The Mets Should Be Pushing For Omar Infante

If the Mets are serious about upgrading their infield and their lineup, they should be pushing harder to land free agent second baseman Omar Infante. While some fans clamored when the Wilpons and Sandy Alderson met with Robinson Cano, landing him has always been unrealistic for the Mets. In fact, given the real chance that the team could put together a contract for Infante that would be much more appealing to the team brass. This, from MLB Trade Rumors:

When you think of the ten best second basemen in the game, does the name Omar Infante spring to mind as a contender?  It should.  Infante, 32 in December, ranks eighth in FanGraphs wins above replacement by a second baseman for 2011-13.  This year, despite fewer games played than anyone ranked above him, Infante holds the seventh spot.  Among the six second basemen ranked above Infante in WAR this year, the only other free agent is Robinson Cano, who will be a consideration only for a select few ultra-rich large market teams.  If you're a GM looking to add a quality veteran free agent to solidify second base and you'd prefer not to dole out a nine-figure contract, Infante is your man.-Tim Dierkes, MLB Trade Rumors Sep. 2013

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Among the few drawbacks are Infante's seeming inability to take a walk. He drew only 20 walks in 476 plate appearances last season, an extremely poor number given the focus on OBP within the Met organization. However, he is also a player who rarely strikes out, only registering 44 of those in the same year. However, Infante meets one other extremely important qualification to play on the Mets: affordability.

MLBTR pegged him for a contract of three years and $25 million. A figure reached before this winter's market began to establish itself, we can probably assume that number to be too low now. However, even extending the years and money to four years and approximately $40 million, Infante remains an appealing signing. He would complete the contract at a perfectly reasonable 35 years old, which does not extend him too far past his prime, and he would add another solid, respectable bat into the weak Met lineup.

While I have seen no serious connection between the Met camp and Infante so far, the market around him has not seemed to heat up yet. The Mets should make sure to get in on Infante. If they get priced out, so be it, but at the current time he seems to be in play financially.