Young, 30, hit .200 with 12 homers in 107 games for the Athletics last year. He is a career .235 hitter with 144 home runs in 8 seasons with the Diamondbacks and Athletics. In 2007 (his rookie season) he slugged 32 homers, but hit just .237 with a .295 OBP.
He made $8.5 million last season.
Young's role on this team is unclear at this point, but based on his high salary he will likely break camp one of the team's corner outfielders. He has more experience at center field, so the Mets may shift Juan Lagares to right to allow Young to feel more comfortable.
Either way, Young's career 22.9 K % isn't very promising. Young has been fairly consistent throughout his career, but not in a good way. He has power and speed, but the strikeouts and the inability to work the count have been his biggest problems.
It is nice to see that the Mets have brought someone on board, however. Young isn't going to change the direction of the franchise, and certainly won't be worth the $7.25 million that he will earn, but he can still present a moderate upgrade over last year's cycle of outfielders.
What I don't understand is, if the Mets are willing to give someone like Young $7.25 million, why did they pass up on Marlon Byrd, who will only make a tiny bit more than him. Byrd has proven that he could do it in New York, and even showed interest in coming back to Queens.
All in all, the Mets gave up quite a chunk of money to bring Young in. Hopefully he is more than a platoon hitter, but his splits don't seem too promising. In his career, he has a .262/.363/.474 slash line against lefties, but a .225/.295/.415 slash line against righties.
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