MLB Network names the Mets as the best fit for Teoscar Hernandez

An MLB Network graphic caught my attention and it turns out there’s a story about it, too. In looking at some of the top remaining free agents, they tried to pair them up with the team that they’d fit in with best. The New York Mets weren’t able to escape their matchmaking. The experts pegged Teoscar Hernandez as the best match for the Mets.

This may be a bit of a process of elimination. Hernandez isn’t really any better of a match for the Mets than Jorge Soler. He was matched up with the Toronto Blue Jays, another team vying for the services of a free agent outfield slugger. Because Hernandez is an ex-Blue Jays player and player reunions are lame, Hernandez seemed to fall to the Mets.

The match is fairly obvious. It’s like cartoons from the 1990s where people with the same hair color are often matched together. Didn’t Beverly Hills 90210 do this, too? Blondes with the blondes. Brunettes with the brunettes. Teoscar Hernandez with the New York Mets.

Who the Mets could pair Teoscar Hernandez with if they did sign him

If the Mets did sign Hernandez, it probably means Justin Turner isn’t coming back to Queens. For the record, that’s not a lame reunion. That’s a pretty neat one, a longtime coming.

Hernandez to the Mets should mean he is the primary DH. It would leave the door open for the team to target another outfielder or possibly additional option at third base. Because the available third base options are so limited, giving Brett Baty and Mark Vientos a long leash and relying on Joey Wendle isn’t the poorest plan. If the Mets are good enough and third base is such a black hole by the trade deadline, they can address it then.

Signing Hernandez to be the DH and another more defensively-gifted outfielder wouldn’t be so bad. Adam Duvall and Eddie Rosario are probably the two best overall players. As matches to sign one-year deals as well, they’re probably actually far more realistic than Hernandez in the first place.

The Mets trade with the Milwaukee Brewers that brought them Tyrone Taylor has added defense on the bench at the position. The possibility of moving Brandon Nimmo to left field and signing one of the remaining center fielders could still happen as well even with the team bringing in Hernandez, a proven power hitter.

Hernandez, Soler, Turner, and even J.D. Martinez are all superb options for the Mets to fill their vacant DH spot in the starting lineup. How much is the team willing to spend and for how long on a player like Hernandez? The lack of any actual rumors linking him to the Mets suggests he’ll be a fallback option instead of a priority.