Mets interested in former Yankees third baseman

After losing out on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Mets appear to have settled for an offseason without big free-agent splashes.

For the most part, the team has settled on one-year and minor-league deals with reclamation projects. They’ve added former Yankees pitcher Luis Severino, who is looking to reclaim his ace status, Joey Wendel, who’s two years removed from an All-Star nod, and others.

On Thursday, Mark W. Sanchez of The New York Post reported that the Mets have expressed interest in another former Yankees player, infielder Gio Urshela.

Along with Gary Sánchez, the Yankees traded Urshela to the Twins for Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt in 2022. In two seasons since then, the 32-year-old from Cartagena hasn’t been the same.

In three years in the Bronx, Urshela thrived playing alongside his buddy Gleyber Torres. His .292 batting average in that time ranked second among third basemen with at least 1,000 plate appearances. He also added 41 home runs in Yankees pinstripes, 23 more than he has in his other five MLB seasons combined.

With Ronny Mauricio suffering an ACL injury in the Winter Leagues, Urshela could be a good option for the Mets at third base. They might have to compete with their crosstown rivals, however, as a scout indicated to Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media that he could be the Yankees’ best option to replace Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who signed with the Blue Jays on Wednesday.

“This might be the Yankees’ best option,” the scout said. “They might have to revisit Gio. The Yankees know him. They know he can play defense. They know he can handle the bat. Gio probably would be cost-effective, too. Nobody is knocking his door down now to sign him as a regular.”

Manuel Gomez may be reached at [email protected].