Mets sign free agent who can hit lefties and maybe even replace Joey Wendle

New York Mets fans might accept any sort of replacement for Joey Wendle. The once-gifted defender hasn’t been as steady defensively nor has he contributed much on the offense. As the last of the utility men on the roster with Zack Short designated for assignment last week, the latest Mets free agent signing could help force him out if he doesn’t get it together.

You probably won’t see a Mike Brosseau jersey at Citi Field at any point. The 30-year-old utility man whose primary position has been at third base was signed to a minor league deal by the Mets on Tuesday. Having spent his last two years with the Milwaukee Brewers, it’s a reunion with David Stearns.

Brosseau originally played with the Tampa Bay Rays who purposefully developed him into a candidate to be their newest Ben Zobrist. As a rookie in 2019, he played every position except catcher, shortstop, and center field. The trend continued throughout his MLB career that has resulted in a .242/.313/.428 slash line in 647 plate appearances.

Not excited? Brosseau has done better damage against lefties, slashing .265/.326/.464 in 347 chances with 17 of his 26 career home runs.

Mike Brosseau can give the Mets the positional versatility they were hoping to get from Joey Wendle

The Mets aren’t stealing a player out of the free agent pool. Struggles last year in the big leagues, including a poor .196/.245/.326 performance in 49 plate appearances versus lefties, kept him from a major league deal this offseason. He saw limited action for the Kansas City Royals in Triple-A, batting .107/.212/.143 in 33 trips to the plate.

Brosseau’s 2023 was a disaster but he was successful as recently as 2022 when he played in 69 games for the Brewers. Using him mostly versus southpaws, he came away with a .274/.343/.421 slash line against lefties in 105 plate appearances. Against righties, he wasn’t quite as miserable as projected. Brosseau batted .217/.346/.413 versus them in 55 chances with 3 home runs.

We shouldn’t expect the Mets to quickly act on DFA’ing Wendle and replacing him with Brosseau. This seems more preliminary and an attempt to protect the ball club from getting to a point where they have no reliable infield defenders.

For what it’s worth, Brosseau hasn’t been an incredible fielder at third base. Owning a .933 fielding percentage and some other negative metrics at the hot corner, he profiles as a much different player than Wendle who was meant to save runs. Brosseau, if he was to make the Mets, would be viewed more as someone who won’t cost the team any.

Brosseau will join a group of versatile infielders down in Syracuse vying for an eventual call-up. Jose Iglesias, Rylan Bannon, and Luke Ritter should all be in the conversation to replace Wendle or receive a promotion in case of an injury.