The Mets added Albert Almora Jr. to their much needed depth for the center field spot. With Nimmo slated to be the Mets primary center fielder, they have added some good defensive center fielders. Let’s take a look at the Mets newest addition first: Albert Almora jr.

Albert Almora was one of the best defensive center fielders in the game in 2018. He collected 10 OAA, which was good for ninth in the majors. He followed it up with 3 OAA in 2019, which was tied for 17th. Not great but still solid. 2020 isn’t a fair assessment as he had just 35 attempts.

Almora is a master of going in on balls. In 2018 and 2019 combined, he collected a positive 15 OAA when he needed to get in to catch a fly ball. Going back, he had difficulty in 2019, which made his OAA lower than expected. You will see Almora playing a fairly deep CF, with his ability to go in.

What Almora consistently kept doing good was his outfield jump. In 2018 and 2019 combined, he was a positive 3.3 Feet above average covered. His sprint speed and jump gets his range up to elite level. He should be able to retain that, being just 26 years old. He wasn’t too bad in limited time in 2020, so that’s positive.

Almora is not the only good defensive CF’er we have. Another addition from this offseason was Mallex Smith. He didn’t play at lot in 2020, but was fairly elite in 2019. He accounted for 6 OAA in CF (10 total), which was good for 11th in the majors amongst Center Fielders.

In 2019, he improved his reaction to the batted balls, which made his jump 1.5 feet above average. He also was good with going back on balls, collecting plus 8 OAA (from the 10 total). Solid jump and route selection with great sprint speed, makes him cover ground a lot as well.

Smith and Almora aren’t the only ones the Mets have in their system. They also have Guillermo Heredia, who is a good defender. Heredia was in the 78th percentile in sprint speed, but excelled in outfielders jump in 2019 as he was in the 97th percentile, top in the league.

In just 99 attempts in 2019, he collected 4 OAA in center field, good for 16th in the majors. He was better than George Springer and Almora jr, with less attempts.

Like Almora, Heredia did well on going in. His total OAA, was all because of catches going in. His feet vs. Average covered was a stunning 2.1 above average, close to the league lead.

While Nimmo is obviously the better players as the other three have light bats, the Mets have three defensive minded CFders, that could take the spot if needed. If you need one, you have a couple to choose from, who at least play the position well, were defense is more important IMO. Some good depth there for the Mets to have.