The New York Mets take two possible fits for the Colorado Rockies outfield off the market

The New York Mets were busy on Friday, despite the holiday weekend, as they reportedly signed infielder Eduardo Escobar and outfielder Mark Canha to two-year contracts with an option for a third year and outfielder Starling Marte to a four-year deal. The Colorado Rockies, who desperately need help on offense and need help in the outfield, could have used Mark Canha or Starling Marte in their outfield.

The New York Mets got both Canha and Marte for a combined $104.5 million, as Canha will reportedly get a guaranteed $26.5 million and Marte will reportedly get $78 million

The Colorado Rockies missed out on two free agent outfielders because the New York Mets signed them within hours of each other.

Mark Canha, who turns 33 in February, will join the New York Mets after he has spent the last seven seasons with the Oakland A’s. Some people thought Canha would have been a good, cheap option for the Rockies as a “bridge” outfielder due to his age. The Mets got him for two years so, essentially, he will be that for them.

In 2021, he played the most games he has ever played in a season as in 141 games, he hit .231/.358/.387 with 17 homers and 61 RBI with an OPS+ of 111. Since 2019, his batting average hasn’t been great (.249) but he gets on base a lot due to a decent amount of walks and also being hit by a lot of pitches (55 since 2019).

As a result, his on-base percentage since 2019 is an excellent .377. That would have been excellent at the top of the order for the Colorado Rockies, whose OBP leader in 2021 was C.J. Cron at .375. Charlie Blackmon had the next highest OBP on the Rockies at .351.

Starling Marte, who already turned 33 in October, had a career year at the plate in 2021. In 2021, he hit .310/.383/.458 and an OPS+ of 132. In the last three years, he has averaged a .298/.358/.472 slash line with an OPS+ of 122. Marte has seen his defensive abilities drop a bit with age but he can still be a decent center fielder or left fielder.

The main thing with him is his OBP, like Canha. At the top of the Rockies order, somebody getting on base at that clip would be huge for the middle of the order bats of C.J. Cron, Ryan McMahon, and (potentially) Charlie Blackmon.

There are still some outfielders left on the free agent market but more players will be signing before the CBA expires (and a lockout likely happens) at 10 PM M.T. on Wednesday night.