Just Mets

The Mets and Juan Lagares have officially agreed to a four-year, $23 million contract with a club option for 2020, the team announced in a statement.

“This is a place I want to be,” Lagares said. “The Mets signed me when I was 16. I’m really excited for this season and the future.”

According to Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan, the deal is for four years and $23 million through 2019 with a club option for $9.5 million in 2020, which is the first year Lagares would’ve been eligible for free agency.

Lagares new contract will be effective beginning in 2016, when he would’ve likely been Super-Two eligible for arbitration.

According to Cot’s Contracts, Lagares will earn $528,696 in 2015, $2.5 million in 2016, $4.5 million in 2017, $6.5 million in 2018, $9 million in 2019, and the club option is valued at $9.5 million with a $500,000 buyout in 2020.

Lagares won his first Gold Glove in 2014, having recorded 28 defensive runs saved and an 18.6 Ultimate Zone Rating, according to FanGraphs. His 28 defensive runs saved were tied with Andrelton Simmons for the second most in baseball in 2014, and his 56 defensive runs saved since he was promoted to the big leagues in 2013, the second most in baseball during that span.

This is a very good deal for a player in a premium position, in an era beginning to be defined by strong defense. The club gains cost control and certainty in a very team-friendly situation for the next five years, at least. It also guarantees Lagares both job and financial security during that span. This also helps the Mets align their resources to perhaps retain some of their young starting pitchers, which will become more costly beginning next year with Matt Harvey and likely Jacob deGrom reaching arbitration.

In other words, it’s a win-win for both sides.

I remember seeing Lagares with Single-A St. Lucie, and he just didn’t stand out among his peers, which included Harvey, Wilmer Flores, Matt den Dekker and others at the time. Yes, he was a great defender, but so was den Dekker, and it just didn’t seem like he’d get here. He has come so far in such a short span of time, and is a fantastic and perhaps unexpected cornerstone for the Mets in their organization rebuild.

He’s a fantastic outfielder. In fact, I’ll go as far as to say he and Andruw Jones are the best defensive outfielders I’ve seen in my lifetime. He’s also starting to show maturity at the plate as well. He still has work to do – he chases way too many pitches outside the strike zone, and for a guy the team expects to be a force at the top of the order, his swing rate at those pitches must continue to improve. But that should come with maturity and increased knowledge of the strike zone. He has already shown some very positive progress in that area this spring, which is good news for him hopefully evolving into one of the best all around players in baseball.

You can read more about Lagares’ contract extension with the Mets from MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo here.

Original Post, April 1, 10:05 AM, Updated, April 2, 1:28 PM, April 3, 8:20 AM