In a post-Moneyball era, the strategy of signing risky free agents at the top of the market can sometimes be dismissed in favor of the “safer strategy” of developing your own talent internally. But you don’t have to look any further than Starling Marte’s 2022 season for an example of what adding elite free agents can still do for a team. The Mets’ signing of Marte last offseason carried some risk, but of the available outfielders at the time, he was the one most likely to provide elite production for the Mets in 2022. And he did just that.
Starling Marte had a very Starling Marte season
