While countless Americans took advantage of Black Friday bargains, it was the New York Mets who came away with the most meaningful haul.

With a potential lockout between owners and players looming on the horizon, MLB teams have been scurrying to sign free agents before month’s end. The Mets agreed to multi-year deals with three players on Friday: 2021 All-Star Eduardo Escobar, outfielder/first baseman Mark Canha, and two-time Gold Glove winner Starling Marte. 

Escobar and Canha offer defensive versatility, reasonable strikeout rates, and intangibles that  foster clubhouse chemistry. Both were solid acquisitions by GM Billy Eppler, hired by the Mets in mid-November.

The crown jewel of Friday’s haul, however, was center fielder Starling Marte. At 33 years old, Marte is no spring chicken. As with any player his age, there is reasonable concern that he might decline over the course of the four-year, $78 million contract. 

That concern aside, this was a deal the Mets simply had to make. Marte represents something the club has lacked for years: a true center fielder with game-changing speed.

In the Middle of Everything

Remember the last time the Mets had an everyday player whose natural position was center field? If you’re struggling to find the answer, that’s because it’s been quite a while. In 2015, Juan Lagares was a constant in center, logging 137 games at the position. Since then, no player besides Lagares (125 games as CF in 2019) has even come close to holding down the role for the Mets. Yoenis Céspedes and Curtis Granderson spent time in center, as did less talented stopgaps like Austin Jackson and Alejandro De Aza. The club experimented with Michael Conforto in center in 2018, and most recently, Brandon Nimmo tried his hand at the position. 

Nimmo did an admirable job patrolling center in 2021, recording 4 Defensive Runs Saved and 4 Outs Above Average at the position. Believe it or not, he actually outperformed Marte in both categories. DRS has not been kind to Marte in recent years, but OAA paints a different picture, rating Marte as slightly above average with the glove.

In an ideal situation, the younger Nimmo would man center while Marte would be in left — a position he has actually played more often. But Nimmo’s struggles to stay on the field (only one career season with 100+ games) and Marte’s raw athleticism may ultimately be the deciding factors. Keep in mind that last season Nimmo ranked in the 28th percentile in outfielder jump (a metric that measures reaction time and route efficiency) according to Statcast, while Marte placed in the 43rd percentile in that same category.

Speed Kills

The prospect of an everyday center fielder is enticing, but Marte’s greatest value comes on the basepaths. In 2021, Marte led the majors with 47 stolen bases and was caught only five times, good for a success rate of 90.4%. He stole 22 bases for the Marlins and 25 for the A’s to become the first player ever to finish in the top six of both leagues in steals for a single season. 

It’s no secret that the Mets have been one of the weakest baserunning teams in the majors for some time. They stole only 54 bases as a team in 2021 and have not had a player with at least 30 thefts since Eric Young Jr. in 2014. Although he’s in his early thirties, Marte represents the team’s most explosive stolen base threat since José Reyes was still in his prime.

For his career, Marte has averaged 42 steals per 162 games. And since the start of 2013, only Billy Hamilton (314 steals) has swiped more bags than the newest Mets outfielder (284 SB in that span). Marte’s elite baserunning skills go beyond just stolen bases. He also gets terrific reads on batted balls, allowing him to score from second base on singles 85 percent of the time since 2019.

Fortunately, Marte is more than just a one-dimensional speedster. He slashed .310/.383/.458 last season despite playing in two of the majors’ worst offensive ballparks: Miami’s LoanDepot Park and the Oakland Coliseum. He doesn’t walk much, but he also hasn’t had a strikeout rate above 20% since 2014. As a result, he has managed to reach base at a respectable .347 clip since his first full season with the Pirates. 

Searle’s Final Say

In Marte, the Mets have acquired a player who uses all fields and has yet to show much decline with the bat. Few players combine his combination of disruptive speed and high-end hitting. Is there inherent risk to signing him to a contract that will last through his age-36 season? 

Of course. 

Even so, Marte is the kind of dynamic talent that has eluded the Mets for a decade or more. As the first big signing of the Billy Eppler era, he represents a chance for the franchise to learn from past mistakes.