Source: Núñez to Mets on Minor League deal
Free-agent infielder Eduardo Núñez and the Mets have agreed to a Minor League deal with an invite to Spring Training, a source told MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez on Saturday. The club has not confirmed the news.
Núñez, 32, will vie for a backup infield role this spring, most likely on the left side. He’s spent the majority of his 10-year career -- with the Yankees, Twins, Red Sox and Giants -- at third base, playing 301 games at the hot corner, but he’s also logged 276 games at shortstop and 160 at second base.
Núñez joins a crowded Mets infield that features first baseman Pete Alonso, second baseman Robinson Canó, shortstop Amed Rosario and third baseman Jeff McNeil.
Núñez is coming off a tough 2019 season with the Red Sox that ended with him getting designated for assignment on July 15 and released soon after. He slashed .228/.243/.305 and was worth minus-1.5 Wins Above Replacement.
Though Núñez's offensive numbers took a significant spiral last year, he was a hero for the Red Sox in their 2018 World Series championship run, belting a critical pinch-hit homer in a Game 1 win vs. the Dodgers.
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The career .276/.310/.404 hitter is also not far removed from an above-average offensive stint with San Francisco, where he played from 2016-17 before getting traded to Boston ahead of the 2017 Trade Deadline.