The Mets have interest in free agent outfielder Austin Hays, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Hays was previously connected to the Royals but that was before Kansas City signed Lane Thomas and acquired Isaac Collins. They are reportedly still exploring the outfield market but might have less urgency in that pursuit now.
For the Mets, adding to the outfield seems like an inevitability. They had nine players take more than one plate appearance as an outfielder in 2025. Seven of them are gone. Cedric Mullins, Starling Marte, Jesse Winker, Jose Siri and José Azócar became free agents at season’s end. This offseason, Brandon Nimmo was traded to the Rangers and Jeff McNeil to the Athletics.
That leaves the Mets with Juan Soto and Tyrone Taylor as holdovers. Soto is obviously part of the plans in 2026 but Taylor should be on shakier ground. Taylor has a decent floor from his speed and his defense but he has had subpar offense for three years running now, including a .223/.279/.319 line and 70 wRC+ in 2025.
The Mets have already avoided arbitration with Taylor, signing him for $3.8MM in 2026. Despite that commitment, he would ideally be bumped into a bench role.
It’s possible that prospect Carson Benge eventually takes the center field job from Taylor. President of baseball operations David Stearns has said Benge will get a chance to earn a job out of camp. Benge can play all three outfield spots but the Mets presumably want to give him a chance to stick in center, where he would have more value.
Hays wouldn’t be the best available option for filling that spot, especially with Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger still on the open market, but he has a decent track record.
He has generally been good for offense a bit above average. He has a .262/.313/.435 line in his career, which translates to a 105 wRC+. His 2025 season was in line with that, as he hit .266/.315/.453, also for a 105 wRC+.
He has been graded as a good defender in his career but less so in the past two seasons. He’s been slapped with a minus-10 grade from Defensive Runs Saved and a minus-2 from Outs Above Average dating back to the start of 2024. He’s also had a few injury challenges and hasn’t been able to get beyond 103 games played in those two seasons.
Hays has his attributes but is a better fit as a complementary player than a full-time solution. He swings from the right side and has been a subpar hitter against righty pitchers in his career. However, he has a .282/.340/.479 line and 124 wRC+ with the platoon advantage. The split was even more extreme in 2025, with Hays batting .319/.400/.549 for a 155 wRC+ against southpaws.
An outfielder who can crush lefties is still worth something. The Mariners just gave Rob Refsnyder $6.25MM for a similar profile.
Benge is a lefty and he showed notable splits in the minors this year, with a .232/.407/.326 line against lefties compared to a .295/.379/.512 line against righties.
The Mets have also been frequently connected to Luis Robert Jr. in rumors. He has flashed a borderline MVP upside but has been fairly Hays-ian in the past two years. He has struggled to stay on the field and provided subpar offense but with big numbers against lefties.
Robert is going to earn $20MM next year and would require the Mets to send prospects to the White Sox in return. Chicago might be willing to eat some of the money but that would only increase their demands in the prospect department.
Perhaps the Mets view Hays as a more affordable alternative to Robert. Hays hasn’t played center since 2023 but did so fairly regularly before his mounting injuries in recent seasons. Perhaps a short-side platoon role would help him stay healthy and maximize his contributions.
That could bump Taylor down into a fifth outfielder role where he could be used as a pinch runner and defensive replacement. Taylor is also a righty swinger but has fairly even splits in his career, making him less of a fit as a platoon guy.
Even if Hays is brought aboard, that shouldn’t finish the club’s work in the outfield. They’ve been connected to Bellinger and are a logical fit for Tucker. They’ve also reportedly shown interest in trade candidates such as Lars Nootbaar and Ramón Laureano. They presumably have interest in a number of other outfielders even if they haven’t been connected to them publicly.
Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images
Stop-gap
Like the whole roster, sans Soto?
@Ohora… if thats how u see it then thats how it shall be in ur head.
Ur?
Yes, ur…. vta?
