The New York Mets are looking for a position player depth piece with pop. According to Joel Sherman of The New York Post, the Mets are close to reaching an agreement with first baseman/DH Luke Voit on a minor league deal with an invitation to big league spring training. SNY insider Andy Martino was the first to announce that the parties were in talks.
Voit spent a chunk of the season with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse. During this spell, the 33-year-old dominated at the plate, with a 1.058 OPS, 14 home runs, and 35 RBIs in only 37 games. However, the Mets never promoted the slugger to the majors, prompting his choice to opt out of his minor league contract in August.
Voit concluded the 2023 season in the big leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers, however he only had a.549 OPS, zero home runs, and four RBI in 22 games. The former Yankee has demonstrated that he can still swing it to some extent, so there is some value there. His best years in the Bronx were from 2018 to 2020, when he established himself as the Yankees’ everyday first baseman. He also led the majors in home runs in 2020, finishing ninth in the AL MVP race during the Covid-shortened season.
Voit eventually succumbed to the injury bug and fell out of favor before the Yankees replaced him with Anthony Rizzo, whom they acquired from the Chicago Cubs at the 2021 trade deadline. It remains to be seen whether Voit can regain his big-league form, but he does have a powerful bat that could be a decent fit at DH for the Mets if Mark Vientos and others struggle early on.
