Demoted Mets player is the best free agent at his position and it isn't even close

There is no free agent bigger this offseason than Juan Soto. The magnitude of the contract he’ll receive will come as close as it gets to matching Shohei Ohtani last winter. New York Mets fans are on the edge of their seats waiting to find how many dollars, how many years, and exactly when Steve Cohen forks over his first paycheck to the superstar outfielder.

The Mets will have some maneuvering to do with their outfield with the addition of Soto. Starling Marte is a right fielder. Brandon Nimmo serves them best in left field. Soto would be likely to get more starts in right field over Marte. The question remains in center field where the Mets have a little bit of a vacancy.

Harrison Bader was the primary starting center fielder this past year for most of the season. It wasn’t until the latter weeks when an impossible to ignore slump had him riding the bench much more often. Despite the lackluster finish, he’s easily the best available center fielder in free agency.

Top tier center fielders aren’t available, making Mets free agent Harrison Bader shimmer

Slice it any way you want, the $10.5 million deal the Mets signed Bader to last offseason was quite high for a guy we all knew would see the bench often, if not the IL. It was market rate. It matched what the Toronto Blue Jays gave to Kevin Kiermaier.

Bader would end up playing 143 games for the Mets with 437 plate appearances. His .236/.284/.373 slash line wasn’t the worst of his career, but all fell below what he has averaged in his 8 seasons.

Bader delivered in the field defensively. He concluded the year with an Outs Above Average of 10, falling just shy of counterpart Michael A. Taylor at 11. Also a free agent, Taylor had a slightly better defensive year but was atrocious at the plate. He slashed .193/.253/.290 with only 5 home runs. Bader belted 12.

The two couldn’t be more equal over the last two years combined. Each worth 2.4 WAR in those two seasons, the only other center fielder with a WAR of 1 or higher is Garrett Hampson. He has had less than 500 plate appearances over the last two seasons and is void of power altogether.

Oddly, Bader remains a desirable free agent because of this poor market of players at his position. Unlike Nimmo and Marte who signed with the Mets with an idea of them playing center field, he isn’t on the verge of breaking down defensively. Someone is going to reward him with an overpaid contract to shore up their defense up the middle in the outfield.