Position
Analysis –3B
This used to be the easy position in my annual position analysis. Say
the name David Wright and then move on. Not anymore, and, this year, not even a long shot. Brett Baty will be
allowed to prove that the second half of the 2025 season wasn’t a fluke. Mark Vientos has
simply failed here. And Ronny Mauricio may be the best defensive option, but
he’s far from bat #1.
In a normal year, the Mets would go out and sign or trade for a
seasoned, successful defender of the hot corner, but they have to secure both Edwin Diaz and Pete Alonso, while
looking for an addition to their rotation. No, the future of first base is Baty
or somewhere in this post.
The candidates are:
Jacob Reimer – turns 22 in February. Plays 1B (!) and LF
too. Now, this one is interesting. Hell of a bat but legs of cement and a glove
made up of silly putty. 2022 A+/AA: 522-PA, 112-K, 58-BB, 17-HR, 77-RBI,
.282/.379/.491/.870. I can’t find how many games he has played at first, nor
can I find those stats, but I have been told by an insider that he plays better
defense there than what he plays on third (that’s not saying much though). Still, his bat=first approach could lead him to a future DH role and
a possible first baseman.
A.J. Selgado – will play 2026 as a 24/year old. Also plays RF and CF. Free
agent in 2025, out of UCLA (.312). Had extended cup of coffee with St. Lucie
last season: 85-PA, 19-K, 10-BB, 1-HR, 12-RBI, .264/.353/,728-OPS. Didn’t burn
the roof off of the house but didn’t stink up the joint either. Not a bad
start.
Kevin Villavicecio – turns 22 this November. Also plays short and
second. 2025 S/A+: 331-PA, 49-K, 28-BB, 19-SB, 3-HR, 35-RBI, only .215-BA. Defensively,
scouts rate him with “great instincts” at SHORT. 55-60 grade. 60 grade arm.
Soft hands. Comfortable at third. 13-PA at Lucy so, of he is retained, will
repeat there in 2026.
Sam Robinson – 17th round 2025 pick, out of Northwest Shoals
C.C. 55-G, .362/,469/,546, 4-HR, 60-SB IN 69 attempts. Lots of range in the
field. Strong 90-mph arm. Excellent speed in the field as well on the bases. Cup
of coffee in Florida: .172. Everybody is going to have to give this aging kid
2026 to see if he’s for real. I have him opening up for St. Lucie.
Yensi Rivas – Just turned 19. Also plays short and second. Switch
hitter. Played 2025 for the DSL Blue team: 164-PA, 1-HR, 10-RBI, 23-SB, 33-K, 21-BB,
.261/.378/.312/.690. There simply isn’t any oomph here, yet he could be slotted into
the FCL team going forward,
Branny De Leo – will turn 21 in May. Also plays second and short. Had
141-PA last season for the Mets FCL team and failed at .195-BA. I go no further
here. I slot him back into FCL and await what the St. Lucie roster will look
like.
Cleiner Ramirez – Big time future 2027 IFA kid with Elian
Pena potential.
MACK –
First of all, cuts made on
November 3rd really tore up this position in the chain. Currently,
there are no projected guardians of the hot corner at Brooklyn and no back-ups
all over the place. Past that, your two top prospects at this position can’t
field a lick here and won’t even begin to play organized ball until 2027. This
is the pure definition of understaffed and makes the current air traffic
controller issue look like over-booking at the gate. The Mets have a real
problem here if current 40-members don’t establish themselves here. You may
understand now why you keep hearing people use the Bregman word.
Rating: F
One more year before I write off Reimer as a future 3B. Ronny was super error prone, for years. Sometimes it takes time.
ReplyDeletetrue
DeleteMauricio was actually ranked in the top 10 +DRS producers this season on third
Mauricio has absolutely no baseball instincts. He may make the play at 3B but has no idea what to do once he has the ball.
ReplyDeleteSame goes for baserunning, hurt himself running the bases because...he has no baseball instincts.
Can't hit righty...period. Can't hit low inside off-speed pitch. Do you see the common thread...NO BASEBALL INSTINCTS.
I remain baffled as to why he has not completely dropped trying to hit righty. Awful at it.
DeleteBoy, am I going to have to eat a huge bucket full of shite if this kid ever turns it around.
ReplyDeleteYes Joe, you will. And I will tell you why you need to step back on him. His torn ACL was something that can easily happen to ANY athlete as knees aren’t made for the torque today’s athlete brings. Yet you want to resign an athlete that tore his ACL jumping up and down after a Baseball Classic win.
DeleteAs Mack said, Mauricio graded very well at third base. He needed more at bats and it was a failure of the front office that his at bats went to Cedric Mullins; a huge failure! As for the baserunning that keeps getting referred to when he didn’t score from first on a double in the corner against Philly, I saw the replay from another angle. Castellanos was playing very deep and with one out he was only about five to ten feet from where the ball landed. From the baseline between first and second, you cannot know for sure so you wait. Ans since thw ball landed right near him, it was easy to pick it up after two bounces by the wall.
If you want to project Mauricio, look at O’Neal Cruz. Same exact player but Cruz has it easy. There is no press in Pittsburgh so his mental lapses in CF don't get noticed and his errors at SS aren’t seen, but he is a talent everyone wants. So is Mauricio, with alot less at bats. Give him time.
This team desperately needs Baty to fully emerge this year. The Vientos at 3B era is clearly over, and despite this team’s need for RH bats, he’s very likely to be included in a deal this winter. Mauricio - who shown a potentially powerful (LH) bat, has - as Joe P noted - has also shown severe lack of baseball IQ, and with an option left, will hopefully rake in AAA this season to fatten up his value for a deadline deal. This team has a lot riding on Baty’s full emergence this season.
ReplyDeleteI’m pretty sure their plan is to hope that Baty can hold it down until 2028 when Elian Peña is ready to start his 15 year run.
Adam, would Soto take a dingbat under his wing to help him? Does Soto look foolish to you?
DeleteWhere is Boston Baro in this analysis? Also, Trey Snyder plays alot of third base and is a bigger kid. So is the kid they drafted this year, Antonio Jimenez.
ReplyDeleteSometimes you can move a shortstop over to third base and succeed defensively. That is potentially what the Mets are thinking as their organization seems to have enough SS and not enough 3B. However, the Mauricio story points out that sometimes you can't move the SS over. I agree with JoeP that Ronny did not look like he knew how to play the position. Always in the wrong place, failed to anticipate where he should be next, and still had the tendency to rush throws.
ReplyDeleteGus, I am a die hard, lifelong Met fan, so I will root for Mauricio and anyone who wears a Met jersey.
ReplyDeleteTo refute your claims, very respectfully, I am going by the eyeball test. To my eyes, he just doesn't have baseball instincts. He hurt himself because he was unsure what to do once rounding the base. You can't make up your mind or change direction at the last second.
I will also push back a bit on his grading as well. As I said before, he will make the play but doesn't have a clue what to do when he catches it. I will challenge him to prove me wrong.