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(New York Jewish Week) — Jewish outfielder Harrison Bader is headed again to New York, this time as a member of the New York Mets.
The 29-year-old Bronxville native agreed to a one-year, $10.5 million contract with the Mets Thursday, changing into the workforce’s first Jewish participant since Kevin Pillar and Robert Inventory donned the blue and orange in 2021, in line with knowledge compiled by the Jewish Baseball Information web site.
Bader’s father, who’s Jewish, informed the Ahead final yr that his son is contemplating formally changing to Judaism. The outfielder had initially deliberate to play for Crew Israel within the 2023 World Baseball Traditional however finally dropped out as a consequence of harm.
Final April, Bader was featured on an episode of celeb chef Marcus Samuelsson’s “House Plate: New York” collection, throughout which the pair visited Liebman’s Deli, the final Jewish deli within the Bronx. Bader and Samuelsson dined on matzah ball soup, pastrami sandwiches and different Jewish delicacies whereas speaking baseball and rising up in New York.
Bader spent the primary 5 and a half seasons of his profession with the St. Louis Cardinals, the place he solidified himself as an elite defender in middle discipline, successful a Gold Glove in 2021. He was traded to the New York Yankees in 2022, the place he briefly grew to become a postseason hero. Regardless of his stellar protection, Bader struggled on the plate and the Yankees minimize him late within the 2023 season. Bader performed his closing 14 video games with the Cincinnati Reds earlier than changing into a free agent this winter.
Bader joins a Mets squad that drastically underperformed in 2023, ending fourth within the Nationwide League East regardless of getting into the yr with the very best payroll in baseball historical past. Now the Mets have a brand new supervisor, a brand new president of baseball operations — Jewish Manhattan native David Stearns — and a brand new middle fielder.
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