Spos
Couldn’t agree more. This roster only has 2 players(Lindor & Soto) that should start the season batting in the 1-4 spots in the lineup. Still missing 2 bats to fill the top of the lineup and we’re talking about a potential platoon OFer? It’s ridiculous. Hayes is a fine player when adding to an already good team, but this roster is terrible top to bottom in terms of run production. If they got Hayes and signed say, Bellinger, this offense would still be trash.
It always surprises me to see how many people spell Austin Hays’ name wrong when they just read it.
It shouldn’t. Lots of guys who post on baseball blogs pride themselves on misspelling and lack of punctuation. Their favorite verb is “sucks”, favorite noun is “moron” and their favorite joke is a yukyuk about Lovelady’s name. They also know vastly more about baseball than the general manager of the team they root for.
What surprises me is how much of a dullard you’d have to be to actually respond to someones quickly typed comment about a players name who isn’t even on the team and who may never be on the team. Like I give a crap how to spell his name. Also, I switch between playing video games and checking mets news, I didn’t “just read” anything, moron. Get your facts right dullard.
Some of us think getting a person’s name right is a matter of respect. Perhaps playing video games is what you do best, sir.
Sayes you.
And their favorite stat is “batting average.”
Joel thanks anyways, I already have a wife
Chill out.
Dicky Lovelady sucks, you moron! Sign him!
The Mutts are goin for it!
Lol the cucks are out tonight
sounds like projection considering the offseason the yankees have had
Poor, broke old uncle Steve, shopping in the bargain bin. Imagine paying Soto 760 mil just to turn into a cheapskate everywhere else.
Is it Cohen though or Stearns? Seems like Stearns is trying to run the Mets like they’re the Brewers.
It’s always the owner. Cohen could easily tell Stearns to offer 10/450 or something.
In some cases it could also be player avoiding teams with certain owners
You blame owners for being cheap. But maybe players dont want to go to a certain team. Thats not on the owner.
@D… imagine buying an Allstar for every position just to turnaround around and knock the owner for buying a championship
Then imagine knocking the owner for spending money wisely (being cheap)
I’ms a thinking ur negativity would be spewed no matter what. 😉
I know the Dodgers have warped peoples’ perceptions and expectations, but not all 26 guys on a roster can be an All Star/HOF-track player.
Austin Hays is a perfectly solid complimentary player and probably something close to 2/3 of the league would be better off having him in their outfield mix. Hays will probably be more valuable than Jeff McNeil next year, so if that’s how they use the $10 million they’ll no longer be paying McNeil that would not only be a pretty shrewd move, but also one that in no way precludes them from continuing to pursue a bigger bat like Tucker, Bregman, or Bellinger.
@DirtyWater04…
You make sense, some around here don’t know much about sense.
You nailed it when you said that Austin Hays is a perfectly solid complimentary player, and to me thats exactly what the issue is. This team doesnt need any more complimentary players. Polanco was batting what, 7th for Seattle? And now hes going to be what, our #3? It’s ridiculous, this team still has nobody to bat in the 3 & 4 spot in our lineup and now were talking about Hayes?!?!? It’s alarming as this team still needs major help in terms of offense and Hayes is nothing but complimentary. Taylor is already our 4th OFer and we need another part time player to make us better? if this team was already good, than adding Hayes is great, but it seems like they’re looking into using him in more than a complimentary role, and thats a problem. We dont need 2 4th OFers.
Erik may want to “transform” his word selection
Complimentary (with an ‘i’) means praising someone or something is given for free (like a free drink), while complementary (with an ‘e’) means two things complete or go well together, like a perfect pair of colors.
I am sure Austin Hays is a friendly dude, but I think you meant complementary. Now if Hays is complimentary as in free, Nutting is on line one.
“Transformers” have nothing to do with my name, its not Megatron, its megaton, since were splitting hairs here.
Also, I copy/pasted the original sentence from the person I was replying to, not to mention with just the most slight brain power I’m sure anybody can understand what’s meant here. I’m sure you’re fun at parties, correcting strangers while ignoring context.
Original post-
“Austin Hays is a perfectly solid complimentary player and probably something close to 2/3 of the league would be better off having him in their outfield mix.”
