Mets had interest in Jurickson Profar before OF signed with Braves: report

The Mets’ outfield is filled but the team reportedly was looking into adding another All-Star this offseason.

On Friday’s episode of the Baseball Insider podcast, Robert Murray reported that five teams were in on Jurickson Profar before the outfielder took a deal with the Braves this week. Those teams were the Blue Jays, Astros, Royals, Padres and the Mets.

Profar signed a three-year, $42 million deal with Atlanta.

The Mets being listed as a team interested in Profar comes as a bit of a surprise as the team had already re-made their outfield thanks to the signing of Juan Soto and the trade for Jose Siri. Brandon Nimmo, Tyrone Taylor, Starling Marte and Jeff McNeil — who also plays second base — are already on the roster so it would have been interesting to see where Profar would have fit.

Profar, 31, is coming off his best season in the big leagues. He slashed .280/.380/.459 while launching a career-high 24 home runs and driving in a career-high 85 RBI with the Padres. He was also named to his first All-Star team and won his first Silver Slugger while finishing 14th in NL MVP voting.

Murray did add that “as soon as there was movement in the free agent market this week, Profar’s market heated up and Atlanta was aggressive in getting that deal done.”

Murray could be referring to Anthony Santander signing his five-year contract with the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this week.

It’s unclear how aggressive the Mets were for Profar or when their interest began, but they did add sign Jesse Winker to a one-year deal last Friday. Winker, who can play the outfield, will likely be used as a left-handed DH option in the same way he was used for the Mets a season ago.

As for other recent Mets offseason moves, while they await Pete Alonso’s decision, they have already begun adding to their roster with Winker and bolstering their bullpen. The team signed A.J. Minter and are bringing in RHP Adbert Alzolay on a minor league deal.