Does Jurickson Profar make sense?

Morning Dose: Thursday, January 23

☀️ Good Morning:

We have another mailbag question to cover after we catch you up on the latest news.

☕️ Grab your coffee for your morning dose of Mets Fix!

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👋 WELCOME BACK: The Mets formally re-introduced Jesse Winker on Wednesday.

“Everything baseball-wise was probably the most fun I’ve had,” Winker said of joining the Mets last season. “Being a part of something bigger than yourself is really why you play this game, and the whole experience was incredible. It’s kind of addicting. You want it to happen again and again, so from the outset of the offseason, I was wanting to come back.”

🍎 AMAZIN DAY: The Mets released more details for Amazin’ Day on Saturday. Tickets are currently sold out, unless you are willing to shell out $950 for a VIP Package.

• Several current and former players and managers will be made available, from Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Mark Vientos to Mike Piazza, Mookie Wilson and Bobby Valentine.

• The team will also unveil a new jersey. People have been circulating the picture below as a potential preview.

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📬 From Dylan: Where do you see Jurickson Profar if we sign him? Is there room for him and Pete? Do you think something’s still to give with this roster? Seems like at least one trade would make some moves make more sense.

This question probably stem from a report by Robert Murray late last week that indicated the Mets have shown interest in free-agent Jurickson Profar for the “majority of the offseason.”

Profar is coming off a huge bounce-back season in which he hit 39% above league average, while clocking 24 home runs and reaching base 38% of the time. He went from ranking as the least valuable regular in baseball (-1.4 WAR) in 2023 to a top-25 contributor in 2024.

As most of the top free-agent outfielders have come off the board — Juan Soto, Teoscar Hernández, Anthony Santander, Tyler O’Neill — Profar remains on the open market.

The obvious question for front offices is whether the soon-to-be 32-year-old has figured something out and offers a reasonable chance to repeat his production from last season, or if it was an aberration in a contract year.

THE UNDERLYING METRICS are promising. Profar hit the ball harder (much harder) than ever before, while maintaining a cautious eye at the plate, keeping his walk rate high and actually improving on his chase rate.