In an effort to acquire a new outfielder, the Mets will target free-agent outfielders Denard Span, among other options, according to Newsday’s Marc Carig (Nov. 7, 2015).
Span had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip in October. He recently said he is recovering well and will be 100 percent healthy at the start of Spring Training (Oct. 8, 2015).
Span played in just 61 games last season, during which he hit .301 with 11 stolen bases, five HR and 22 RBI. In 2014, he was tied for the National League lead with 184 hits, hitting .302 with five home runs, 31 stolen bases and 37 RBI in 147 games. According to multiple in-season reports, Nationals coaches and teammates felt losing Span during 2015 had a major, negative impact on Washington’s lineup. That said, they’re not interested in re-signing him because they’re confident in his replacement, Michael A. Taylor.
To date, other than the Mets, there have been no published reports indicating a specific team with interest in signing Span. Nevertheless, despite the surgery, lack of interest by the Nationals, and lack of reports about his market, Span is expected to get a three-year deal worth around $36 million (Nov. 12, 2015). In September, he agreed to be represented by agent Scott Boras.
Matthew Cerrone
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Span is a perfect fit, but only if he’s healthy. And, that’s the thing, he has yet to show what he can do since having hip surgery. The Mets should be appealing to him, since he can return to a pitcher’s park in the NL East on a team that will contend for the playoffs. He’s a left-handed bat that hits righties well and he’s an average fielder, but he has experience, very good pitch recognition and speed. He can bat leadoff and steal bases, which would return Curtis Granderson to the middle of the order.
The thing is, at 31 years old and coming off hip surgery, I don’t like signing him to a three-year deal. I’d love for him to take a one-year pillow deal, which is something his agent is known for accepting when a player is in this situation. Right now, the only indication that this may be possible is the lack of teams rumored to have interest in him. My hunch is that he may hold out, with Boras slow-playing Span’s market, only to end up accepting a one-year deal late in the winter. However, by then, the Mets will almost certainly have made a deal for someone else, so my hunch is he’ll end up with a different team.
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