Paul Articulates – Some serious competition

Spring training officially begins in two days – pitchers and catchers officially report to St. Lucie on February 14th.  Unofficially, many players are already there as you may have seen on social media.  There is an excitement to the beginning of spring baseball that always gets the players and the fans anxious to start.  

This year, the other reason that Mets players are reporting early is that they know it is going to be a competitive year.  I’m not talking about the team competing for a title, although they will give it a shot.  I’m talking about competing for a position and a career.  

The Mets have taken a different approach to filling the roster this year as you are well aware.  Instead of signing big names to big contracts, they have signed depth pieces to smaller, shorter contracts.  That means there are more players that are in tight talent groupings that understand very well that their playing time and their longevity on the roster depends on a good showing during this six week period before the team packs up to head north.

I’m sure that the coaching staff will have plenty of patience in evaluating the talent, because they understand that many different factors influence a player’s success.  But at some point during the six weeks they are going to have to decide who to keep on the MLB roster, who to send to Syracuse (AAA) or Binghamton (AA) for more development, and even who may be cut loose.

Let’s start with the non-40 man roster invitees: OF Drew Gilbert, RHP Dominic Hamel, LHP Nate Lavender, C Tomás Nido, RHP Eric Orze, C Kevin Parada, RHP Christian Scott, C Hayden Senger, RHP Mike Vasil and INF Jett Williams.

Nido has spent quite a bit of time with the big league club, and he has proven to be a very capable defender.  However, his bat has been inconsistent at best, and with Francisco Alvarez rising to the starting role and Omar Narvaez healthy, Nido has to really impress if he doesn’t want to spend his thirteenth professional season in the minor leagues.

In a similar vein, Hayden Senger is beginning his sixth professional season and has not yet reached the major league level.  He has been really solid defensively throughout his pro career but has not put up strong enough offensive numbers in the minors to get the call.  He had some huge clutch at-bats in the Rumble Ponies’ playoff run last year, and he will have to ride that momentum into a great spring showing to be considered for the roster.

The other eight non-roster invitees are young and hungry, so you can bet that they will bring plenty of motivation to the field.  Parada, who I wrote about last week, is in that battle of many catchers.  Alvarez, Narvaez, Nido, Senger, Matt O’Neill, Austin Allen, and Jose Hernandez are all rostered catchers at the AA, AAA, or MLB level.  That seems like too many to begin the season.

On the MLB 40-man roster, there are some clear starters like Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, and Brandon Nimmo that are not likely to be challenged for their starting position, but there are many with something to prove.  One could argue that Pete has something to prove as well with a long-term high value contract in his immediate future.

Starling Marte is out to prove that he is back to health and has not lost a step.  Nimmo, Marte, Harrison Bader, and Tyrone Taylor, and DJ Stewart will vie for three regular outfield starting jobs.  And don't forget about Alex Ramirez who was a highly valued prospect that had an off year in 2023 - he has an invite and plenty to prove.

In the infield, there has been so much written about the third base competition between Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, and Joey Wendle that I will not spend more ink on it – but you know the competition will be fierce because so much is riding on it.

Jeff McNeil is presumably healthy and needs to once again prove that he is an elite hitter.  His 2022 batting title is a great credential but with a rough 2021 year at the plate and lackluster start to the 2023 season, he needs to show how valuable he is to this team with all of the young prospects eyeing his second base position.

Earlier I mentioned some of the young arms that received invitees – Hamel, Lavender, Orze, Scott, and Vasil.  They join 23 other arms that are on the 40-man roster who will all be vying for consideration.  That is 28 pitchers for 13 spots, some of which are already locked for SP1-SP3 and the closer.  There is such a mix of upcoming young talent, experienced vets, and guys looking for one last shot that I think every pitch in every inning is going to count.

The Mets also have chosen not to go “get a bat” to fill their traditionally anemic DH position.  That means that there will be many players trying to impress with their bats to win some time in the DH slot if they can’t grab a starting position in the field.  Much has been written about the need to give Mark Vientos a long look at DH, but there are others who would like to convince Carlos Mendoza that there is another option. 

For all of these above reasons, I think that there will be a lot of hungry players competing hard this spring.  With such strong competition, the players that rise to the top will have an added boost moving into the regular season.  They also will have plenty of motivation to continue performing knowing that the others are close behind.  That should be some fun baseball to watch!