The Mets have found their left-handed replacement for Lucas Duda: James Loney.
Loney, 32, was released by the Rays this spring and has been with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate in El Paso, Texas, where he had an OPS of .797 in 169 plate appearances.
He was acquired Saturday for cash and likely will join the team Monday.
Loney will be part of a platoon in place of Duda, who is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a stress fracture in his back.
“It could be less than that, but it could also be longer, so we took a good look around the organization and as you can see from the last 5-6 days, we’ve mixed and matched,” general manager Sandy Alderson said before Saturday’s game against the Dodgers at Citi Field.
“Loney was an immediate, obvious possibility in terms of ease of acquisition and a variety of things,’’ Alderson said. “We had someone go and look at James a couple of games last week and earlier in the month. We felt this was the right move for us at the moment. Hopefully Lucas is back soon, but in the meantime, we felt we needed another left-handed bat.’’
The Mets have been using Eric Campbell at first, and Wilmer Flores should be back from a rehab stint soon, but both are right-handed hitters.
Because Loney was released by the Rays, the Mets only will have to pay the pro-rated major league minimum for Loney, who has about $8 million left on his contract.
“We’re very, very happy to get James,” said Terry Collins, who added he’s known Loney since the former Dodger was 17 years old. “He’ll add a nice dimension to us. And he’s a good defensive first baseman.”
One thing Loney won’t do is make up for Duda’s homers. He hit just four in 388 plate appearances for the Rays last season and his OPS dropped each of the last two years after a resurgence in 2013.
“Interestingly enough, James doesn’t have a lot of power,” Alderson said. “He hasn’t demonstrated that, but we’ve got that elsewhere in the lineup. He’s someone who hits from the left side, a contact hitter, doesn’t strike out a lot. He could be a nice fit for us.”