The New York Mets and outfielder Juan Lagares have agreed to a four-year, $23 million contract extension, according to Jim Bowden of ESPN. The deal includes and option to buy out one season of free agency.
The contract will be fully official after a physical is taken on Thursday. According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, Lagares will make $2.5 in the first year of the extension, which starts in 2016. In 2017 he will make $4.5 million and $6.5 and $9 million over 2018 and 2019. The club option for 2020 is worth $9.5 million with a $500,000 buyout.
Signing Lagares has finally given the Mets a set-in-stone outfield. However, Michael Cuddyer and Curtis Granderson are only locked up through 2016. New York has also continued extension talks with first baseman Lucas Duda, who is a pure slugger.
Lagares is an outstanding defender, but his bat is a concern at certain times. The 26-year-old had a .984 fielding percentage over 112 games in center field last season. He made just five errors. On the offensive side, Lagares slashed .281/.321/.382 with four homers and 47 RBIs. He played in 116 games and took 416 at-bats. The outfielder received a Gold Glove award.
Howver, the bat has improved this spring. The right-handed batter played in 18 games and took 55 at-bats. Lagares had 19 hits and was walked five times. His power was up, with three homers and six RBIs. Lagares has slashed .345/.400/.655 so far this spring.