The Mets are in agreement with infielder David Villar on a minor league contract, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The CAA client had elected free agency after being outrighted by the Giants last week.
Villar, 28, joins the second organization of his career. He had been with San Francisco since they selected him in the 11th round of the 2018 draft. The right-handed hitter showed some promise during his rookie season three years ago. He hit nine home runs with a .455 slugging percentage in 52 games. He would have needed to improve upon a 32% strikeout rate to find long-term success, though.
The Giants never gave him much of a chance to do so. Villar appeared in 46 games the following season, and he hit just .145 while striking out 32% of the time. That more or less closed the book on his MLB tenure in San Francisco. He has appeared in only 20 big league contests over the past two seasons. Villar has tallied well over 1200 Triple-A plate appearances over the last three years. He’s a lifetime .273/.381/.507 hitter with 61 home runs at the top minor league level.
That minor league production has also come with a decent amount of swing-and-miss. Villar has punched out at a near-26% clip in Triple-A. He has cleared outright waivers twice in the past two months, suggesting every team has trepidation about him making enough contact to produce at the big league level. The Mets already have a decent amount of corner infield talent, so it’d probably take an injury to one of Mark Vientos, Pete Alonso or Brett Baty to open an MLB opportunity.
There was a hot minute where it seemed like he’d be a low average high power guy who’d make it in the MLB.
When a .200 hitter becomes available, a team’s gotta jump quickly.
Jonathan Villar had a resurgent year with the Mets in 2021. I’m sure that means something for David.
Are they related?
What’s the strategy here? Why do they need him? Can he sing the omg song to loosen up these anxious hitters?
If—and I know it’s a big one—he learns plate discipline, Villar has a promising power bat. Worth a look by the Mets.
I thought the better career move would have been to sign with a bad team like the White Sox, Rockies or Pirates as a path to big league playing time. Instead he went with a World Series contender. He does probably have an opt out date. I’ll definitely follow him. I’ve been rooting for him since his rookie year.
The Reds decision to sign Hampson to an MLB contract, instead of Villar to an MiLB contract, makes zero sense….
It’s all about the positions. Teams still think Hampson can play a respectable SS and CF in addition to 2B, 3B, and LF, while Villar’s just a 2B, 3B, and 1Bman.
Big difference, although Hampson’s bat is getting ugly. Still, until the end of May his OBP was over .350. Didn’t quite make up for the under .200 SLG, but 10 walks and 10 runs scored in 54 PA, for a scrub who can play every position? That’s not bad at all.
In the first month of the season Acuna was an integral part of the team. May his defense and pinch running ability still adds value but with the offense struggling Baty, Vientos and Marte should be in the lineup which leaves Acuna the odd man out. Like Vientos & Baty, he has options and needs regular at bats to work on his approach. If that means Villar fills the gap so be it.