I will concede that I misread Megaton as Megatron.
I’ll stick by the rest, but wish you Happy Holidays.
Erik Megatoon, Polanco batted 2nd and 5th the most last year for the M’s. If he gives you what he gave the M’s in ’25 you will ge happy he is batting 3rd. He had a higher OPS+ than Lindor last year. I knew NYers weren’t going to appreciate him.
@Dive…
Exactly. It’s the same reason many players don’t want to play in NY. The certain fans that talk $hit make themselves feel better by saying in a certain voice “well they just can’t hack it in NY” as if it were some special power or something. Truth is when people apply to a job they want to get paid, win and be comfortable with their families.
Not rocket science.
Polanco WAR
2022. 115
2023. 114
2024 92
2025. 134
Seems improbable that Polanco will replicate 2025, so while he may be good in 2026, he is unlikely to be better than Alonso
Counterpoint: yes they do need more complementary players.
They let Alonso go, they traded Nimmo, they traded McNeil, Marte and Winker are free agents (and even if they come back, well into their 30’s), and depending on who you believe they may be interested in trading Vientos, and Tyrone Taylor was awful and can’t be expected to be starting.
They have a ton of work to do rebuilding their lineup around Soto, Lindor, and Semien. Now I agree with you they need and should pursue one more star level player to account for Alonso’s departure. But they also need several guys who profile somewhere between “useful” and “good”. Doing one does not mean they’re not also trying to do the other.
Bregman and Bellinger in particular seem intent on dragging out their free agencies as long as humanly possible because they seem to expect more than the market is willing to give them. Talking to other players they also know they’ll need while those negotiations are ongoing does not mean that negotiations with the star players aren’t still ongoing.
There is no way that is war
Ops+ I assume?
Complementary to Binge. The top ranked CF prospect. As their stats and skills complement each other
If it’s war, then Polanco is the GOAT.
Gbaked, be careful, according to some loneley duds on here named joel and baltimore, you’re not allowed to type a mistake, especially when typing a name. It’s spelled Benge. Sorry, just trying to get in with the cool kids.
Those are OPS+ not WAR
@MLB Top 100….Thankfully he wont have to be. The point is to build a TEAM.
Billy Beane replaced Jason with Jeremy in Oakland and still won.
Yes, I corrected it below
Cheapskates don’t finance a $320 million payroll. Having veterans on mid to long term contracts in the majority of positions, as the Mets have had for multiple years, is not only expensive, it hurts your draft, penalizes international spending and kills your flexibility to introduce prospects and new players. The core wasn’t good enough and piling on an extra $100m would never have magically made it a winner.
Its strategic. If you dont understand, you. Don’t. Understand.
OMG the Dodgers don’t even have an above average left fielder at the moment! I feel your pain. /s
You do realize there are months left before spring training right? At least you guys aren’t doing an Arte Moreno where your owner spends big on a player he wants and then doesn’t spend enough on the rest of the roster to win.
Oh wait…
why do you need to be “interested” in a 4th outfielder?
Just go sign him? call his agent and offer the going rate for that caliber of player. He’s a 4th OF.
just pick up the phone and sign him? I don’t understand.
“interest” is for players at the top of the market
Because he has been and likely continues to envision himself being a full time player? If he expects to find a starting job somewhere he has no reason at all to jump at an offer to be a 4th outfielder. The player has to also be “interested” in what the team is “interested” in offering him.
You don’t know if they’re offering him a 4th OF position or not. You respond as if you know that as fact and you don’t
What? Why don’t you try reading the comment I was responding to before firing off nonsensical replies?
They already have a 4th outfielder in Taylor. Hays would be starting for them in left.
yikes.
NYM front office has been good at not leaking. To the consternation of NY BB media (see: Heyman). But Stearns resistance to hand out longer deals appears to be accurate. Boras likely unamused by it
Too soon to say, let’s see what happens with Tucker, Belli, Bregman, Imai, Ranger, Framber and Gallen.
