How the NY Mets improved their 3 worst positions

Center Field

Last year, New York Mets center fielders batted .258/.314/.395 with a .309 wOBA, and 85 wRC+, and 87 wRC+. In their defense, center field is a position where defense is weighed much differently than offense. But their defensive numbers were mixed with -6 defensive runs saved, albeit +10 outs above average. Harrison Bader saw most of the playing time up the middle, with Tyrone Taylor and Brandon Nimmo logging a few hundred innings at the position. In terms of wRC+, it was the worst position for the Mets.

One thing the Mets did this offseason was make sure their center field defense was as good as it could be. One of their first significant acquisitions of the offseason was trading for Jose Siri from the Tampa Bay Rays. Siri had +12 defensive runs saved and +10 outs above average. He was tied with Michael A. Taylor of the Pittsburgh Pirates for the third-most DRS and had the second-most OAA among center fielders.

Siri covered 38.2 feet in his jump on flyballs, which was the second highest qualified mark in baseball in 2024, tied with Kevin Kiermaier, one of the best CF defenders of his generation. But his route running was about average. Siri can fly, as he was third in sprint speed in 2024 at 29.9 feet/second and has a cannon for an arm. His throws averaged 93.5 MPH, which was in the top 97th percentile of fielders in 2024.

The only thing is Siri’s bat wasn’t anything to be too proud of. He still clocked 18 home runs in 448 plate appearances with a .179 isolated slugging percentage and a 14.7% barrel rate, but that’s about where the positives end. Overall, Siri turned in a .187/.255/.366 triple-slash, struck out 37.9% of the time and only drew a walk in 6.9% of his plate appearances. He had a meager .271 wOBA and 78 wRC+ to end 2024.

But Siri still was about a two-fWAR player, despite the poor hitting numbers. Plus, when he does hit, he becomes extremely valuable. In 2023 with the Rays, Siri went yard 25 times with a .761 OPS and 106 wRC+ in just 101 games/364 plate appearances. He was still worth +2.6 fWAR. If that’s how much he’s worth when he produces slightly above average numbers with the bat and in just about 100 games, him putting up a 90-95 wRC+ with his defense will give the Mets a ton of value out of center field.