Ron Darling wants the NY Mets to keep their Francisco Lindor backup plan simple

Being all-knowing or blissfully ignorant must be great. What about anything in between? It’s where most of us are, including the New York Mets with one very specific spot on their roster. They’re aware of what could be with Francisco Lindor and his hamate injury. They just don’t have the power of knowing whether he’ll be ready for sure by Opening Day.

Everyone has their thoughts. The Mets have an abundance of options at the position. The one thing David Stearns and Carlos Mendoza have been dismissive in declaring is that the simplest solution is to move Bo Bichette over there. Adamant he needs to learn third base, it’s a fair enough argument.

Not everyone agrees. Sliding Bichette from third base to shortstop is practical, especially on a roster with Brett Baty and Mark Vientos available as well as Ronny Mauricio. Take your pick on how to align them all. Ron Darling has taken his stance. He wants to keep it simple and call upon Bichette for those 2 weeks or so the Mets will be without Lindor.

Ron Darling believes the Mets should keep their Francisco Lindor insurance plan simple

Stearns and Mendoza haven’t ruled out Bichette at shortstop the same way you might tell a white lie. Their discussion seems to be heavily influenced on Lindor being ready. They’re speaking it into existence.

Bichette should stick to learning as much third base as he can right now. There isn’t a whole lot more he could take away in spring training from more work at shortstop. Every rep possible at third base brings more value than what would undoubtedly be his usual well-below average performance at shortstop.

Nobody is technically wrong about their stance on what the Mets should do at shortstop in any Lindor absence. No one can even fully depict all of the options because of the other major question this spring: does Carson Benge make the team?

If Baty is actually going to play right field, that’s one less option. A left side of the infield with Bichette at shortstop and Vientos at third base mocks the idea of run prevention. So would Baty in right field.

The Mets can’t forgo the best lineup possible for the sake of defense. Bichette may be bad at shortstop and yet there’s no reason to believe he’s going to cost them games on a limited basis at the position. It would be silly to start a player like Vidal Brujan at shortstop for a while when it could mean one of your better hitters is sitting on the bench. What are the odds poor defense at shortstop costs more games than consistent rally killing at-bats from the number nine hitter?