Blue Jays free agent mistake makes choice by the Mets look even better

The New York Mets already had a center fielder on the roster when they went into the 2023-2024 offseason. It wasn’t good enough for what David Stearns wanted to build. The plan was to move Brandon Nimmo into the vacant left field spot while looking for an upgrade defensively in center field.

Which direction would they go? Four-time Gold Glove winner Kevin Kiermaier was available after a productive year with the Toronto Blue Jays. He hit .265/.322/.419 in 129 games. Coming off of yet another year of winning defensive hardware, the concern with him was health.

Staying on the field hasn’t been a problem for Kiermaier this year. He is playing regularly but not productively. The now burdensome $10.5 million deal he signed matched exactly what the Mets ended up giving to Harrison Bader—a guy with many of the same qualities as Kiermaier. The Blue Jays waved the white flag on Kiermaier when they placed him on waivers earlier this week. He went unclaimed and they’ll continue on with him on the roster for at least a little while longer in what is sure to not be an awkward situation.

The Harrison Bader signing has trumped the Kevin Kiermaier addition

Bader conveniently clobbered a pair of home runs on Friday night against the Colorado Rockies bringing his season total to 8. The big night at the plate brought his slash line back up to .278/.318/.429. Don’t look now but the .747 OPS is only 20 points behind Francisco Lindor.

Bader isn’t a perfect player in any regard. Generally found to finish with a low OBP, unlikely to hit all that many home runs, and no serious quality other than his defense that screams “must have,” the Mets went out on a limb to sign him this offseason when there were many other directions they could’ve gone. Bader does a lot of things well yet a track record of getting hurt and not doing anything offensively at an elite level had some doubts creeping in early.

Batting regularly out of the number nine hole, it has been easy to hide Bader. To his credit, he has been one of the more consistent Mets hitters this year at least in terms of batting average. He has a batting average of .262 or higher since going 2 for 4 against the Kansas City Royals on April 12. It’s easy to forget that at one point teammates Lindor and Nimmo were finding hits hard to come by.

Kiermaier has only 3 home runs this season to go with his .188/.234/.290 slash line. He has been a broken player on one of baseball’s most underachieving teams.

Bader has given the Mets a defensive upgrade they desired in center field. While Kiermaier has been brilliant as usual, his offense doesn’t compare. Bader might find himself in the number nine spot regularly, but if the Mets need him anywhere else, we can feel confident he’ll deliver.