While the Atlanta Braves have been enjoying a great offseason thus far, the Mets aren’t having as good a time. They’ve lost three of their top players via trade or free agency. New York is doing their best to replace the losses of Edwin Diaz, Pete Alonso, and Brandon Nimmo.
So far, they’ve added Devin Williams and Jorge Polanco, but that pairing doesn’t exactly inspire much confidence. Not only that, but they’ve also been dealing with potential clubhouse drama involving Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor, and/or Jeff McNeil. The Mets seemingly have the funds to change their offseason fate in a heartbeat, but so far, it doesn’t look very good for them.
A former Braves prospect found himself in the fold of this interesting offseason for the Mets. Fans remember the excitement that surrounded outfielder Cristian Pache a few years ago. It felt like he was destined to become the starting center fielder. Pache reportedly signed a minor league deal with the Mets with a non-roster invite to spring training. This will be the sixth organization he has played for since being traded almost four years ago in the Matt Olson deal.
Former top Braves prospect Cristian Pache just landed with the Mets as he tries to prolong his MLB career
The former top prospect is now 27 years old and still well known for being a very strong outfield defender. His offensive ability has yet to appear as he has a career average of .181 with seven homers and 49 RBI over 251 MLB games. At this point, he probably just is what he has shown at the plate.
Pache hasn’t appeared in a major league game since 2024. He spent the majority of the 2025 season with the Diamondbacks Triple-A affiliate in Reno, Nevada. He carried a .251/.351/.389 slash line with the Aces, including five homers, eight steals, 15 doubles, 25 RBI, 34 BB, and 77 K over 70 games.
He dealt with multiple injuries throughout the 2025season, which prevented him from playing a full year. New York needs to find an outfield replacement with Nimmo out of the picture. However, it doesn’t feel like Pache will be the answer with how his career has gone to this point.
It feels like Pache is on a quest similar to Thanos collecting infinity stones, as the Mets are the fourth NL East team he has played for. The Nationals are the last stop needed to complete the set.
