Grading the offseason moves the Mets made and didn't make

Mets acquire Chris Bassitt

The big move the Mets made following the lockout was acquiring Chris Bassitt from the Athletics in exchange for pitching prospects J.T. Ginn and Adam Oller.

Chris Bassitt is one of the more underrated pitchers in the game. He doesn't have the 100 mph fastball Jacob deGrom has, but he's been a very effective pitcher for a while now.

Bassitt went 12-4 with a 3.15 ERA in 27 starts. He posted a 9.1 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, and 0.9 HR/9 as well. He did a very good job putting hitters away while not giving up many home runs or free passes.

Bassitt is a legitimate middle-of-the-rotation arm with a lot of upside. He averaged 5.8 innings per start, something that will come in handy after seemingly nobody other than Marcus Stroman could get past the fifth inning in the second half last season.

The Mets gave up two prospects who I don't envision being as good as Bassitt is right now. When a team is trying to win right now, prospects are expendable. Ginn was one of the Mets' top pitching prospects, and it's unfortunate that they traded him, but to get a guy who will help the Mets right now seems worth it to me. Especially when I don't envision him being anything more than a third or fourth starter in a rotation.

Adam Oller had a very good season and was a great pickup by the Mets in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 Draft, but he too was an expendable piece. Oller is already 27 and has no big-league experience. He probably wouldn't have pitched on the big league team this season, so they risk his value diminishing if he doesn't replicate last season.

Overall, the Mets got an established starter for not too much. The losses seem worse on paper because the Mets' farm system is not very deep. The only downside is Bassitt only has one year remaining on his contract, but with Steve Cohen's wallet, I believe they will re-sign him or extend him if he performs well.

Grade: A

Mets sign Eduardo Escobar

The Mets finished 27th in all of baseball scoring just 3.9 runs per game. With all of the inconsistencies with their pitching, the lack of offense is the biggest reason they did not make the playoffs last season. Injuries and underperforming players outside of Pete Alonso were littered up and down the lineup.

The Mets made an effort to bolster their lineup by signing established veterans. One of these veterans was Eduardo Escobar.

I have been very high on Escobar for a while now. He's a switch hitter with tremendous power. The Mets got him at a very cheap price, in my opinion, two years $20 million dollars.

Last season, Escobar slashed .253/.314/.472 with 28 home runs and 90 RBI splitting time between the Diamondbacks and Brewers. The Mets finished 25th last season in home runs, so adding power was a must. Escobar provides lots of it.

Escobar is also a guy who performs better with runners in scoring position, another area the Mets have really struggled in recently. He hit .278 with an .856 OPS this season with runners in scoring position and in his career he's hit .282 with an .815 OPS, both well above his regular marks.

In the 2019 season, the last full season played before the 2021 campaign, Escobar hit 35 home runs and drove in 118 runs. The power is there, he's proven it.

Escobar is a guy the Mets can plug in the middle of their lineup and expect production from. They got him at such a cheap contract too. He plays a serviceable third base and second base if need be, and he even played a little bit of first base in Milwaukee last season. I expect big things from the 33-year-old.

Grade: A-

Mets sign Starling Marte

The second move the Mets made to address the lineup was signing Starling Marte to a four-year $78 million dollar deal. This is a move that I like, but am not in love with.

I think Marte's bat will provide a big boost to what should be a much-improved offense. He slashed .310/.383/.458 with 12 home runs and 55 RBI. Marte alongside Brandon Nimmo at the top of the order should get on base a ton in front of the big bats of Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso.

What's really exciting about Marte is that he stole 47 bases in 52 attempts. The entire Mets team stole 54 bases last season with Jonathan Villar's 14 (in 21 attempts) leading the way. Villar was caught more times than Marte was despite stealing 33 fewer bases. Marte's speed and base running is something this Mets team has lacked really since the first tenure of Jose Reyes in Queens.

What's confusing me a bit about the signing was I thought Marte was going to play center field at least at the start of his contract. Brandon Nimmo has an extensive injury history so putting him in a corner spot would help him stay healthier presumably. However, it appears Marte is going to be playing most of the time in right field, a position he has not played at all.

Marte has won two Gold Gloves in left field, Mark Canha has better defensive metrics in right field than left field, yet the Mets seem like they're putting Marte in right, Nimmo in center, and Canha in left. I don't think the Mets are getting as much value simply because I don't trust Nimmo to stay on the field if he is playing center field every day, even if he is a better defender than Marte at that spot.

Marte is also 33 years old, so giving him four years is a big commitment. It probably won't age very well especially when he stops stealing bases at this rate, but Marte makes the Mets much better now than they were before they signed him. Like the Scherzer signing and the Bassitt trade, it's the kind of move a team that is trying to win right now makes.

Grade: B

Mets sign Mark Canha

The third and final big bat the Mets signed in free agency was Mark Canha. They inked the 33-year-old to a two-year $26.5 million dollar deal.

