FanGraphs isn’t buying the NY Mets’ plan for Bretty Baty

Despite the New York Mets' addition of Bo Bichette to man the hot corner, Brett Baty is still a large part of the team's plans. Last season, the former top prospect showed enough signs of life with the bat (finally) that the club decided to add second base to his repertoire in order to find him some more at-bats.

The stated plan now is to expand his horizons further, with left field reps expected as either a Carson Benge hedge or as a way to transform him into a Jeff McNeil-like super utility player.

The Mets believe that this way, they can find almost full-time playing time for Baty, projecting 500-ish at-bats for the 26-year-old as long as his bat doesn't disappear again.

Apparently, the Steamer projection system sees things differently, projecting only 375 at-bats for Baty, and seeing him fall behind fellow blocked young third baseman, Mark Vientos, who comes in at 430.

FanGraph's Steamer projection system doesn't buy into the Mets' plan for Brett Baty, projecting more playing time for Mark Vientos

A year ago, Vientos playing more than Baty would have made a lot of sense. Vientos was coming off a 2024 campaign that looked like a breakout, clubbing 27 homers to go along with a .266/.322/.516 line. The power production made it a bit easier to swallow his defensive shortcomings.

Baty, meanwhile, struggled. Again. He hit just .229/.306/.327 and spent more time in Syracuse than he did in Queens.

However, things flipped last season. Baty's bat finally woke up, posting an above-average 111 wRC+ while playing acceptable defense at both third and second base. Vientos fell to a 97 wRC+ while the concerns about his defense grew louder.

Baty enters 2026 with a better glove, more positional versatility, and is coming off a better offensive season. There's a way that he could possibly win the starting left field job. Or he could potentially spend significant time at third, second, and left while Vientos is limited to getting most of his bats at DH, with limited time at first and third.

It might work out that neither of these players has a prominent role, or that either could be traded before opening day.

But unless we're missing something that Steamer sees, it appears that Baty has more present-day value to the Mets than Vientos does, and unless something drastically changes once the season commences, it would appear that it would be wise to bet on Baty getting more at-bats.

For what it's worth, both are predicted to have pretty decent offensive seasons, with Baty coming in at a 108 wRC+ and the projection system pegging Vientos for a 115 mark. That slight difference shouldn't be enough to eclipse the defensive value and versatility that Baty can provide. We'll have to wait until well past opening day to truly see for ourselves.