Mets spring bench competition includes four players fighting for the final roster spot

Mets minor league addition, Mallex Smith

One of the very first minor league signings the Mets made this winter brought them speedy outfielder Mallex Smith. The 2019 American League leader in stolen bases with 46 swiped bags, he’s someone the Mets could use almost exclusively for defense and pinch-running.

Smith is like Drury and Peraza. He has accomplished quite a bit at the MLB level. In 2018, he hit .296 for the Tampa Bay Rays in 544 plate appearances. Smith also stole 40 bases.

He followed it up with a .227 performance in 2019 but with the 46 steals. In fewer than 50 chances, he hit just .133 in 2020 with the Seattle Mariners. I’m not confident his bat is capable of repeating what he did several seasons ago in Tampa.

I do think we’ll see some of Smith this year—I just can’t confidently say it will be in the first series of the season.

Who wins the final Mets roster spot/dethrones a favorite?

Martinez is the guy whose job might be most in jeopardy. However, his bat on the bench is too valuable to toss aside which is why I would put him ahead of these other four players.

If the Mets carry a six-man bench, there is a clear favorite for me and that’s Heredia.

The Mets could have non-tendered Heredia this offseason if they didn’t have intentions of going to war with him in 2021 as one of their backup outfielders. A better hitter than Smith, I think it’s him we could see as the final man on the roster.

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Whoever the Mets go with, the good news is that they will have extra bullets in the chamber. I suspect some of these contracts have opt-outs in them or possibly not and we see the players decide to leave on their own accord, hoping to find a situation with some guaranteed major league playing time.