The Mets have agreed to a minor league contract with outfielder Tim Locastro, reports Pat Ragazzo of Sports Illustrated’s Fan Nation (Twitter link). The Warner Sports Management client will be invited to Major League Spring Training.
Locastro, 30, has spent the past season-plus with the Yankees, appearing in 47 games but logging just 69 plate appearances in that time. He’s given the Yankees some vital speed off the bench late in games, swiping eight bases in ten attempts while displaying sprint speed that’s ranked in the 99th percentile of MLB players, per Statcast.
Of course, Locastro’s opportunities at the plate have been limited because he’s struggled so considerably with the bat over the past two seasons. After a decent two-year stretch in Arizona that saw him bat .260/.367/.370 in 332 plate appearances (thanks in no small part to being plunked by pitches a whopping 26 times), Locastro has combined to slash .181/.257/.275 in his past 202 trips to the plate.
Despite his blistering speed, Locastro has a sub-par throwing arm that has contributed to below-average marks from both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating. Statcast’s Outs Above Average thinks he’s been a bit better than average in 1046 innings, but the consensus among publicly available metrics is that Locastro isn’t the lights-out defender some might expect for a player with his wheels.
The Mets are slated to start Mark Canha, Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte in left, center and right, respectively, but Locastro could push for a backup role during Spring Training. Khalil Lee is the only other pure outfielder on the 40-man roster, although Darin Ruf has plenty of corner outfield experience. Locastro will join veteran Abraham Almonte as an outfield hopeful on a non-roster deal this spring, and he’ll give the Mets some speed to stash in Triple-A if he doesn’t make the roster out of camp.
Minor league depth. In before the dozens of tired scrap heap and “Mets got their guy” comments.
He’s a useful, 5th OFer type. He’s good to have in AAA if the the team is hit by a few injuries in the OF, but he’s not someone to play with any regularity. If he is, something has gone very wrong. It’s possible the increase in projected SBs across MLB next year means LoCastro could have extra value.
Beyond that, the Mets do seem to love former Yankees, from players, to managers, to GMs.
Funny since the Yankees just signed Omar Minaya.
In part because not all players adapt to NYC well – thus historic interest in Granderson and others, even Cano.
Good point!
@RobM,
Your comment “Mets do seem to love former Yankees” is ironic.
If anything, it’s way more evident the other way around.
In addition to @AngelAscending’s observation the Yankees literally just signed Minaya who has Mets ties back to the early 1990s, don’t forget the Yankees have an even longer history of signing former Mets superstars (who could even be considered Mets icons) such as:
Darryl Strawberry
Dwight Gooden
David Cone
Also, former Mets Manager Luis Rojas was with the Mets since 2007 then last season the Yankees signed him to coach 3B.
Finally, Joe Torre played for and managed the Mets over 15 years before he ever managed the Yankees.
I didn’t mean anything by my comment. It makes sense now that the Mets are acting like a big-market team that they would hire a GM and a manager with Yankee connections. It says Steve Cohen is smart.
Mets got their guy
Fine depth but not the 4th outfielder NYM are apparently seeking. Expect Nimmo and Marte to lob a decent amount of IL time. And Canha averages what – about 120 games? Piece NYM needs will get a ton of at bats.
Of the four names mentioned in the article, Almonte is probably the best as a fourth outfielder…
… which is pretty sad.
I don’t understand. Your comment about injuries is silly. You can make that argument about every team.
With that said, Baty is going to play, so what does your projected outfield look like? LF-Baty/Cahna, RF-Marte, CF-Nimmo, Plus McNeil has the ability to play LF. Plus they’re going to make trades once Correa is signed. LOL at your puny analysis.
If you read my take as dunking on NYM, that wasn’t the intent at all. Marte older so expect him to be smartly given days off. Nimmo save last season has hit IL a good bit. Someone pointed out Cahna logged 140 games last season. A bunch were PH. Think it’s club intention to have a 4th OF who will start a great deal of the time and also serve as RH DH
All of a sudden baty is a starting outfielder in the MLB. Mets fans are the dumbest fans of all sports. What a fool.
“All of a sudden baty is a starting outfielder in the MLB. Mets fans are the dumbest fans of all sports. What a fool.”
