The Mets are adding some insurance at first base.
The Amazin’s have agreed to terms with free agent Adrian Gonzalez pending a physical, a source confirmed to the Daily News.
The veteran first baseman will likely split time at first depending on how much Dominic Smith, a 2013 first-round pick who was a late-season call up in 2017, impresses the Mets.
A five-time All-Star, Gonzalez, 35, compiled a .242/.287/.355 slash line last season and was limited to 71 games due to back injuries with the National League champion Dodgers. When he returned from his injury, NL Rookie of the Year Cody Bellinger had taken over at first base. The injury ended Gonzalez’s streak of playing in at least 150 games at 11 seasons.
He was traded from Los Angeles to Atlanta as part of a five-player deal in December and released two days later.
While Gonzalez is guaranteed the $22.36 million remaining on his contract paid by the Braves, any team signing him as a free agent would only be required to pay him the major-league minimum of $545,000, similar to the deal the Mets made with Jose Reyes in 2016 after he was released by the Rockies.
Gonzalez, who will be 36 next season, would be a cheap stopgap who would not prevent Smith, one of the Mets’ top prospects, from taking over at first base in the team’s eyes.
The Mets are looking to give Smith — who hit just .198 with nine home runs and 26 RBI in 49 major-league games last season — a chance to develop a little more.
Sandy Alderson made it clear that the Mets were not overly impressed with Smith, who arrived in the major leagues out of shape last August, and that he was not guaranteed the starting first base job this spring.
Gonzalez is a five-time All-Star with 311 career home runs who was limited to just 71 games with the Dodgers last season because of back problems. He hit just .242 with three homers.
A bargain pickup like Gonzalez fits in with the Mets’ stated plan of opening this season under the $154 million payroll with which they began 2017. The slow-developing free agent market is starting to work in their favor as they signed outfielder Jay Bruce to a three-year, $39 million deal on Wednesday.