As a fan, I am in the apparent minority of liking Stearns’s reluctance to dole out longer deals. Five years of Alonso and five years of Nimmo are not palatable to me. Soto is/was an exception given his age and abilities and I also think Cohen pushed to get it done at any cost.
That signing would not quell the anger of the fan base at all.
Tyrod Taylor always the backup option
Tyrone?
Tripod?
“Thats what she said” M. Scott
What’s wrong with Russell Wilson?
Since he’ll be a free agent and unlikely to re-sign with the Jets, why not?
If im him wouldnt i rather play in a big market than a small after thought market? But then again, its the Mets.
Let’s make stopgap, injury-prone OF “Great Again”.
Original Rude boy on the scene
Probably means they are out of the running for Luis Robert
Stearns is like Elias who thinks sellers are dopes that will agree to lowball offers….and that leaking to press interest in others will make them shake.
“Sellers are dopes”…Yes. Stearns has taken teams to the playoffs probably a half dozen+ times and yet knows nothing about running a baseball team.
All the real baseball management “knowledge” is down here in the MLBTRADERUMORS.COM comments section, right?
Brewers miss him big time. Finishing few games over .500 and missing playoffs with an insane payroll is also quite a feat.
He took the Brewers to the playoffs in a town with no expectations and doesn’t care about baseball. Running a big market club is a totally different situation.
Why do very few leaks ever happen then?
What are you expecting to get for an injury prone player making $20 million a year that has had 1 good season? Asking as a Reds fan.
2nd tier decent SP prospect that’s likely ready in late ’26 or next year, a more raw arm scouts like with bullpen downside and ditto OF (last 2 requiring higher speculation)…..not much and that’s with paying 10mil of salary.
So Chase Petty and maybe a Williamson and Will Benson type haul?
Could see Jose Franco as the 2nd piece speculative pitcher (fallback as bullpen?) having his TJS rite of passage couple years ago. OF probably 20-21yo range that’s a mystery or they ask for 3 pitchers in lieu of that.
Headline pitcher no idea. Petty seems like a hot mess, but have a feeling they are at stalemate pushing for Lowder off his injury.
Yeah theres no way your getting the Reds #2 prospect. I’d say everyone in the Reds top 5 is off limits for this trade.
Like Elias? The Elias FO doesn’t leak. At all. Fail.
Fail-they whine to press sellers asking too much for starters last couple years the whole time they were clinging to what is turning out to be overhyped prospects (eg. Kjerstad, Mayo, etc).
Liar.
Mayo isn’t overhyped. He’s barely had a chance to play, what with Elias’s obsession with the Mountcastles and Uriases of the world.
They could get Isaac for a song.
I’d like the Cards to sign him.
Hays is just the kind of player I think Stearns will sign.
Platoons are cheaper than stars and can be signed for shorter terms.
Why doesn’t Ryan Clifford get mentioned as a possible corner OF, though?
Benge and Clifford are both top prospects, bat lefty, and add power. Clifford is only 6 months younger than Benge and their Fangraphs projection for 2026 are very similar.
bb,
I have high hopes for Clifford. Let’s hope he’s not traded. He’ll start the season in AAA, not yet ready for majors. At whatever point he is, he may become mid-lineup, long term 1st base solution but also outfield corner options. I can’t recall if it’s Baseball America or Fangraphs that has raised his foot speed rating to 50/80 and says his defense at first base is now above average and in outfield solid too, including really strong arm.
And this is probably behind a lot of Stearns’ thinking: if you expect Benge, Clifford and Jett Williams to be impact players in 2026, you don’t block them.
If Clifford sticks, Polanco, worst case, is a DH and backup to Semien and Baty. If Benge and Williams stick, Hays is a potent RH bench bat and Taylor is a defensive substitute.
@Exile…WOW somebody actually gets it. Thank you !!! It just can not be that so little human beings lack the basic brain capacity to see the most minimal of things.
I rather a GM with a plan over a Brodie Van Wagstail that had no business coming close to a ML front office.
