The Mets team build before and after 2023 was wildly different, and one of the most obvious ways that manifested was in the outfield. Coming into 2023, the Mets had Brandon Nimmo, Mark Canha, a hopefully healthy Starling Marte, and Tommy Pham waiting in the wings as a fourth outfielder. By the season’s end, Pham and Canha were gone, Marte had spent a majority of the season injured (and below average when on the field), and DJ Stewart and Rafael Ortega had gotten quite a bit of playing time over the course of August and September.
So the Mets needed to find some outfielders that would be playable and especially give the Mets some good defense, which they had been lacking.