3 free agents the Mets should avoid at all costs

2) The Mets need to avoid Adam Duvall

It would benefit the Mets to add a backup outfielder, but Adam Duvall is not the guy we need.

Duvall only played about half the season (86 games, 315 plate appearances) before having season-ending wrist surgery in July. He slashed just .213/.276/.401/.677 with 12 homers, 16 doubles, 39 runs scored, and 36 RBI’s. His OPS+ was just 87 (13% below average), and he still struck out a whopping 101 times, basically a third of his plate appearances.

One reason the Mets don’t need him is the wrist injury that ended his season. Is he actually healthy? Could this become a nagging injury? He just turned 34, so how would that impact him? It’s hard to hit for power when you have a bad wrist.

The other main reason is the type of hitter he is. The Mets have assembled an offense based on contact and putting the ball in play. Duvall is the exact opposite of that - he takes big swings, and he swings at just about everything thrown his general direction. It’s hard to maintain performance when you play like that, especially in a bench role. As noted above he’s a strikeout machine, so pinch-hitting would be difficult for him.

The Mets don’t need to spend the kind of money Duvall will garner on the open market on a backup outfielder. He made just under $10 million last year, which was an overpay by the Braves for the type of player he is. The Mets could bring back Travis Jankowski to round out the roster, or give a young player such as Khalil Lee, Nick Plummer, or Jake Mangum a shot.