Marisnick adds glove Mets need
One in a series.
The Mets’ search for a center field upgrade last offseason ended where so many others have in recent years — without a clear resolution.
Starling Marte’s name was among the highest on the Mets’ realistic wish list, but those trade talks with the Pirates died shortly after the winter meetings. Mookie Betts was always a long shot, and the Mets should probably be thankful they never got close with the Red Sox on a package for the former MVP, who is headed to free agency after this season, whether it’s played or not.
It left the Mets with Jake Marisnick as their best hope of upgrading the position, as part of a tandem with Brandon Nimmo. The 29year-old Marisnick, known for his defense, arrived in a December trade with the Astros for minor leaguers Kenedy Corona and Blake Taylor.
Marisnick essentially replaced Juan Lagares, a right-handed bat who played on a part-time basis and wasn’t re-signed after a lackluster 2019. Marisnick hit .233/.289/.411 with 10 homers and 34 RBIs in 292 at-bats last season for the Astros.
“Good defender, good athlete, below average bat,” a major league talent evaluator said, referring to Marisnick. “Better player than Lagares because he’s got a better chance to do something with the bat than Lagares did. I thought Lagares was way overrated. A very good defender, but I just couldn’t buy the idea that a starting center fielder couldn’t do anything offensively and really couldn’t make adjustments. [Lagares] just kept making the same mistakes. As good an athlete he is he just couldn’t make any adjustments at the plate.
“I think Marisnick will definitely be an upgrade, but I don’t think you are going from a .220 hitter to a .290 hitter. I think he will be a .250 hitter with a couple of more home runs than Lagares, play probably a lesser defense, but overall be a better player.” Marisnick can serve as a late-inning defensive replacement, allowing Nimmo to shift to left field for J.D. Davis, Dominic Smith and perhaps Yoenis Cespedes. Michael Conforto also has experience playing center field, but the Mets’ preference is to keep him in right, where he seemed to find a home last season. Marisnick was selected in the third round of the 2009 draft by the Blue Jays, but before reaching the major leagues he was dealt to the Marlins as part of a massive trade that brought Jose Reyes to Toronto. At the trade deadline in 2014, Marisnick was sent to the Astros, for whom he won a tainted World Series title three years later. In his first interview session with reporters in spring training this year, Marisnick apologized for the Astros’ illegal sign-stealing scheme in which electronic surveillance was utilized. “There was a line and it was definitely crossed, and I want to say sorry to the fans, Major League Baseball, my peers and anybody else who was affected by this,” Marisnick said. “When I come in here I don’t want to be a distraction to the Mets clubhouse.” Marisnick, Nimmo, Davis and Smith will give the Mets solid platoon options in left and center field. Much of the attention will be on the newcomer Marisnick. “It’s not a bad combination,” the talent evaluator said. “You lose a little defensively with Nimmo, but offensively he is good, so there are worse combinations out there that are going to play. I think it makes you, in the end, it probably makes you average in center field. “The other guys, if you platoon them, you have got a chance to get something out of them. You maximize it both ways, so I think they have got a chance to get something out of those guys.”