Yup. That’s because no emotional Met fan can wrap their brain around the idea of a roster that may have the potential for a 2026 post-season with names that may possibly include guys like Benge, Clifford, Jett and a patchwork quilt of starting pitchers.
“No, no, no! We need Bellinger, we need Tucker, we need Framber, we need… blah blah blah…”
Be realistic, will you? If one of those 3 perform well in the majors, be grateful. 3 of them? Don’t confuse your hopes with what’s probable.
@Joel
Confuse? Did we confuse the Brewers having the best record in the majors last year? Did we confuse the Rays, Guardians, Tigers and others that have made it with homegrown talent? The players you see now might not be there in September, but u knew that already.
There’s more than just 1 way to build a team.
More than one way to build a team but there’s utter lack of transparency coming from Stearns and Cohen and that’s huge problem. A slap in the face to the fan base. They should know better and do better.
@LongTime….
Im not sure how old you are and I am in no way trying to belittle but I just can’t understand what makes u so entitled to think u deserve an explanation. Spending hatd earned money or not. You have a choice to be a fan of any team and any team has the right to run an organization how they see fit. If you don’t agree then u can stop watching said team. Transparency is a choice and how far said team goes with transparency is also a choice. They owe you a winning product, its not as easy as some want it to be. The Yankees and Dodgers are special cases. They deserve all the praise by figuring it out.
I own and run my own business, its a very busy business that has many customers that I want to make happy. The one thing I will not do is let my customers run my business. Most people just want what they want and thats why there are other options. God bless America.
Don’t like my product? You have the freedom to find another. They owe you nothing but trying to build a winning team. I along with many believe the Mets are trying. Time will tell.
Sorry for such a long post.
I don’t disagree.
But also consider that the Guardians have not won a WS in 77 years, and the Brewers and Rays have never won a WS.
When a high-payroll team is “interested” in a player that nearly always means the reporter called the player’s agent to get a scoop – perhaps on another client – and the agent said “here’s something … the Mets asked about Austin Hays.” The agent’s goal is to get the guy a contract with someone sooner so he can go on vacation before the season, and it’s unlikely to be the Mets.
Sea,
Hayes sounds like a Stearns kind of free agent. It’s increasingly feeling like Sandy Alderson’s back in charge and I’m not liking it.
Stearns and Cohen have really failed the fans this offseason with utter lack of transparency. Instead of being honest with the public outright, and taking the tough questions, they leave it to largely silence and for everyone to figure it out based upon their action – and lack thereof. Feels a lot like the Wilpons.
No, the Wilpons would’ve kept Pete to appease fans and never signed a real star like Soto.
“And just what has Soto won in NY”
about as much as judge and lost the world series? oh wait that was with Soto.
He’s the best player on the team. He had a great season for them. He’s been on the team for ONE year and you ask what has he won? Sorry, but one baseball player can’t make a team into a champion or even a playoff team. Not basketball here.
@LongTime…
Actually I feel its the other way around. The Wilpons told everything and wondered why nothing would go right. A front office like the well ran Braves are stealthy and strike when no one sees it coming. If the Braves would have signed Edwin Diaz everyone would have praised them for quietly landing him.
Just because fans want information like yesterday doesn’t mean they have to oblige. Im not saying what Stearns/Cohen is doing is right, I just rather wait till the end product over being emotionally unstable and getting mad over nothing.
People need to chill, the trolls are out and looking for an excuse. 😉
We can only hope we are out on Robert. Not sure what Stearn’s obsession is with him. If he was cheap, maybe, but even at subsidy, not a good value.
Hays makes perfect sense for a soft side platoon with Benge. In that scenario, Taylor plays more than a lot of folks think he should.
Honestly, I think Jett should be given a look as well.
All of that said, they still need a bit more oomph in the lineup. Likely a first baseman.
Okamoto. Maybe.
Would love to see them try to pry Soderstrom as a benefit to taking Severino off their hands (obviously something significant would have to go back…and I doubt they are shopping him.)
Mets fans idea of significant don’t seem to lineup with others meaning of the word significant.
