Reese Kaplan -- What Does JD Martinez Arrival Do to the Roster?

Time is of the essence with Opening Day less than a week away and apparently the song and dance about giving in-house options the opportunity to prove themselves kind of flew out the window with Thursday evening's news that the Mets reached out to bring the big bat of J.D. Martinez to New York to play as their Designated Hitter.  

No one can deny the value Martinez can bring to the Mets as protection for some of the other hitters in the lineup, experience in the DH role, and having lived within some very solid organizations while his career unfolded.  For the announced $12 million one-year deal, that's certainly a smart investment.  How smart?  Well, he will earn less than Starling Marte, less than Luis Severino, less than Jeff McNeil and less than some others.  On a pure value basis take your cap off and tip it to the front office for waiting to obtain the best of the best remaining hitter who was still unsigned.

The flip side, of course, is what about Brett Baty and Mark Vientos specifically?  Baty has cranked up his defense this Spring and recently clubbed his third home run.  All of the sudden the balsa wood bat and paper quality glove from 2023 are starting to fade a little bit into bad memories.  The glove is the thing that cements him in at 3rd base.  The bat is still suspect despite a recent surge.

Now Vientos doesn't have the same clearly defined role anymore.  With Martinez not likely to be asked to platoon like the one-sided Daniel Vogelbach and others, it wouldn't even matter if he did.  He hits from the right side as does Vientos.  So DH opportunities are clearly gone unless for the first week or two Martinez stays in Florida to get into playing shape as he has not been participating anywhere prior to this March 21st contract being signed.  Even then, that would only give them a short look at Vientos and determine if his bat (and suspect glove) is a better option at third base than Baty.  If I was Mark Vientos I wouldn't take out any long term leases in the New York area.

Of course, these folks are not the only ones likely to be impacted by the arrival of the All Star slugger.  The Mets have room on the roster to add Martinez without having to kick anyone off immediately, but when push comes to shove on the 26-man roster it would likely be difficult to carry both Martinez and Vientos.  D.J. Stewart showed absolutely nothing this Spring, but does have a hot streak in 2023 and a left handed bat in his favor.  Fringe players not on the roster like Ji Man Choi and Luke Voit had some moments but not enough to warrant carrying a third DH type.  Trayce Thompson has already been farmed out.  

So the question now is whether or not there will be some unexpected demotions of folks like Vientos or Stewart, are there more minor moves to be made to bring in a more athletic outfielder as a spare part, or could there actually be a thought about a pre-2024 season trade of Pete Alonso?  The likelihood of that third option is probably slimmer than a blade of grass, but you do have to consider all of the alternatives.  After all, trading Alonso now or mid-season brings back a relative haul as compared to a draft pick in refused QO compensation.