Should Juan Lagares Be On the Hot Seat?

With a few of important pieces seemingly returning from the disabled list in the next few weeks (Robinson Cano, Brandon Nimmo, Justin Wilson), the Mets will have a few tough roster decisions to make. Realistically, the first move will be either Cano or Nimmo being activated and one of the extra bullpen arms being demoted, as the Mets carry eight relievers heading into their brief home-stand against St. Louis.

After the obvious first move, some tough decisions come. One can assume a struggling reliever will be demoted in favor of a returning Justin Wilson, so lets assume that. The real intrigue comes with whichever position player is left to be activated, either Nimmo or Cano, and who the corresponding move will be. One might go right to the players who began the year in Syracuse, Carlos Gomez and Adeiny Hechavarria, but Hechavarria has performed reasonably well and Gomez has proven to be a leader on the team, and a spark-plug to a team that otherwise looked dead in the waters of Miami Beach after a three-game sweep before his arrival.

Now we look at the bench players with options: Dominic Smith, JD Davis, and Tomas Nido. Nido is the backup catcher, so he is safe. J.D. Davis has performed well, so one can assume he is also safe. Dominic Smith is reaching his full potential at the plate, and serves as a defensive replacement at first base for Pete Alonso in late innings, so he is safe too.

Now, its time to turn to the veterans on the ends of their deals: Todd Frazier and Juan Lagares. Frazier is absurdly hot, and has effectively won the starting third base job for the time being, so he likely isn’t going anywhere.

Lagares is on the last year of his deal, and brings value with his defense in center field. Well, he used to. According to Fangraphs, Lagares is at -3 DRS (defensive runs saved) in center field this season, easily the worst mark of his career. His UZR (ultimate zone rating) is a -1.7, which is also by far the worst mark of his career. To go along with sub-par fielding, Lagares has been dreadful at the plate, slashing .191/.260/.278 and posting a WRC+ of 45. In only 55 games and 124 at bats, Lagares has posted a -0.6 WAR for the season.

The man who would likely take his spot, Carlos Gomez, has posted a -1 DRS this season, with -1 in center field, a -1 in right field and +1 in left field. Gomez at the plate, however, is hitting .227/.297/.409 on the campaign, a WRC+ of 90, and has stolen three bases already compared to Lagares’ 2, who has appeared in far more games and had far more plate appearances.

Roughly, Lagares and Gomez’s production are not that far off from each other, at the plate, in the field, and on the base paths. Gomez’s energy seems to have ignite the Mets roster, and he has taken on the role of a leader in the organization. Lagares has been widely underwhelming and disappointing, and provides virtually nothing that Carlos Gomez doesn’t. Lagares is owed $9 million this year and $9.5 million option with $500,000 buyout for 2020.

There will be roster decisions to make fairly quickly for the Mets, and difficult ones at that. But without a doubt, the Mets must consider cutting ties with Juan Lagares and move forward without him. After all, Brodie Van Wagenen has said before that the Mets will always carry the best 25, an this mantra should be carried out now, as well.