NY Mets can slay two needs with one stone by signing free agent Anthony Santander

An ongoing staring contest between the New York Mets and free agent Pete Alonso plus reports of the team making a two-year offer to outfielder Teoscar Hernandez suggests many possibilities. The team is clearly looking for power. They are hopeful to have a bopper at first base. Another outfielder in an already crowded room seems to be of high interest as well.

Two more bats added to the roster now seems plausible. But what about a different kind of plan where one free agent can sort of help out at both spots? The Mets shouldn’t settle in any way this offseason. Signing Juan Soto only to do less than you believe you need is like purchasing a Lamborghini and then using it to transport mulch.

Offensively, the Mets could use a first baseman, an outfielder, a right-handed hitter, and a left-handed hitter. Anthony Santander is all four of those things.

The Mets can protect against future free agent misses by making Anthony Santander a priority

Whatever the plan was with Hernandez doesn’t disappear with a quick pivot to Santander. Easy speculation to make is they would have utilized Hernandez regularly as a DH with other opportunities going to Juan Soto as well as the rest of the roster. We’d get a few days of Brandon Nimmo in center field with Soto in right and Hernandez in left.

This is all still very much possible with Santander. Better yet, with his mild experience at first base, he could be the ultimate Alonso protection plan.

The switch-hitting slugger belted a career-high 44 home runs last year for the Baltimore Orioles. The qualifying offer didn’t scare the Mets off from Hernandez. Nor has it seemed to be much of a factor for others who rejected the terms. Previous rumors of their interest in Nick Pivetta, for example, tells us the Mets are not going to be turned off by the loss of two more draft picks. A pair are already gone with the Soto signing.

An outfielder, a first base option albeit one with only 73 MLB innings at the position, and someone who swings from both sides of the plate feels awfully tempting. A league leader in range factor per game as a right fielder last season, several defensive metrics measure him differently. The Mets wouldn’t be signing him for his glove. He’d enter the picture because of his bat.

It’s unlikely the Mets would actually sign Santander to be their starting first baseman, but at least they’d have an option to fall back on him playing the position if needed. Inspired by the attempt to bring Hernandez to Flushing, this would be a satisfying swerve to end the year or start 2025.