Free agent Albert Almora Jr. is among the available center fielders on the Mets’ radar. The club has “looked at” him, Andy Martino of SNY reports.
The extent of the Mets’ interest in Almora isn’t clear, but it may not be thrilling news for fans of a team who are still holding out hope for a George Springer signing. Unlike Springer, one of the best hitters in baseball, Almora hasn’t shown much on offense since debuting with the Cubs in 2016. While Almora has posted six defensive runs saved in center, he owns a less appealing lifetime .271/.309/.398 mark and wRC+ of 85 in 1,316 plate appearances, and he was especially subpar during the previous two seasons.
After Almora hit .167/.265/.200 over 34 plate appearances in 2020, the Cubs non-tendered the 26-year-old in lieu of giving him a $1.575M projected arbitration salary for 2021. In doing so, the Cubs gave up potential control over Almora through 2022, meaning any team that signs him could keep him for at least two years. He’s now part of a free-agent class that doesn’t feature many solutions in center beyond Springer and Jackie Bradley Jr.
As a Met, Almora could vie for the role of fourth outfielder behind Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo and Dominic Smith, but it seems too early to speculate on how the group will look with Springer still on the open market. Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that Almora has a connection to the Mets in new general manager Jared Porter, who was part of the Cubs’ front office for the first two seasons of the outfielder’s tenure in Chicago.
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