3 NY Mets CF targets to help fill the gap until Carson Benge is MLB ready

The New York Mets have reportedly shown interest in former New York Yankees outfielder and 2019 National League MVP Cody Bellinger. Bellinger’s 2025 campaign was one of the best seasons of his career, but the Mets may have their long-term center fielder in the system already in top prospect Carson Benge. The 2024 first-round pick broke out this season and now ranks among the best prospects in baseball, with MLB Pipeline ranking him at #21 and Baseball America placing him at #31. Signing Bellinger would create a potential outfield logjam, so the Mets may look for more of a stopgap option who can provide depth, more than a long-term solution.

1) Chas McCormick

Chas McCormick got off to a strong start to his career. From 2021 through 2023, he hit .259/.336/.449 with a .340 wOBA and 120 wRC+ with the Houston Astros. His wRC+ steadily rose from 108 in 2021 to 132 by 2023. He hit 50 home runs over his first 1184 MLB plate appearances, and had an ISO just under .200 at .190. Sure, his 27.6% K% wasn’t anything to be proud of, but he also walked at a solid 9.4% rate, and also improved his K% from 32.5% in 2021 to 25.6% by 2023.

On top of that, he was providing outstanding defense. He had +18 defensive runs saved and +23 outs above average. He was also consistently among the best outfielders when it came to jump on flyballs, and route running. His arm strength was the weakest part of his fielding prowess, but even that was still about average, as he consistently ranked around the 50th percentile of fielders from ‘21 through ‘23. He regularly saw playing time between all three outfield positions.

However, the last two seasons have been rough for McCormick. He has only collected 383 trips to the plate since the start of 2024, and is hitting a meager .211/.273/.301 with a .257 wOBA, and 64 wRC+ in that time. His ISO has fallen by nearly 100 percentage points to just .091, as he’s gone yard just six times. McCormick’s 26.9% K% is still sub-par, and his walk rate has also fallen to 6.8%.

Defensively, he still grades out as solid, but not nearly as well as he did from 2021 to 2023. McCormick has -5 DRS and +7 OAA over 935.1 innings in the outfield. His arm strength is still clocking in around the 50th percentile in both 2024 and 2025, and both his jump and route running on flyballs are still better than average. The Astros still opted to non-tender McCormick, so the Mets could pick him up on a low-cost deal.