Entering free agency, there were three players who were in the top 20 in wRC+ and the top five in DRS at second base since 2016. The first two, DJ LeMahieu and Kolten Wong signed free agent deals.

The third is Jonathan Schoop.

Schoop is a far superior defender to LeMahieu, and he’s a better hitter than Wong. He’s also the youngest of the trio, and he’s a right-handed hitter.

At 28, Schoop is arguably in the prime of his career, and he just posted a 114 wRC+ with the Detroit Tigers, which was the second best mark of his career. The 2 OAA was also a strong mark at the position in 2020. Seeing all of that, you do have to wonder why he isn’t a more highly pursued free agent.

Looking more broadly, Schoop has posted a 100 wRC+ or better in three out of the past four seasons. He has also seen his walk rate increase slightly which has coincided with a three year improvement in OBP, SLG, and wRC+.

On defense, DRS has shown him having a precipitous drop from a 10 DRS in 2018 to consecutive 0 DRS seasons. Conversely, OAA has him averaging a 3 OAA per season.

All told, he’s a good defender with a good bat and fairly decent speed. Notably, his base running has been consistently improving. Seeing all of this it’s very strange to see how he’s still on the market.

One of the reasons why could be his poor exit velocity, barrel, and walk numbers. Looking at Baseball Savant, those numbers would indicate a player who might not have been anywhere near as good as his 114 wRC+.

One caveat is he did injure his wrist in September after getting hit by a pitch, and he did try to play through it. However, that’s not going to explain away a season’s worth of numbers.

Looking at his career numbers, this seems to be who he actually is. He’s a free swinger who mostly puts the ball in play and has power. Whatever the reason, this approach has yielded fair to good results at least as far as second base is concerned.

On that point, his bat plays at the position. That goes double with how well he plays second defensively.

Looking at the Mets, Schoop would improve the up the middle defense while adding a right-handed bat into a heavy left-handed hitting lineup. This would allow Jeff McNeil to move to third and Luis Guillorme to be a strong pinch hitting and defensive option.

Another important note is Schoop has some versatility. In his career, he has also seen some time at third and short. If nothing else, it could give Luis Rojas options.

Overall, Schoop complements this Mets roster very well. He improves the defense, provides depth, and adds a right-handed hitter. Given the fact he’s very likely looking at a short term deal, he could be an ideal fit for the Mets at this point in the offseason.