Report: Mets interested in signing Michael A. Taylor

With the MLB Winter Meetings kicking off the week in Nashville, the hot stove is about to heat up in ways we’ve been waiting all offseason for. The Minnesota Twins have a number of moves that must be made to ensure the team remains serious about contending for a World Series,

Pitching has dominated the conversation, with the need to replace Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda taking center stage in Twins Territory. There are other areas of the roster that must be addressed, with the situation in centerfield being chief among them.

Last year Byron Buxton played exactly zero innings in the field, which is a bit of a problem considering he’s supposed to be the team’s everyday centerfielder. Trading for Michael A. Taylor in the spring ended up being a master stroke by the front office, as he was the one who ended up out in center on a daily basis and turned in a fantastic season replacing Buxton in the field.

As good as Taylor was for Minnesota last season, he’s among the free agents the team isn’t expected to being back. That’s something that inched closer to becoming a reality this week as another team has swooped in with interest.

According to Mets reporter Andy Martino from SNY, the tires have been kicked on the idea of New York adding Taylor this offseason.

How will the Twins replace Michael A. Taylor?

Taylor is a fit just about anywhere in the league. Another front office would be wise to add him to the clubhouse after what he did for the Twins, which was an extension of his solid defensive play with the Kansas City Royals before that.

He also stepped up at the plate last season, turning in a solid year offensively that saw him set a new career-high in home runs. For as much as the Twins struggled, Taylor was a nice shot in the arm from time to time.

Replacing Taylor was to be expected, but it doesn’t make hearing these rumors any easier. The good news is the Twins have a few interesting players coming up who might be able to fill the hole left by Taylor’s exit.

Austin Martin is expected to be on the Opening Day roster and might get some run out in centerfield, and the Twins are bringing back both Willi Castro and Nick Gordon as well. Those three players, plus a potential free agent signing like Harrison Bader, create a pretty solid platoon for Rocco Baldelli to tinker with.

Of course, the best case scenario is that Buxton returns to full health and is able to play every day out in center, creating a good problem for the team to have. Losing Taylor is a bummer, but he deserves to get paid and the Twins have more than a few interesting ways to make up for his absence.

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