NY Mets Friday Farming: Ronny Mauricio is worth keeping

“The Mets already have a shortstop,” fans argued, as if to say that upcoming New York Mets stud Ronny Mauricio isn’t worth keeping.

That simply is not the case. During Mauricio’s first at-bat for Tigres del Licey of the Dominican Winter League, he hit a home run. This past season, he hit a career-high 20 home runs in 108 games combined for both High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton.

Mauricio was an international signee, something both him and Mets top prospect Francisco Alvarez share. It isn’t until Brett Baty that you’ll find the Mets’ best prospect who was actually a draft pick. Mauricio and Alvarez are why the farm system is ranked 22nd, not 27th.

The Mets should consider moving Mauricio to another position.

If you haven’t noticed, the Mets do not have the strongest depth in the minors. Other than a few big names in the lower levels, it is gasping for air. At one point, it was reported that both Mauricio and 3B Mark Vientos were “in the cards” for a trade involving Kris Bryant.

Now that the 2021 season is over and we know that the Mets did not do nearly enough, they should look towards Mauricio’s future.

The organization has been trying something similarly between both Brett Baty and Mark Vientos. At one point, the Mets will need to make a decision on having two great prospects at third base, but they’ve been trying out Vientos in the outfield for now. Although some suspect that they might move Baty to a DH role and either acquire a third baseman/move Vientos, or keep him in the infield.

A mid-season op-ed we put together explains how we can move Mauricio to centerfield, instead of keeping him at shortstop, where Francisco Lindor will be for the next ten years.

Mauricio is only 20 and could see some MLB playing time very soon. His talent-level could have him in the majors by the end of 2023. If that’s the case, they should think about different positions quickly, before it’s too late.

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In other news, Baty and Carlos Cortes have been seeing some Arizona Fall League action. After Baty’s first week, he was named the AFL Player of the Week. He’s slowed down since, but only down to Earth. His OPS is still relatively high, being .854 in nine games. Cortes is batting .286 with an OPS of .788.