Of all the offseason NY Mets rumors, this is still the most surprising

Another offseason, another chance for New York Mets rumors to include just about everyone. If you can breathe and throw or hit a baseball, you were probably a Mets rumor at some point this winter.

That is everyone except for one person. Heading into the offseason, the Mets seemed like a really good match for one of the international players coming over from Japan. Alongside Munetaka Murakami and Tatsuya Imai, there was Kazuma Okamoto.

A gifted defender at third base who is probably more of a match for the Mets as a first baseman, he would’ve given the Mets added defensive flexibility. As the offseason shook out, he made less sense for them, but the fact that they were never apparently all too interested in him remains one of the most surprising of all.

The Mets not even thinking about Kazuma Okamoto remains an offseason mystery

Any time a player goes from an international league to MLB, there is reason for some doubts. The higher velocity in MLB on a more frequent basis was one of the causes for Murakami to get a much smaller contract than originally believed. Okamoto ended up with a solid 4-year deal worth $60 million with the Toronto Blue Jays. The four years might’ve been a turn-off for David Stearns. The $15 million AAV seems right within their wheelhouse. Maybe they would’ve even gone to $20 per year over 3 seasons if they had much interest.

Okamoto is projected by FanGraphs to have a 112 wRC+, even with free agent Ryan O’Hearn and below the 116 projected for Jorge Polanco. All three were kind of in the same stratosphere with Polanco getting the highest AAV of the trio. He’s making $20 million per year over two seasons.

Interestingly, Polanco’s wRC+ is slightly better than the 115 from Willson Contreras and Mark Vientos. Two other first base options the Mets considered, Contreras via trade and Vientos internally, they decided to go with the guy who can play somewhere other than first base in a pinch.

Something about Okamoto must’ve sent a red flag to the Mets to never consider him. The unproveness at the MLB level at any capacity seems to be a good explanation.