Any long term Mets fan remembers some less than spectacular players the Mets trotted out to 2nd base and in particular to 3rd base during their 62 year history in the National League. I won’t cause you any gastric distress nor the need to reach for blotto-inducing alcohol or banned substances of choice. You know the names and you know how hard it’s been to see All Stars across town and around all of baseball while the club for which we give our devotion and enthusiasm instead trot out the likes of guys like Roy Staiger (oops, sorry, I did cite someone but he is long enough ago that it shouldn’t cause too much of a disturbance for anyone's day).
Nowadays the Mets are in a much different position given the unreal season produced by Mark Vientos and the fact that former NL batting champ Jeff McNeil are on the roster. Of course, with the impending free agency departure of Pete Alonso the club may very well shift Mark Vientos across the diamond to take over for him. Jeff McNeil on most folks’ radar is part of the outfield mix rather than at second base. Consider for a moment that if these current veteran moves and the Vientos transition take place it opens up both the positions to the left and to the right of Francisco Lindor.
Now the conventional wisdom of how best to use Steve Cohen’s fortune is simply to look for the best of the best available in free agency and pad the roster that way. For third base the big name is Alex Bregman formerly of the Astros. For first base it would include Paul Goldschmidt who apparently has worn out his welcome in St. Louis. Then there are trade rumors out there for third baseman Nolan Arenado also of the Cardinals and contract year ending players like Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. from Toronto.
However, bear in mind if you get 30+ HR power from Vientos at close to minimum wage, picking out a new first baseman and keeping him struggling defensively at third makes little sense. You could move Vientos into a DH role in place of the thus far coterie of less than stellar folks assigned to this role (including J.D. Martinez). That still would leave the infield vacancies unfulfilled.
The much more surprising development is petite Luisangel Acuna obtained during the midyear fire sale in 2023. His numbers in the minors are pretty impressive. Even with a poor 2024 in Syracuse, he still produces a .280 batting average, 10 HRs and 50 stolen bases per season. Last year’s promotion was out of reluctant necessity when Francisco Lindor went on the IL. It wasn’t based upon his AAA performance.
So how did he do?
Until...
Much to no one’s surprise Acuna is playing winter ball and thus far is putting on quite a show. His latest numbers include a .388 batting average over his first 17 games down there, while also contributing four extra base hits and nine stolen bases.
The question that arises now to media, fans and the Mets front office is whether or not what we’re all seeing is indicative of the type of player Acuna will be. If so, then he gains a very strong foothold into the second base position giving the Mets a fantastic and speedy middle infield. Or does the hot September and winter instead transform Acuna into a heavyweight trade chip to land someone else from another team?
Either way, it’s a very nice problem to have.
3 comments:
Once the Soto Superliner smashes through the free agent iceberg, which ought to be fairly soon now that the calendar has flipped to December, we will get all of our roster answers in a flurry. Hopefully, after the Mets roster reformation, they come back a top 5 team in 2025.
And Goldschmidt? He would be, at best, JD Martinez II. Don't go there - he turns 38 next September.
Lets please stop with the ageing over the hill players which we have dealt with seemingly forever and also I don't want to trade ANY prospects because we can build a winning team keeping the kids.
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