UPDATE: The Mets have confirmed Dillon Gee is their No. 5 starter.
The New York Mets have extended a Gold Glove winning outfielder and named the fifth starter in their rotation on Wednesday as the team hopes to contend in 2015.
ESPN's Jim Bowden has the scoop. New York signed center fielder Juan Lagares to a contract extension through 2019, which covers his arbitration years. The deal guarantees him $23 million and includes a $9.5 million team option (or a $550,000 buyout) for the 2020 season. The 26-year-old earned just $506,636 in 2014 after becoming the third Mets outfielder to win a Gold Glove.
Lagares batted .281/.321/.382/.703 with 46 runs scored, 4 home runs, 47 RBIs and 13 stolen bases in 116 games last season. He followed that up with a tremendous spring training and slashed .345/.400/.655/1.055 with 13 runs scored, three home runs and six RBIs in 18 games (60 plate appearances).
Bowden notes the extension begins in 2016 since Lagares was already signed for 2015. The deal is currently pending a physical.
As for the pitching staff, right-hander Dillon Gee will be named the fifth starter in the Mets' rotation, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. Earlier in the week it appeared Gee could be traded before Opening Day or begin the season in the bullpen because of the emergence of prospect Rafael Montero, but it appears manager Terry Collins went with experience over youth.
Gee definitely won't start the season in the bullpen, but Rubin addressed the trade rumors.
"Despite Gee being poised to be named to the rotation, the Mets may trade him early this season, a source told ESPN.com," he writes.
Gee finished a solid spring training and went 2-0 with a 2.49 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in seven games (four starts), totaling 21 2/3 innings.
Montero will start the season in the bullpen, which is something Collins was ready and excited for.
"From what I've seen out of Montero, he gives us a lot of options if he ends up going to the bullpen," Collins told Mike Puma of the New York Post. "With this command I'm seeing right now, if he can have this kind of command, I have no problem putting him in the back end of that pen. We'll have to decide if he can handle it."
Gee's exit could be foreshadowed with Montero starting the season on the 25-man roster, but for now the 28-year-old will continue his role as a starter with the Mets.
NOTE: The team has yet to confirm Lagares' contract or Gee being the fifth starter.
