Will DH uncertainty impact Mets’ Springer pursuit?
Jan. 13: In an appearance on the “Big Time Baseball” podcast this week, Mets president Sandy Alderson told MLB Network insider Jon Heyman that the team is “still engaged, in a loose sense, with Springer.”
However, MLB Network insider Joel Sherman thinks the club is unlikely to sign the free-agent center fielder unless it finds out the National League will have the designated hitter in 2021.
With the universal DH in 2020, the Mets were able to start both Pete Alonso and Dominic Smith every day. Without it, Smith will need to play left field to keep both in the lineup. Signing Springer would bump Brandon Nimmo to left, removing the option of starting Smith there.
On the other hand, Alderson has noted that he isn’t comfortable with Smith playing left field regularly, so it's possible the Mets will have a logjam to deal with at first base regardless of what they do in center field. The DH could clear that up, but an agreement between MLB and the MLB Players Association is required to institute the rule in the Senior Circuit for 2021.