3 NY Mets players who could take Ronny Mauricio’s Opening Day roster spot

Currently projected to make the New York Mets Opening Day roster, Ronny Mauricio is in a similar place as Luisangel Acuna last year but with a lot more promise and stats in Triple-A to prove he belongs in the majors. The problem facing Mauricio isn’t uncommon. He’s a guy who, if in the big leagues, won’t get much playing time. In the minors, he can develop further.

The Mets purposefully kept Mauricio around in the majors late last season to keep their final minor league option on him. The plan helped improve his trade value while also giving the Mets added flexibility if he remained with the team.

Not much of a hint of the Mets trading him away, we should be under the impression he’s an option for the team’s bench but also someone who could get sent down to the minors in place of another. It’s a conversation we had last offseason about Acuna and utility man Donovan Walton, who never actually played an inning for the Mets. Could one of these others take a roster spot away from Mauricio with a plan to give him regular at-bats in the minors and let him experience extended time at both corner infield positions?

1) Christian Arroyo

A lifetime .252 in the majors but with no plate appearances in the show over the last two years, Christian Arroyo is definitely someone the Mets would have in mind to make the ball club for an infield utility role. Almost 300 MLB games and just under 1,000 plate appearances gives Arroyo plenty of experience under his belt. He even hit over .300 for the Philadelphia Phillies in Triple-A last year.

One question might be about how useful of a defender he could actually be. The majority of his time has been at second base with some innings logged at the other infield positions plus right field. He’s not incredibly versatile. With him, what you get is someone who can actually hit decently.

Based on how the Mets have handled other roster spots in the past, they could consider Arroyo but may prefer a more “toolsy” style of player. This would be someone who can play top-level defense, hit lefties or righties incredibly well, or run.

Not given a 40-man roster spot at the moment because he’s on a minor league contract, the Mets would need to make a separate roster move in order to move him onto the Opening Day roster. An impressive spring is needed. Arroyo is more useful as long-term depth rather than an early-season placeholder.