Shortly after bolstering their offense with the acquisition of free agent Jay Bruce, the Mets have an agreement in place with free agent Adrian Gonzalez pending a physical.

The 35-year-old Adrian Gonzalez was immediately designated for assignment and placed on waivers following a five-player deal that sent him to the Atlanta Braves. Gonzalez became a free agent in December when he was formally released by Atlanta.

Adrian Gonzalez or A-Gone as he was affectionately referred to during his tenure in LA, is a career .288 hitter with 2010 hits and 311 home runs. Gonzalez has compiled 42.7 WAR in his career and has a career OPS+ of 130 (100 is league average). A-Gone is also a 5-time All-Star, 4x Gold Glover, and a 2x Silver Slugger.

Gonzalez was limited to just 71 games in 2017 after the emergence of rookie slugger Cody Bellinger, and in those 71 games, he batted a meager .242/.287/.355 with just 3 home runs and 30 RBI. Gonzalez while also amassed a dreadful -1.2 WAR with a 69 OPS+ (100 OPS+ is league average).

Gonzalez will be paid a total of $21.5 million in 2018, but fortunately, for the Mets, they will only have to pay A-Gone a grand total of $545,000 for his services in this upcoming season. In addition to paying Gonzalez minimum wage, they have a backup plan in Dominic Smith who hit .198 with nine home runs and 26 RBIs in 49 games down the for the Mets in 2017.

The Mets are obviously shooting to be contenders in 2018, and this was a very smart move overall, as it is low risk and high reward. Even if Gonzalez and Dominic Smith don’t work out in the Mets’ favor, they could still, hypothetically, play Jay Bruce at first.

What do you think? Was this a smart move for the Mets? Will Adrian Gonzalez bounce back?

Don’t worry baseball fans, Spring Training will be here before you know it.