NY Mets roster leftover reminds us he exists, Juan Soto’s position change blocks him

The New York Mets are doing a lot of bold things with their defensive alignment this year. Bo Bichette at third base. Jorge Polanco at first base. Whatever the heck they end up doing with Brett Baty.

Of the changes, the most practical was to move Juan Soto from right field to left field. The Citi Field dimensions demand it. It opens up a right field competition that is now underway. Baty, Carson Benge, Mike Tauchman, MJ Melendez, Tyrone Taylor, maybe even you are all competing. 

Left in the dust is a roster leftover from 2025, Jared Young. He gets the honors of hitting the first Mets spring training home run all for naught. Soto moving into left field spoils any chance of him sneaking onto the roster.

Jared Young is the depth piece of all depth pieces with no realistic chance of making the Mets roster

Young has played a lot of positions in his professional career. Where the Mets used him in Syracuse last year is most important. 31 games in left field versus only 5 in right field, they have a clear idea of where he should play.

In fact, the disparity between the two outfield spots has been extreme in his career. Young has 1448.2 innings in left field at all levels. He has 387 in right field.

The two positions have similarities yet different needs. Young isn’t a complete stranger to right field. He actually played there more in his 2024 season over in the KBO by a few games.

Young’s spring home run shouldn’t surprise anyone. He tore apart Triple-A pitching, slashing .300/.396/.560 with 17 home runs in 321 plate appearances. He wasn't nearly as successful in his limited big league action, batting .186/.234/.488 with 4 dingers. He’s a standard Four-A player who’d be best used in the same way the Mets did for his 23 games. All 13 of his starts came as a DH.

There has been no discussion about Young making the Mets out of camp even off of his impressive 2025 season in the minors. His pathway is, yet again, reliant on replacing an injured player. Unfortunately for him, there’s no Jesse Winker sitting on the MLB roster waiting to get hurt to replace.

The Mets depth chart is deep with outfielders. Beyond just those competing for an Opening Day roster spot, they also have prospect Nick Morabito as well as Jose Ramos, Cristian Pache, and let’s include Ryan Clifford in that same category as well.

Young will disappear from Mets spring training in March when he joins Team Canada in the WBC. When he does, there’s a chance he gets forgotten.