NY Mets sign Jose Bautista, former Toronto Blue Jays star

The Mets are hoping Jose Bautista still has some bat flips left in the tank.

The team signed Bautista on Tuesday, and the veteran went 1-for-3 with a double while starting in left field in the 5-1 loss to the Marlins.

Bautista, 37, landed with the Mets two days after Atlanta released him, and signed for the prorated veteran's minimum.

"The level of interest dictates a lot," Bautista said of signing with the Mets.

There was once a time when the Mets had too many outfielders, but injuries to Yoenis Cespedes and Juan Lagares heightened the need for a righty outfielder.

Lagares is out for the season due to a tear in his big toe, and there is no timetable yet for when Cespedes will return from his right hip flexor strain.

The Mets' current outfield alignment features three lefties, and they lack a backup. Enter Bautista, a six-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger winner.

There is uncertainty about whether Bautista can be productive, but the Mets believe he can be effective vs. lefties. The Mets are just 7-6 against southpaws, and Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo and Jay Bruce have all struggled against southpaws.

Bautista posted a .913 OPS against southpaws this year spanning 20 plate appearances with Atlanta before being released Sunday.

The year prior, though, Bautista hit just .201 with a .629 OPS while swatting only three homers. He entered the night hitting .200 against lefties since the start of last year.

“We had been looking at the possibility of a right-handed bat in the outfield that could spell our other outfielders and give us some offensive potential against a left-handed pitcher," Mets GM Sandy Alderson said before the game. "Given the way that we expect he will be used initially (against left-handed pitchers), that fit pretty well with what we need.”

Bautista played third base with the Braves, but Alderson expects Bautista to primarily be used as an outfielder although he did mention the possibility of first base.

This acquisition is certainly a low-risk move for the Mets since they are paying him so little, but there may be not be much upside.

Bautista, once one of the game's elite sluggers, entered Tuesday hitting just .199 with a .669 OPS in his last 169 games. He hit 25 homers in that stretch, including 23 last year with the Blue Jays, and the Braves only kept him for 12 games before releasing him.

Earlier this decade, Bautista was one of the game's most fearsome sluggers.

“Bad seasons happen. I feel good enough and know what it takes," Bautista said. "When I’m ready to call it quits, I’ll do that. I don’t think I’m ready to do that.”

If the Mets can receive several good games from Bautista and perhaps a hit or two against a lefty that wins a game, the move will have panned out.

Alderson stressed that Bautista will have to perform to keep his roster spot. He added that the outfielder chose the Mets over other teams, and J.P. Ricciardi, a current Mets executive and former Blue Jays GM, played a role in the negotiations.

"We feel there is room for him going forward and have to see how things go. He knows a lot of his playing time will be based on performance which is true of any player," Alderson said. "We’re excited to have him, adds some balance, a threat against left-handed pitching and off the bench and maybe a more expanded role."

The Mets may not have had to make this move if they knew they could count on Yoenis Cespedes to be readily available for the remainder of the year.

Though Alderson disputed that this move reflected the Mets' concern with Cespedes, it's notable that the team does not yet have an idea when he returned.

Cespedes (right hip flexor strain) played in the fewest games of his career last year, and has deal with a rash of lower-half injuries that have sidelined him.

The outfielder is no longer the everyday presence he was earlier in his Mets' tenure, and the Mets need a capable right-handed bat to take the burden off their lefties.

Bautista is a right-handed bat, and the Mets will find out of if he's capable.

"Bautista should help us during that time frame (while Cespedes is sidelined) but we do think he adds value to that," Alderson said.

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