While the Mets have reportedly discussed Jed Lowrie in potential trades throughout the offseason, New York and general manager Brodie Van Wagenen are pleased with the infielder's progress entering 2020.

After a 2019 season in which he only played nine games due to injuries, Lowrie is making strides ahead of his second season with the Mets.

"We were pleased with his progress on where he's at physically," Van Wagenen said, according to Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News. "We did some testing to measure his strengths (and) he's progressing to the point where we're optimistic of having him participate in a meaningful way in (Spring Training) games."

Lowrie, who turns 36 on April 17, is going into his 13th MLB season after he recorded just eight plate appearances with the Mets in 2019. He drew one walk and suffered four strikeouts in seven at-bats.

He missed most of his first season with the Mets due to multiple injuries before returning Sept. 7 against the Philadelphia Phillies. Prior to the return, Lowrie went through an unsuccessful rehab stint earlier in the spring. After three months, he resumed his comeback attempt in August, going from High-A St. Lucie to Triple-A Syracuse before getting reactivated.

Lowrie came to the Mets after an All-Star campaign in 2018, when he slashed .267/.353/.448 with a career-best 23 home runs and 99 RBI as a third-year member of the Oakland Athletics. The A's actually surfaced, in a Dec. 11 report by SNY's Andy Martino, with the Texas Rangers as two teams that the Mets had spoken to about Lowrie.

"I think our plan still has the same core focus," Van Wagenen said Dec. 10. "We want to create depth in our starting rotation, we want to create depth in the bullpen, but we also want to rely on the good players that we have. We have a core group of players from Wilson Ramos behind the plate, Pete Alonso at first, (Robinson) Cano at second, Amed Rosario at short, Jeff McNeil at third with Jed Lowrie as a utility infielder. Michael Conforto, J.D. Davis, Brandon Nimmo and Yoenis Cespedes in the outfield is a pretty good group, with Jake Marisnick playing elite defense. I think we like our club."

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