Over the past few seasons, the New York Mets have become a team that turns players' careers around. Since David Stearns took over as President of Baseball Operations, the Mets have become notorious for signing players to minor league deals and then seeing them have breakout or renaissance seasons.
Just look at Jose Iglesias' last year. He went from his career almost being over to arguably the most important player on the team.
On Tuesday night, the Mets signed their next potential breakout player, inking David Villar to a minor league contract. While Villar will most likely be sent to Triple-A Syracuse, it does not mean he cant make an impact.
How David Villar can make the Mets' roster in 2025
Over Villar's career, he's been seen as a Quad-A player — someone who performs well at all levels of the minors but can never translate that success to the majors. Over his seven minor league seasons, he's hit .272/.366/.493 with 147 home runs and 379 RBI. However, in his four major league seasons, he's hit .200/.292/.391 with 15 home runs, 41 RBI, and a 92 OPS+.
While he has struggled for the majority of his big league career, he did show promise during his rookie campaign back in 2022. In 52 games, he logged a .231/.331/.455 line with nine home runs, 24 RBI, and a 121 OPS+. We got a glimpse of this production in 2024 when he slashed .257/.270/.457 with a homer, four RBI, and a 104 OPS+ in 11 games.
If Villar wants to rid himself of the quad-A label, he's going to have to learn to hit pitches other than fastballs. Over his career, has a batting average of .285 and a slugging percentage of .505 against fastballs. However, when facing off-speed and breaking balls, he has a batting average of .138 and a slugging percentage of .220.
Improving against those pitches will also lessen the concerns surrounding his strikeout rates. He has struck out 121 times in 335 at-bats, which comes out to a 31.6% rate. A lot of these strikeouts are the result of Villar's inability to hit off-speed and breaking balls. He's never had a whiff% under 30% in any season against those types of pitches. If he's able to improve in that department, he could be productive.
Now, even if Villar makes dramatic improvements in Syracuse, his path to the majors is still questionable. With the plethora of infielders the Mets have it would likely take an injury for him to become an everyday starter. However we could see him become a bench bat/DH option. We've seen the Mets put guys like Jared Young at DH in order to get Mark Vientos and Bret Baty in the field. If Villar can get hot before Jesse Winker gets healthy, he could earn a tryout in that role.
While many will see this as a depth move for the Mets, it has the potential to become yet another instance where a player's career trajectory is altered in Queens.