New York Mets: It is a low risk move to sign Adrian Gonzalez

The 2017 offseason has been very slow. We are a few weeks away from players reporting and several top players are still free agents. However, one of the free agents now has a home. There was a report Sunday that the New York Mets had agreed to a contract with first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. It is being reported by CBS Sports that he is still owed the $21.5 million that will be paid by the Atlanta Braves. The New York Mets signed him to a one year deal worth approximately $545,000. This deal is not official yet as he still needs to undergo a physical.

He is coming off a terrible 2017 season where he hit just .242 with three home runs in 71 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The two reasons for this decline are that he has a terrible back and the customary decline for the first baseman in their mid-30s. Prior to moving him to Atlanta for Matt Kemp, Dodgers president Andrew Friedman said that he figures Gonzalez to be healthy by Spring Training. He will be turning 36 in May.

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Adrian Gonzalez is a 14-year veteran who has had stints with the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, and Texas Rangers. While he did have a bad year last season as far as production goes, he hasn’t had terrible numbers overall. He would end up hitting over twenty home runs nine times in his 14-year career. This is essentially a low-risk deal for the New York Mets.

I don’t see how this deal hurts the Mets. It gives them someone off the bench and someone to platoon with Dominic Smith at first. However, this deal shouldn’t come as a surprise Met fans. Back in 1972, the New York Mets signed Willie Mays. He was also at the end of his career and was on the way out. The feeling is that the Mets feel they can tap into whatever is left with the player.

I am curious to see if this leads them to make some sort of deal with possibility Andrew McCutchen. I am not saying that this deal will make the Mets a contender, but it doesn’t hurt them.

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