He never said Baty was the starting OF. He merely said that Baty “is going to play” and implied that he would be a platoon option with Canha. Maybe read carefully before spraying venom around.
Also, Baty is one of the top prospects in baseball. He’s hit very well at each level. So even if he’d said that Baty could be a starting OF, I don’t see how that makes him “dumb”.
Actually dopey, you need to learn how to read. Do you even know what a platoon means bro….geez. Mets fans are real smart, not. How’s Correa doing? Lol Mets always find a way to be the leagues embarrassment.
Canha has played in 141 and 140 games the past two seasons.
Mets don’t need a 4th outfielder. McNeil can slide out there and play gold glove caliber defense and then Escobar/Guillorme start at 2nd. They have a lot of positional flexibility on the roster.
McNeil gonna play some OF too,and well
pending physical so it wont happen.
Giants will jump on him, if not.
Jeff McNeil is the Mets 4th OF…
Ya, exactly. If Correa ever makes it to the team, with McNeil playing OF that would open up room for Escobar.
To be fair, McNeil has never played center field. Canha and Marte could move over to center for McNeil to fill-in for either for a day, but you’d like to have another guy on hand who can handle a larger workload in CF.
It wouldn’t surprise me if McNeil (given the chance) became a decent, albeit not great, center fielder.
That’s true, but as an above average corner guy on D unless his particular form of depth perception creates subpar reactions from CF, he’s probably at worst a -5 CFer, in short playable there given his bat.
And with Marte’s fragility, I’d much rather sub McNeil in CF if I had to pick between the two.
Correa replacement lol
He’s a OF….
I gather he’s getting a chance at Terrance Gore’s role. Are they keeping the ghost runner for extra innings this year?
BREAKING NEWS: All injured free agents sign with the Twinkies, since they will pass ALL failed physicals.
Is that like those shady places that say they can pass any car’s smog check?
This is the kind of news that puts a quick end to dry January.
The Yankees are going to now sign a real Castro. Tim lo is a knock off.
Is it possible to sign a player to a $300 million dollar minor league contract?
Travis Jankowski 2.0 – solid MiL depth, not a guy you hope gets 250 PAs in queens tho. Love him as a Terrance Gore type in September as well.
He has the same approach I had at the plate. Try and get hit by the pitch to get on base where I can do my real damage of getting stolen bases.
I love all the Mets hate on every post. We suffered for decades with one of the worst ownership groups in sports. Now I just laugh at all of you haters! LFGM
haha same here. Top five worst owner in baseball for two decades and somehow everyone hates them.
I wish the Yankees would have used Locastro and Marwin Gonzalez more. Watching Hicks was an abject disaster.
Marwin couldn’t hit, I rather see Estavan Florian.
I was referring to last year. Marwin Gonzalez/Tim Locastro were much better than Hicks. And Locastro had 3 home runs in 69 at bats.
For 2023, I need to see Florial. He can bat 8 or 9. He has a nice left handed swing, speed, and solid defensively. He can platoon with our super utility man Cabrera.
The Aaron Hicks who racked up 1.6 WAR in 453 PA compared with Tim Locastro’s -0.2 WAR in 46 PA?
Even Timmy’s defense is below average at this point.
There’s the ‘eye test,’ and then there’s the ‘get your eyes tested.’
My eye test evaluation of Hicks: he sucks. Dude can’t stay healthy or productive. Matter of fact, as soon as Hicks strings together a few hits is when he gets hurt. The diving catch in center field against Minnesota was 3 years ago.
This could actually be a good deal.
Jankowski/Gore 2.0
Be careful mentioning Jankowski. You might get that Camden guy started about how he’s practically an MVP.
He’s from Auburn, which is a 20 minute drive to Syracuse, so he can probably spend the entire summer living in the same bedroom he had growing up.
Correa replacement?
Considering how many times he has been hit in his limited number of at bats he should fit in nicely giving Canha a day off every now and then.
No, Locastro’s not OF depth. He’s not a 5th, 6th, or even a 7th OFer on a contender.
He’s your depth’s depth’s depth.
He’s been BELOW replacement level since 2020. He’s your postseason pinch runner and shouldn’t even start for the Mets AAA team since they already know exactly what he is at this stage of his career.