Reports: Mets to Sign Alejandro De Aza

Multiple reports Tuesday say the Mets will sign Alejandro De Azaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Oh sorry, I fell asleep while typing that sentence.

De Aza is as mediocre as they come. He is a .267 lifetime hitter with apparently some speed and very little power. He did somehow hit 17 home runs in 2013, but otherwise he never topped nine homers in his eight years in the majors. He bounced around three teams last season, hitting .262 with seven home runs. He stole just seven bases, down from a high of 26 in 2012.

The steadily declining numbers show De Aza is clearly on the downside of his career. And he turns 32 in April; a sudden bounce-back is highly unlikely. He will probably be the lefty platoon in center field with Juan Lagares. I’ll bet Lagares can produce something close to De Aza’s numbers against righties all by himself. The Mets could have saved the $4.5 million Alejandro De Aza will reportedly get in 2016 and try to develop Lagares into a complete hitter.

This is a really uninspired signing. The Mets fell three games shy of being the World Series champions in 2015. Does this put them any closer?

UPDATE:

The latest report said the contract is actually for $5.75 million, with $1.25 million in incentives, for a potential total of $7 million. I’d rather Michael Cuddyer unretire.