Notorious Mets killer should be in the conversation as a Jose Iglesias replacement

If Jose Iglesias ends up elsewhere, the New York Mets have an abundance of younger alternatives to fill out the infield. It has yet to be determined who, if anyone, ends up traded away. Having options up the middle and at third base opens up many avenues. As much as we’d love to see Iglesias back again with his fun energy, he might have played his way into a bigger role elsewhere.

We wish him well if this is the last we’ve seen of him in a Mets uniform. It wouldn’t hurt the Mets to bring in a veteran replacement. Someone who should be in the conversation is notorious Mets killer Paul DeJong. This man has hit .322/.347/.695 with 11 home runs against the Mets in only 124 plate appearances.

The longtime shortstop whose career was mostly spent with the St. Louis Cardinals transitioned into more of a third baseman last year. Splitting his time with the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals, he put together a 24 home run campaign in only 482 plate appearances.

If the Mets want a veteran infielder on their bench and it’s not Jose Iglesias, they could do worse than Paul DeJong

DeJong had a very typical year for himself at the plate. Slashing just .227/.276/.427 which closely matched the .229/.295/.419 for his career, he yet again proved to be a whole lot of “all-or-nothing” when it came to hitting. Several seasons of hitting below .200 in the past, it’s impressive how he continues to get as much playing time as he does.

A transition into a bench role could go to either extreme. Less playing time could mean he gets cold for longer periods of time. One could predict the opposite. Less playing time means less exposure to situations where his numbers would drop. We won’t know unless it happens.

DeJong’s move to third base last year yielded promising results defensively, especially when he joined Kansas City. He had an Outs Above Average of 4 for the year (which includes his time at shortstop) and a 19 Rtot/yr category. Because he had only 239.2 innings, there’s always a chance at some sort of a fall in a large sample size. He wasn’t nearly as good at third base with the White Sox.

In a good year, DeJong will hit 100 points lower than what Iglesias gave the Mets last season. He’s going to wear Golden Sombreros. He won’t unite the team with music. He’s a match for the Mets under particular purposes. A veteran with a powerful bat and good defensive skills. There is plenty of thought the Mets could trade from their surplus of young infield talent. If so, DeJong is an option to consider. We already saw fellow Mets pulverizing Jesse Winker with the team. If you can’t beat them, give them a contract.