Mets Shortstop Battle: Andres Gimenez vs. Amed Rosario

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NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 06: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Ike Davis #29 of the New York Mets in action against the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field on April 6, 2014 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. The Reds defeated the Mets 2-1. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

Similar position battles of the recent past

Back in the 2013-time frame, the Mets had a similar situation at first base with Ike Davis and Lucas Duda. Both players were first basemen and needed to play every day. They were both tried at different positions, but that experiment failed and then-GM Sandy Alderson had a decision to make. Which one is his future first baseman?

We all know the outcome of that situation. The Mets traded Ike Davis to Pittsburg in 2014 and they went with Lucas Duda at first base until they traded him to Tampa Bay for Drew Smith in 2017.

The trade of Duda came primarily because the Mets had Dom Smith ready to be promoted to the big leagues and shortly after that, the Mets had another difficult decision to make.

That was the decision between Dom Smith and Pete Alonso for the full-time first base job. Both men were excellent players who were very different from each other but played the same position. Only one could play first at a time so Brodie Van Wagenen had to make a choice.

The outcome of this situation was a little bit different from the Davis and Duda one. Smith was able to learn left field and with the advent of the designated hitter in the National League in 2020, he now has two main positions to play as well as spelling Alonso every so often at first base.

Both of these are good models to use for this Gimenez vs. Rosario battle but how does it compare to the others and whose hand will be raised at the end of the fight?

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