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Carlos Gomez Returns To Mets On Minor League Deal

By John Sheridan

March 1, 2019 No comments

The New York Mets have agreed to a minor league deal with outfielder Carlos Gomez. Much like we saw in 2015, the re-acquisition of Gomez is pending a physical. That said, the expectation is Wilmer Flores will continue to be an ex-Met and this deal will get done. MMO’s own Mike Mayer mentioned the interest first and Andy Martino of SNY said they signed Gomez.

Last year, Gomez played 118 games for the Tampa Bay Rays hitting .208/.298/.336 with 15 doubles, two triples, nine homers, and 32 RBI. An interesting note is his 21 HBP was second in the majors only to Brandon Nimmo. Another interesting note is while Gomez had just an 80 wRC+, the lowest he’s had since 2010, Gomez still had a 0.5 bWAR.

One of the reasons is Gomez is still a good defender. In 798.2 innings in right, he had an 8 DRS. Even with his declining speed, he can still cover center field on an interim basis, and he was able to steal 12 bases in 15 attempts.

It will be interesting to see how Gomez fits into the Mets overall outfield picture with the team having previously signed Rajai Davis and Gregor Blanco to minor league deals. At the Major League level, the team already has Juan Lagares and Keon Broxton targeted for the bench with Jeff McNeil playing left field.

Whatever the case, it does appear the 33 year old Gomez has a skill set which could be an asset to the Mets organization whether he starts the season playing in the majors or for Triple-A Syracuse.