I like Mark Canha. He's a hitter with lots of power and elite on-base skills. He is, however, coming off of a down year in which he slashed .231/.358/.387 with 17 home runs and 61 RBI. Canha really struggled in the second half, as he slashed a paltry .206/.340/.319 with six home runs. He was dealing with a hip issue that could have caused the slump, but it's concerning. The hip injury has been prevalent for years now.

Like Nimmo, Canha has had his own troubles staying on the field. He did play 141 games this past season which set a career-high. However, he had not played in more than 126 games before that. Marte has already had an injury in spring training, Nimmo seems to get hurt every year, the Mets really need Mark Canha to stay healthy and productive the entire season if they want to reach their ultimate goal.

Canha isn't a good defender but isn't one that will lose games for the Mets. The addition of the DH will help in that regard some days and should, in theory, keep him healthier as well.

When right, Canha has the ability to be a really good player. He can hit 20+ home runs with a .380+ OBP. It's a tad concerning that he's coming off of a down year and has an injury history, but it's hard to find a bargain signing that didn't come with some risk.

The contract the Mets gave Canha is not bad at all, and he should be a productive player for the entirety of the deal.

Grade: B

Mets sign Adam Ottavino

The last move the Mets made this offseason was signing Adam Ottavino to a one-year $4 million dollar deal. In my eyes, Ottavino essentially replaces Jeurys Familia's spot in the bullpen. He's a guy who strikes out a ton of hitters but can lose control of the strike zone at times. Ottavino struck out 10.3/9 (great) while walking 5.1/9 (not so great).

Ottavino has dominated right-handed hitters in his entire career, holding them to a .213/.296/.329 slash line with just 31 home runs allowed in 1,299 at-bats. Righties have an 82 OPS+ against him in his career. The lefties get to him a little more, but they did not hit a single home run against Ottavino in 101 plate appearances this past season.

I like the signing. The Mets got him for one year and cheap money. If it doesn't go well, it wouldn't even be a bad idea to release him at some point in the season. But Ottavino has shown he has a lot of upside with success in New York City.

In the 2019 season, Ottavino had a 1.90 ERA in 73 appearances for the Yankees. The season before that he had a 2.43 ERA in 75 appearances for the Rockies. I don't expect Ottavino to pitch to that level, but the Mets don't need him to do that. Ottavino just has to be a veteran the Mets can rely upon to give them a clean inning when they need it. He won't be the closer or even the eighth-inning man.

The only thing I am disappointed about is Ottavino is the best reliever they signed. I wish the Mets addressed the bullpen a little bit more.

There is virtually no risk to this deal with insanely high reward. If he's bad then oh well, at least they didn't give him much money. But if he's good, the Mets hit the jackpot. They did it with Aaron Loup last offseason, maybe they did it again with Ottavino.

Grade: B

The Mets misses

I believe the Mets had a very good offseason. They signed a marquee guy in Max Scherzer who in my opinion changes everything with this team. They traded for a really good starter in Chris Bassitt at good value. They signed three bats who should help the lineup a lot. They signed a solid reliever to round out the 'pen.

However, there're things the Mets didn't do as well. I really wish the Mets signed a left-handed reliever. Yes, they did sign Chasen Shreve and Alex Claudio to minor league deals, but I wanted more. The National League East is loaded with left-handed power bats.

Freddie Freeman is finally gone, but the Braves replaced him with Matt Olson. The Phillies have the reigning MVP Bryce Harper and signed Kyle Schwarber. The Nationals still have Juan Soto. I wish the Mets signed a lefty like Andrew Chafin who I could have a little bit more faith in to get those guys out. Chafin's contract was very cheap.

I also wish the Mets added a left-handed power bat. They did sign Escobar, but I wanted more. I think a reunion with Michael Conforto still makes a lot of sense with all three outfielders having very risky injury histories, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards. Watching Kyle Schwarber sign with the Phillies was tough too because I thought he would've been such a good fit on this team.

The Mets do have guys like Robinson Cano and Dom Smith who I guess could bounce back but I have virtually no faith in Cano and don't know if Smith will even get the opportunity to bounce back to his 2020 MVP-like form.

The last thing I think the Mets missed out on was a bench outfielder. I don't think it's wise to have a bench that includes two of J.D. Davis, Dom Smith, and Robinson Cano. The Mets don't have a center fielder on their bench and the best guy they signed as depth was Travis Jankowski who can play the field and run, but isn't a good hitter at all.

The Mets are much improved overall, and anything short of a playoff appearance would be a major disappointment. They have one of, if not the best rotation in baseball with good depth with guys like Tylor Megill and David Peterson. They have really good bullpen pieces and can easily upgrade at the trade deadline if it becomes an issue. And they really improved the lineup with the power bats of Escobar and Canha and the speed of Marte.

I don't think the Mets are quite as good as the Braves and Dodgers, but when you have deGrom and Scherzer on your team in a seven-game series anything can happen.

Overall Grade: A