A final grade for the Mets free agent signing of Mark Canha

Mark Canha was traded by the New York Mets to the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday evening. The year and a half of Canha had its good, its bad, and clutch moments. His wife Marci shared a touching tribute on Twitter yesterday. In terms of player/spouse duos, there haven’t been too many better ones to come through Flushing and stay for such a short period and yet embrace the community as much as them.

There’s no debating about Canha’s likability (Mark and Marci). What we can get into is how this free agent signing went.

What’s the final grade for the Canha free agent signing?

NY Mets get a B for the Mark Canha free agent signing

Canha hit for less power than we wanted in 2022 but everything else he did for the Mets in 2022 seemed to exceed expectations. He slashed .266/.367/.403 with 13 home runs. The batting average and OBP exceeded his career totals he came to New York with in all but the slugging.

In 2023, Canha was much closer to his career averages with the power still down. He departs New York with a .245/.343/.381 batting line. The average and OBP are barely below his lifetime totals.

Canha was a below average defender in 2022 but an above average one in 2023. The ability to play all three outfield positions and first base and even give the team some innings at third base was a huge help.

The Mets pretty much broke even on Canha and meeting expectations. In grading free agent signings, this gets you on the honor roll. A mark against Canha could be the inability to exceed expectations. The price tag on him also seems a little steep for someone who lost playing time in his second year to a player making about half as much—Tommy Pham.

The Canha free agent signing gets a B. He didn’t quite play up to his contract but the Mets also overpaid. They did that a lot prior to the MLB lockout. We can say the same thing about Eduardo Escobar on a short-term deal and clearly giving Max Scherzer all of that money was not the wisest move. For Starling Marte, the number of years is what will hurt them most.

Canha was a good but not great Mets player. He’ll be remembered fondly more for the person he was than any of his clutch hits, particularly against the Philadelphia Phillies.