A’s aren’t looking to dump Severino, as thy have said as much.
They actually are, but don’t wish to subsidize the contract in trade, thus they are not openly talking trade.
Stearns if he wants to be efficient might have to take on a contract to extract another need.
However, I can’t think of any that would make sense at the moment. The only crappy contracts are those that are not as helpful…
Berrios, Alcantara might work, Castillo, but if they are valuable, they won’t be cheap in prospects.
Gotta be a smokescreen, he never played for the Yankees
Well Guess we are back to the Wilpon days shopping at the discount shop Thought with Soto Cohen was serious now shows true colors Bullpen worse Starting Rotation no Improvement Hitting worse and all we hear is be patient well when your stadium is half full remember getting rid of all the core was your choice which is fine but not replacing them with better talent was your choice and as fans all we can do is stay away
Joshuan 2 – That how I’m feeling too. Stearns is Sandy Alderson, and Cohen is morphing into the Wilpons.
i have a family member who’s been big Mets fan since their inception in 1962,, and is so disgusted with this franchise, he’s done with them after gradually turning back to the Dodgers over the past few years. Letting Alonso leave was the final straw.
Cohen literally said from day one that when the prospects are ready, he won’t have to spend as much. Develop talent and pay for premier talent like Soto. The days of buying an entire roster is over.
Hays’ problem is health.
This is what happens when you base all decisions on metrics and nothing else. It may work in Milwaukee but I’d be willing to be it’s not going to work in NY. We’ll see.
The White Sox will never get what they want for a Robert. That ship sailed a while ago.
Wonder if he’s related to Willy Mays Hays?
You would complain about the Brewers lineup being garbage and they won 97 games.
I think Stearns is messing with everyone, specifically agents whose clients would like to play in NY. “Don’t make me, but I will.”
And we know he will. (Montas, Manaea…)
Hays is fine in LF (which the Mets don’t have), why sign him to play CF? If the Mets aren’t going to sign Bellinger then go polar opposite and see if the Royals are open to moving Isbel or the Jays Straw, or even Meyers from the Astros
All Queens’ borough nephrologists cheer.
After the McNeil trade (probably the least shocking move of the Mets offseason), this roster is very, very uncertain at this point in the offseason for one that, by everyone’s estimation, intends on competing in 2026…Stearns has a ton of work to do still and I really hope for my Mets fan brethren here, he gets to work
That’s not happening. Payroll’s already at $294m for LT purposes. Cohen has publicly asserted it will be in the $310m-320m range,
That means no major free agents, just something such as an Austin Hays signing, and another $3m-4m for a MIRP.
Reds fans in shambles
Cohen has stated that they want their prospects to be built in-house for the most part. Not every person on the team would be, as it never is, but that is logical he wants long-standing players who come up through the system with each other and build up that camaraderie. I can respect that and by the looks of it, Stearns was his guy to do that.
Yeah, because if there’s one thing it’s clear Cohen cares about, it’s camaraderie.
Please, God, no Austin Hays. A mediocrity.
Wonder what Soto is thinking…..no Alonso, Nimmo, McNeil. But they have Hayes on thier radar
If this is the replacement for Nimmo I just don’t get it. Even if they get Tucker or Bellinger how big of an improvement have they made. Why trade Nimmo for a player at the position where you are deepest? Even with McNeil gone they have Baty, Mauricio and Jett for second base.
To get rid of Nimmo’s albatross contract. He was paid to be a CFer and he’s a below average LFer.
Hays is nothing more than a platoon guy at this point. Those seasons in Baltimore prop him up but those are quite certainly his career peaks.
Signing him of course doesn’t exclude Bellinger or Tucker…the Mets have to be looking hard at them…they honestly need to sign one of them or whatever OF they piece together will be deficient even with a guy like Soto a part of it.
Not a Mets fan but with the NL East looking to be wide open IMO, they need to get another proven bat in that lineup or it will be a wasted opportunity..
NoNONONONONONONO… stop Wilponing us!!! I’d rather have LR because money is no object and I don’t want LR at all.