Jackie Bradley Jr. agrees to Minors deal with Mets (source)
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NEW YORK – Seeking a measure of organizational outfield depth, the Mets on Tuesday agreed to terms on a Minor League deal with former All-Star Jackie Bradley Jr. While the Mets have not officially confirmed the deal, manager Carlos Mendoza acknowledged it and said that Bradley will report to Triple-A Syracuse.
Bradley, 34, spent the early part of this summer playing for the independent Long Island Ducks, where he hit .400/.476/.727 in 40 games. He has long been known as an elite defensive outfielder, playing all three positions throughout an 11-year Major League career and producing positive Outs Above Average totals every year since the metric’s inception. He won a Gold Glove in center field in 2018.
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A left-handed hitter and former first-round Draft pick, Bradley also produced a .767 OPS for the Red Sox from 2015-20, making the AL All-Star team in ’15 and serving as an everyday player during Boston’s title run in ’18. But Bradley has not reached similar heights since, mustering only a .513 OPS the past three seasons. That led him to take a deal with the Ducks in April to reestablish his value.
Bradley is the latest in a long line of players to go from the Ducks to affiliated ball, including former Mets relievers Scott Rice, Rob Zastryzny and Michael Tonkin.
"Another depth piece," Mendoza said. "I've seen this guy play really well at this level. Credit to him that he went and played independent ball, stayed in the game and made some adjustments."
For now, Bradley will play at Syracuse, where the roster features little outfield depth. The Mets are set at the Major League level, with Brandon Nimmo, Harrison Bader, Jeff McNeil, Tyrone Taylor, DJ Stewart and Ben Gamel all seeing time at various outfield positions. But several of those players have not distinguished themselves, and the Mets don’t have a concrete timeline on the return of starting right fielder Starling Marte, who’s been out since June due to a bone bruise in his right knee.
As such, rumors have begun cropping up regarding the sensibility of adding another outfielder to the Mets’ mix. Bradley, if he performs well at Triple-A, could eventually push to fill that role.