The National League Batting Champ, Jeff McNeil is staying with the New York Mets for at least another four years. The two sides agreed to a four-year, $50 million contract extension, Friday. The deal ensures that one of the team’s core players will remain in Queens as they look to win their first World Series since 1986.
McNeil, who will turn 31 a week after Opening Day, was scheduled for an arbitration trial with the Mets. He was requesting $7.75 million and they offered $6.25 million. The gap initiated talks about a new extension and keeping Jeff McNeil past the two years of arbitration.
He’s fresh off one of the finest seasons of his career, having turned in a .326/.382/.454 batting line with nine home runs, 39 doubles, a triple, and four stolen bases in 589 plate appearances. Unsurprisingly, that season earned him a second career All-Star nod and won him Silver Slugger honors in the National League — his first such award.
McNeil was not an easy strikeout last season either, fanning in a career-low 10.4% of his plate appearances. He’s never walked much and didn’t change that in 2022 (6.8%), but it’s difficult to argue with the results.
The 2022 season was also very arguably the finest defensive season of McNeil’s career. Each of Defensive Runs Saved (3), Ultimate Zone Rating (3.5) and Outs Above Average (7) pegged him as a strong handler of the glove at second base. He also logged some brief time in the outfield corners (278 innings) and drew average or better reviews for his work there, and he even chipped in a lone inning at third base for good measure. Now that, McNeil is locked in for four more years, second base will continue to be his main position. It’ll also be a position that the Mets don’t have to worry about a couple of seasons down the road.
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