Reese Kaplan -- Saving Money While Bolstering the Infield for 2025

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.

It’s not new to consider who the Mets have on the farm who could help in Queens.  The obvious one is Ronny Mauricio who missed the entire year with injury and recovery.  For now folks want to see how he’s progressed with a return to on-the-field action in winter ball.  He has a combination of power and speed to suggest he would be a solid major league player.  Whether he can transition to star is still a great unknown, but he’s shown enough in the minors to suggest he is ready.  If Vientos is at 1B or DH then 3B would likely belong to Mauricio if he’s fully healthy and not too rusty.

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? 

Well, in very limited action he had 39 big league at-bats during which he hit 3 HRs (one every 13 ABs) and hit .308.  Granted, you can’t assume that a switch flipped and he suddently morphed into a top prospect after finishing 2024 with just a .258 average.

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.