The New York Mets continue to make moves and have struck a deal with Infielder Jed Lowrie.
Lowie has played all four infield positions and some outfield throughout his career and is coming off a season in Oakland in which he drove in a career-best 99 runs.
Last season the 34-year old set career-highs in RBI’s (99) and homers (23) while slashing .267/.353/.448 to the tune of an .801 OPS and a 120 OPS+ (league average for OPS+ is 100).
His deal with New York is is for two-years at $20million, an annual average of about $10million before incentives.
Lowrie has been connected to the Mets seemingly every offseason for a decade, and they will finally have the versatile switch-hitter wearing blue and orange.
This move immediately makes the big-league roster Mets better, and while it may force 1b Peter Alonso to begin the season in Triple A, the big league club will be much better equipped to win games out of the gate and sustain their success, unlike last season when early-season injuries doomed an 11-1 start.
The infield is now an area of strength, as they have a blend of established veterans and young growing talent, between 3b/1b Todd Frazier, 2b Robinson Cano, SS Amed Rosario, 3b/2b Jeff McNeil (who will see some time in the outfield) and now Lowrie who can play all four infield positions.
Lowrie will see the bulk of his time at third base as Cano, who like Lowrie is also a former-Van Wagenen CAA client, has expressed his desire to play second base.
Interestingly, MLB Network just released their Top 10 Second Basemen in baseball, and both Lowrie and Cano made the list—with Lowrie ranked at number 2, behind Houston Astros 2b Jose Altuve, and ahead of Cano who slotted in at number four.
The Mets continue to overhaul the roster, and have also brought in some savvy moves like OF Rajai Davis and Gregor Blanco, P Hector Santiago, and IF JD Davis from Houston.
