Mets sign Jonathan Villar

The Mets have signed free agent Jonathan Villar to a one-year, $3.55 million deal, according to Jon Heyman. The deal includes incentives for the veteran infielder.

Villar has hopped around the majors, spending eight seasons with five different teams. His best season came in 2019, during which he played all 162 games for Baltimore and hit .274/.339/.453 with 24 home runs, 40 stolen bases, and 4.1 fWAR. The 29-year-old began 2020 in Miami, where he served as the young team’s de-facto captain, and finished the season in Toronto following a trade.

After being linked to the Reds earlier in the offseason, Villar arrives in Queens as a versatile utility player. Though teams have primarily played him at shortstop and second base, he has played at least a handful of games everywhere on the field except for catcher and first base. Villar also provides versatility as a bench player with his switch-hitting abilities and speed on the basepaths. Since his rookie season in 2013, Villar only trails Billy Hamilton, Dee Gordon, and Starling Marte in stolen bases with 218 in 831 games.