NY Mets Monday Morning GM: You can’t be serious with this third base plan

In the assumed post-Pete Alonso world, one belief is that the New York Mets will move Mark Vientos to first base and use a multitude of their younger players at third base. Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio (who won’t be ready when camp begins), and Luisangel Acuna (who has never played third base professionally) are the three names considered in the mix to win a job.

It’s premature thinking to actually buy into this being what David Stearns envisions. We were fooled last year when Opening Day was approaching and the DH plan was for Vientos and DJ Stewart to share duties with occasional appearances by Starling Marte. Only because J.D. Martinez gave into a much lesser deal for a single season where the Mets were willing to go in a different direction.

Third base has been one of the tougher positions for the Mets to fill throughout the franchise’s history. Often occupied by short-term free agents or guys who struggled to hit higher than seventh, a David Wright or Howard Johnson is rare. We’re not in a glory day era of third basemen either. This doesn’t mean settling for less at the position.

The Mets need to do better at third base than going into the year with a competition yet again

Third time’s a charm with Baty? Given ample opportunities in 2023 and again in 2024, his offensive production at the major league level has been dismal. We can hardly judge Mauricio or Acuna fairly based on how little each has played. Mauricio remains intriguing but the injury in the Winter League that kept him out for all of 2025 raises more questions. Acuna looked the best of all at the major league level and yet he showed the least when facing Triple-A pitching.

Free agent options are few at the hot corner with Alex Bregman packing the largest punch. He never seemed viable enough to a Mets club focused on shorter term deals. He doesn’t sound willing to budge on a lengthy multi-year deal. This should put him out of the running to join the Mets as a solution at third base.

Lesser choices yet talented ones could always have the Mets re-signing Jose Iglesias for some security as well as Mets killer Paul DeJong who played a lot of third base for the Kansas City Royals. He clobbered 24 home runs with his usual low batting average output. As a fallback option, it’s not so bad.

Trades remain the best hope of improving the third base situation with an external choice. Nolan Arenado remains on the block. Could something as bold as trading for Carlos Correa and getting the Minnesota Twins to pay down a large portion of the salary be a possibility as well?

The best choice for the Mets remains adding a first baseman of some kind whether it’s his only position or he’s a corner outfielder to handle the job regularly. Vientos can grow a little further at third base defensively while he continues to develop into a first baseman should the Mets choose to go in this direction. What they can’t do is tell all of the youngsters to battle it out in the spring. We’ve been down that road with Baty before. What has changed?

Finally, there is always a trade for a first baseman to weigh. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. off the table, the San Diego Padres would love to move Luis Arraez. Ryan Mountcastle can probably be had from the Baltimore Orioles. If the Boston Red Sox were to sign Bregman, could Triston Casas become a possibility?

The number of directions the Mets can still go are plentiful. What they cannot do is their offense is in fact good enough to compete. Why settle now?