He was one of the most highly touted prospects in the Royals organization. According to Baseball-Reference, he’s ranked number 61 in all of baseball.

Overall, his numbers look ripe for potential. He’s got a ton of speed and has shown the ability to have some pop as well, albeit a few years back.

In 2017, at just 19-years-old, Lee had 17 home runs and 61 RBI to go along with a .344 OBP. In 2019, he hit eight home runs, 51 RBI, to go along with a .363 OBP, and 53 steals with only 12 times caught. Even in rookie ball he had a .396 OBP.

Lee’s batting average isn’t particularly high but his OBP in the minors is .366, over 100 points higher than his batting average. These numbers actually profile him in a similar light to Nimmo with the exception of Nimmo not figuring out how to swipe bags.

The young centerfielder even gets hit by pitches quite a bit in addition to taking his fair share of walks.

He has a strong arm too, recording 14 assists in 2017 and 12 in 2018. There aren’t any advanced metrics for his outfield play on Baseball-Reference but with that much speed coupled with that arm, he’s probably the Mets’ best option down the pipeline. Although, Tim Britton tweeted out that maybe he’s not the best suited for centerfield.

Lee has mainly played CF in the minors, though he did see more time in RF back in 2019, and Clay Davenport's defensive metrics on him were negative (https://t.co/raArudbSej). Ideally, though, Mets will give him a chance in CF at least in spring to see if he can stick there.
— Tim Britton (@TimBritton) February 11, 2021

Lee will be turning 23 this season, it’s possible the Mets get him some at-bats this September if he performs well. He’s tracking to be in AAA and provides the team with much-needed depth.

The Mets' involvement in this three-team deal may be relatively minor, but it fills an immense need in their system. Of the organization's Top 30 prospects, only three are outfielders. And none of those three have seen a single pitch in full-season ball.

Khalil Lee changes that.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) February 11, 2021

So far reactions from Mets beat reporters and fans alike have been positive. The Mets basically just swooped in a grabbed a good prospect for “Steven Matz” essentially. Hopefully, swapping Lee with Winckowski won’t hurt the Mets. In 2016 and 17 he wasn’t very good, but he turned a corner in 2018 and 19. He did not pitch at all in 2020. Lee, on the other hand, played a partial season in Puerto Rico.

As of right now, the Mets outfield situation is a bit weird. The only sure thing is Michael Conforto in right field. As of right now, Nimmo is in center but there’s also Mallex Smith and Albert Almora. Left field could be Dom Smith, sometimes J.D. Davis or Jeff McNeil, or Nimmo shifting over.

Lee is a center fielder, so the Mets now have a backup plan for the chaotic outfield in their back pocket. Let’s just hope he pans out.

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Mets fans, what do you think of the trade? Will we have Brandon Nimmo 2.0 or will we get something better or worse?

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