Whenever I think of Albert Amora Jr. I recall his high baseball iQ play in Game 7 of The World Series on a night Cubs fans will never forget. After Aroldis Chapman nearly blew the game and a championship (a role he has continued as a Yankee closer) Almora tagged up on a fly ball in the tenth inning helping the Cubs win their first World Championship since 1908 coming back from a 3 game to 1 deficit to give their fans a dream come true night.
And now he is a New York Met as he has agreed to a contract pending a physical. His role with be determined in more detail once we know if a universal DH is coming in 2021. If there is no DH, I believe Almora will platoon in center with Brandon Nimmo plus serve as late inning defensive replacement which will give both Dom Smith and Jose Martinez at bats on a regular basis.
In a DH World, I think Almora mans center with Nimmo in left driving a Smith/Martinez/Alonso combo in that DH role. I know Met fans wanted Jackie Bradley Jr. but in fairness the team got a better defensive outfielder in Almora at a much cheaper price. And much like the Realmuto/McCann comparison the team got a better fit because all I have heard about Almora is he is a great teammate whose on the field IQ is off the charts.
One of the big goals in this off-season was to improve defense up the middle and McCann, Lindor, McNeil replacing Cano and Almora have done that in a big way. And in both cases the money saved can be utilized in a number of ways including extensions with the trio of Lindor, Conforto and Syndergaard (once Thor shows he is healthy).
And my sense is the Mets are not done as they are exploring adding starter pitcher depth as well as possibly adding an infielder as well.
This roster is so much better than it was a a year ago as they have improved the rotation, the bullpen, the lineup and added the top available player in this off-season-Francisco Lindor. They have also added players that are great teammates and blend well in the team first clubhouse culture the Mets have been building in the past few years.
And Almora fits neatly into that clubhouse in every way.