Mets add Harrison Bader on one-year deal, source says
Bronxville native Harrison Bader enjoyed his time in the Bronx; now he’s moving crosstown to Flushing. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Harrison Bader is coming home. Again.
Bader, the Bronxville native who played for the Yankees in 2022-23, has agreed to a one-year, $10.5 million contract with the Mets, a baseball source confirmed Thursday.
Bader, 29, is a gifted defensive centerfielder with some pop who often has been dogged by injuries.
With the Mets, Bader will join an outfield mix that includes incumbent centerfielder Brandon Nimmo (who could move to left), trade pickup Tyrone Taylor and rightfielder Starling Marte, who is coming off an injury-plagued season.
Bader and Taylor are righthanded hitters, as is Marte. The Mets acquired Taylor along with starter Adrian Houser from Milwaukee for a minor-leaguer.
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns talked about his interest in adding an outfielder (or two, apparently) on Dec. 4.
“Our outfield situation, we could stand to add an outfielder there, no question,” he said. “That can take a variety of different paths. It could be more defensive-oriented, it could be somebody we view as a bat-first player. There are options in free agency and trade that we’re working on, and we’ll continue to evaluate that.”
Bader joined the Yankees at the trade deadline in 2022 in a deal with the Cardinals for lefthander Jordan Montgomery.
Even though Bader was injured and in a walking boot at the time of the trade, the Yankees gambled that he would return to health and help them down the stretch of that season —
and that’s what happened.
Bader made his Yankees debut on Sept. 20 and then starred in the postseason, hitting five home runs in two playoff rounds as the Yankees made it to the ALCS.
But Bader again was hampered by injuries in 2023, when he hit .240 with seven home runs and a .643 OPS in 84 games before the Yankees let him go on a waiver claim to Cincinnati on Aug. 31.
Before he left for Cincinnati, Bader expressed an interest in returning to his roots, although not in Flushing.
“I never thought I’d ever play in the big leagues, let alone in the Yankees’ uniform,” he said. “I have no idea what’s to come for the future and I certainly hope it’s in a Yankees’ uniform again if that’s an option.
“With that said, it just means so much to me to be a New York City kid playing in the Bronx for the Yankees. It’s just really special for a lot of reasons. There’s just a lot of good moments and I’m just really excited because, regardless of the situation, no one can ever take the fact that I put that uniform on growing up in that city. Man, that was special.”
The Yankees, though, are all full up in the outfield after trading for Juan Soto and Trent Grisham.
Ironically, the Yankees have a need in the starting rotation and are looking to see if Montgomery would like to make a homecoming of his own as a free agent.
But times have changed since Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said he was willing to trade Montgomery for Bader because he didn’t think the lefthander would be part of the Yankees’ 2022 postseason rotation.
Montgomery just won a World Series title with Texas in a postseason run in which he won three games. Montgomery is drawing interest from several teams, including the Rangers and Yankees.
Bader’s signing was first reported by SNY.
Yankees claim Thompson
The Yankees on Thursday claimed outfielder Bubba Thompson off waivers from the Reds.
Thompson, a 25-year-old righthanded hitter, hit .170 in 37 games with Texas last season. His career numbers are a .242 batting average with one home run and a .591 OPS in 92 games with the Rangers. He has appeared in all three outfield spots.
Thompson was a first-round pick (26th overall) by Texas in 2017. This is the third time he has been claimed off waivers since August.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
