Alternate title: USE ALL THE PLATOONS

Bringing in Cespedes was essentially a "must do" move in order to add a sorely needed impact everyday bat to a lineup that in 2016 did not seem able to carry its own weight without him. Bringing back Walker was similarly a good move to help generate some offense to back our pitching with another legitimate everyday bat. But with a team that is otherwise heavy on guys who have deep platoon splits from one side or the other, the Mets are going to have to get creative about how to maximize their offensive production out of those players. Adding another heavy platoon split impact bat from the right side in Pearce (after trading Bruce and having Nimmo play everyday in AAA in preparation for a possible everyday role in 2018) who can spell our lefty corner outfield overload and give us another layer of much-needed depth at 1B could help the Mets stay competitive even if faced with another injury-laden year in 2017. Here's a breakdown of some of our deep platoon players (wRC career splits listed vs LHP/vs RHP):

Juan Lagares: 105/76

Michael Conforto: -5/126

Curtis Granderson: 88/129

David Wright: 165/122

Lucas Duda: 86/133

Wilmer Flores: 125/84 (192/75 in 2016)

Now let's see what the situation turns into when we throw Pearce's 130/100 wRC bat into the mix (don't read too much into the batting order, I didn't put a lot of thought into it):

Lineup vs LHP:
SS Cabrera 106
3B Wright 165
LF Cespedes 125 (183 in 2016)
1B Flores 125 (192 in 2016)
RF Pearce 130
2B Walker 93 (168 in 2016)
CF Lagares 105
C TdA 91
P Pitcher

Lineup vs RHP:

CF Granderson 129
2B Walker 121
LF Cespedes 123
1B Duda 133
SS Cabrera 102
RF Conforto 126
3B Wright 122
C TdA 100
P Pitcher

Adding Pearce essentially creates a 50 wRC addition out of one of the corner outfield positions against LHP, gives us a credible corner 5th outfielder who also has positional flexibility to be an everyday 1B if Duda's back becomes a problem (leaving Flores free to still play the infield utility role after Reyes inevitably takes over for Wright), allows the Mets to give Nimmo everyday reps in AAA so that he's hopefully ready to become an everyday player in 2018 rather than rotting on the major league bench in 2017, and would likely end up as a net reduction in payroll after factoring in trading away Bruce to clear the roster spot.

-Edit- Fixed some formatting gore

-Double edit- Annnnnnd he's a Blue Jay now. Fuck.