Carlos Gomez could be a fit for the Mets

Carlos Gomez started his career with a brief 58 game stint with the Mets in 2007 as a 21-year-old before being shipped to Minnesota as the centerpiece of the Johan Santana trade. Could a Flushing reunion 11 years later be a possible fit?

Several years removed from his brief, impressive peak in Milwaukee (7.4 and 5.7 fWAR in 2013 and 2014, respectively), Gomez has ping-ponged between the Rangers and Astros over the last few seasons. After looking potentially washed up in 2016, (posting a .231/.298/.384 slash line), Gomez bounced back with a solid 2017, putting up a 110 wRC+ and 2.3 fWAR over 105 games. While no longer the gold glover he was in 2013, most metrics still graded his defense as average in center field last year.

Gomez’s health has been an issue (no more than 118 games played since 2015), and his home/road splits last year (.939 OPS in hitter-friendly Arlington compared to a .675 OPS on the road) might represent a potential red flag. Still, If you don’t believe that Juan Lagares can find the fountain of launch angle in Southern California, or that Brandon Nimmo is an adequate stand-in for Giancarlo Stanton, and with Lorenzo Cain seemingly only an option for a franchise operating with a big market budget, the 32 year-old free agent could represent an interesting option for a Mets team with an opening in center—especially if Fangraphs’ contract estimate of 2 years/$18 million came to pass.

However, that $9 million would represent almost the entirety of what is speculated to be the Mets’ current offseason budget for additions. Given the other holes still to be filled on the roster, other, potentially lateral moves—such as a potential trade of Lagares first—would likely have to precede any consideration of a Gomez addition.