Reese Kaplan -- The First Battle to Resolve

Remember in the past when the Mets had one solid and undisputed first baseman to carry the club?  Whether it was Carlos Delgado, John Olerud, Keith Hernandez or Eddie Murray, no one was harping to replace them with the hot flavor of the week.  Even less capable but solid players like John Milner, Donn Clendenon, Willie Montanez or an perpetually injured Mo Vaughn got benefit of doubt.  Obviously if you are giving first base to the likes of a Lucas Duda, Dave Magadan, David Segui, Rico Brogna, Todd Zeile or James Loney, then you could most definitely make an argument that they could find someone better or more durable.  

 

Nowadays the Mets have an embarrassment of riches at that position with 2019 Rookie of the Year and All Star Home Run Derby winner Pete Alonso the presumed starter, plus you have someone performing at league leading capability like Dom Smith as a more than capable backup.  For now they are flip flopping them at the position with Alonso getting to spend time at DH and Smith able to patrol left field when the other is playing first base.  

 

This year Alonso is most definitely showing power, but has been handled better when it comes to regular base hits.  Smith has been on fire since the season began and squeezing him into the lineup has become  rather pleasant challenge.  

 

The issue for 2021 is who should be handed first base on a regular basis (assuming there's no DH role to fulfill).  It's very difficult to move away from Pete Alonso and his Kingman-like batting average because he's become firmly engrained as the face of the Mets.  The fans would likely revolt in a big way should the club think that he's not the deserving starter.

 

On the flip side, people were initially not all that keen on Dom Smith as he was up and down throughout the latter stages of his minor league career.  He hadn't shown much power when he was working his way up, and even with a .330 average in hitter-friendly AAA he didn't make people feel he was a worthy number one pick.  

 

However, over the course of the last few years Smith has gotten better and better at the big league level, showing power, clutch hitting and a smile that makes everyone happy whenever he's on the field.  The problem is that he only grew up playing first base (at a star defensive level) and that position was already occupied by Pete Alonso.  As a left fielder, he's about as adept out there as Todd Hundley, Dave Kingman and others converted from their natural position proved to be.  

 

So, going forward, if you're the Mets, what do you do?  

 

The first option is to dangle Alonso as a trade chip to another club.  A huge power hitter like that would most definitely get noticed even with his mediocre 2020 showing.  No one is complaining much about his defense at first base.  He's only in his second year of pre-arb eligibility, so he is a massive bargain to the acquiring club.  Trading away Alonso would open up first base for Smith on a full time basis.  

 

The other alternative is what to do with Dom Smith.  If you don't teach Pete Alonso another position, that makes Smith into an outfielder.  For a team highly criticized for its awful defense, putting a questionable outfielder into the lineup on a regular business exacerbates a known problem.  

 

So what would you get if you traded Smith instead of Alonso?  Coming off the kind of season he's having in 2020 and building upon his successful 2019 and strong finish to 2018 he would also find a large number of potential takers.  Throw in his stellar first base defense and you know the welcoming club would roll out the red carpet to make room for their long term star who is also still under pre-arbitration contract status.

 

Neither solution is perfect but many would argue that Alonso is the one to keep.  It has less to do with his marketability as a face of the franchise than it does with the Mets' relative lack of solidity from the right side.  Smith is a lefty, as is Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, Robinson Cano, Jeff McNeil and Andres Gimenez.  Theoretically they can better afford to move the left handed Smith.  

 

Now they do still have J.D. Davis who bats from the right side, but he's the same defensive problem that the Mets would face if they turned him into a regular outfielder.  He hasn't shown much at third base (though this year he's better than he was in the past), and he's had precious little time at first base.  Again, without a DH the club has a batter without a position and for that reason I would expect he's going to be on the trading block as well.  

 

So who would you pick to play first?  Who would you trade away?