Ronny Mauricio injury gives the NY Mets a reason to sign franchise pulverizer

Ronny Mauricio, we may never truly know thee. Given the opportunity to replace Francisco Lindor at shortstop during his recovery from a calf injury, Mauricio has joined him on the IL with a fractured thumb. When will we ever know if he’s the real deal or another flamed out New York Mets prospect we heard about for years?

Injured while doing the one thing we’re told to never do, sliding into first base, Mauricio’s absence opens up an opportunity for the Mets to add yet another outsider to join the organization should they choose to keep Bo Bichette at shortstop.

Internal options at shortstop aren’t plentiful with Vidal Brujan as one of the more practical choices. Outside of New York is a recently released New York Yankees minor league free agent signing Mets fans know well for all of the wrong reasons.

Paul DeJong to the 2026 Mets would complete what has started off as a very weird year

After hitting .203 in Triple-A and no signs of a promotion, Paul DeJong opted out of his deal with the Yankees to join the free agent pool. Now 32, he’s way past his prime but not exactly finished based on last year’s results. A lifetime .229 hitter, he batted .228 with the Washington Nationals last year. Poor OBP numbers and a tendency to strikeout a ton, DeJong is familiar to Mets fans because of his knack for hitting well against the Amazins.

A lifetime .294/.319/.625 hitter against the Mets, he has long-been a thorn in the side of this team for no explainable reason. He’s just one of those guys who figured out Mets pitchers in what feels like a pure coincidence. A lot of the damage was done away from Citi Field, DeJong hitting only .250 but with 7 home runs in Queens in 68 plate appearances.

Last year’s defensive results weren’t overly bad. He was at 1 OAA at shortstop and -2 at third base. Surely a downgrade from Lindor, he’d probably be a better defender than Bo Bichette at the position and maybe even Mauricio who didn’t look sharp.

DeJong, oddly, can fit into what the Mets were rumored to be searching for: a right-handed power bat. Though the home run pop was down last year, he muscled 24 home runs in 2024.

If Jesse Winker can have a place in Mets history beyond the villain, so can DeJong. It hardly fixes a thing and fits best as a punchline to a season which seems to have already started off as a joke.

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