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Harrison Bader is coming back to New York, just not the Yankees.
The Mets and Bader agreed to a one-year, $10.5 million contract on Thursday, The Post’s Joel Sherman reported.
Bader, the 29-year-old Bronxville product, offers premium defense in center field, which could allow the Mets to move Brandon Nimmo to a corner at times to maximize their outfield alignment.
Though Bader struggled to stay healthy as a Yankee — missing time over the past two seasons with plantar fasciitis, an oblique strain and a hamstring strain — he has proven to be one of the best defensive center fielders in the game.
The 2021 Gold Glove winner should help with David Stearns’ stated goal of improving the Mets’ run prevention.
Stearns said last month at the winter meetings that the team had talked to Nimmo about potentially playing more in a corner-outfield spot, and the veteran was willing to do what was best for the Mets.
“We’ve had conversations about it, and I think Brandon is of the mind that whatever he can do to help us win, he wants to do,” Stearns said in December. “And so if there are roster constructions, lineup constructions where there are times he’s not in center field and it’s going to give us a better chance to win, he’s open to it.”
Last season, Bader recorded nine Outs Above Average (via Baseball Savant), which ranked seventh among qualified center fielders.
Nimmo was third-lowest with zero, though he did have six OAA in 2022. He started 126 games in center field last season and nine in left field to help him manage a late-season quad injury.
The Mets could use both Nimmo and Bader in center field, with the right-handed hitting Bader slotting in predominantly against left-handed pitchers and the left-handed hitting Nimmo moving to a corner on those days.
Bader hit just .232 last season with a .622 OPS across 344 total plate appearances, but in 97 plate appearances against lefties he hit .299 with a .936 OPS.
Bader flashed his offensive upside in the 2022 playoffs when he crushed five home runs in nine games for the Yankees.
After a delayed start to his 2023 season because of a spring training oblique strain, Bader was providing solid offense early before falling off in the summer months, leading the Yankees to put him on waivers in late August.
He was claimed by the Reds but continued to slump in September.
New manager Carlos Mendoza, who saw Bader’s top-flight defense during his time as Yankees bench coach, will now have plenty of flexibility with his outfield.
The group includes Nimmo, Bader, Starling Marte, Tyrone Taylor, Jeff McNeil (who is expected to see more time at second base) and DJ Stewart. Taylor, another above-average defensive outfielder who the Mets acquired from the Brewers last month, can play all three spots.
The depth could provide cover for Marte, who is coming off a down year in which he posted a career-low OPS (.625) in 86 games while dealing with a recurring groin injury.
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In adding Bader, Taylor and veteran infielder Joey Wendle, Stearns has followed up on his intention of improving the Mets defensively.
The deal also reunites Bader with his college teammate Pete Alonso, after the two played at the University of Florida together from 2014-15.
“The diesel bros are back baby!!!” Alonso wrote on Instagram with pictures of him and Bader from college. “Welcome back to the orange and blue!!!!”
Bader — who received the same contract that the Blue Jays gave Gold Glove center fielder Kevin Kiermaier last week — becomes the second ex-Yankee to sign with the Mets this offseason, after Luis Severino landed a one-year, $13 million contract in November.
At the end of his Yankees tenure, Bader made it known how much he enjoyed playing in his home city.
“It just means so much to me to be a New York City kid playing in The Bronx for the Yankees,” Bader said the day he was claimed by the Reds. “Yeah, it’s just really special for a lot of reasons.”
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