The New York Mets acquired first baseman James Loney from the San Diego Padres on Saturday for cash.
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NY made the move after Lucas Duda went on the disabled list earlier this week with a stress fracture in his lower back and could miss two months.
Last in the major leagues in 2015, Loney has a career major league batting average of.285 and 99 home runs over the span of 10 years.
Wally Backman, manager of the Mets’ affiliate at Triple-A Las Vegas, said he knew Loney had an out in his Padres contract and made a phone call to New York’s front office after Duda went down.
With thin depth, the Mets might be forced to look externally for a solution, and current Padres minor leaguer James Loney is rumored to be on the Mets radar.
With Duda sidelined, Eric Campbell has started four straight games at first base.
Loney isn’t a traditional power-hitting first baseman, but he’s established himself as solid defender and a capable hitter over his career. With El Paso, Loney slugged for a slash line of.342/.374/.424. They didn’t have to trade any players for Loney, while the majority of the almost $10 million he is owed this season will be paid by the Rays after they cut him loose this April.
Tampa Bay Rays’ Hank Conger high fives teammates in the dugout after his three-run home run off New York Yankees relief pitcher Luis Cessa during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, May 28, 2016, in St. Petersburg, Fla.
And the move offers little downside for a team that has World Series aspirations this season.
“Loney was sort of an immediate, obvious possibility in terms of ease of acquisition”, general manager Sandy Alderson said. Flores, who actually hit lefties pretty well, struggles against right-handed pitching.
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“He’ll add a nice dimension to us”, Collins said. “We’ve seen Michael be really good”, Girardi said. It’s an aspect of Loney’s game that no doubt the Padres and Mets have factored in, but teams have shown time and again willingness to sacrifice defense for offense. Loney figures to be the starting first basemen for the next few days, at least until Flores completes his rehab assignment returning from a hamstring injury.
