3 Mets second base options for next season that don’t involve Jeff McNeil

2) Ronny Mauricio

Ronny Mauricio can inform Acuna on what it’s like to be an up-and-coming prospect the team doesn’t call up until September. It’s the situation he experienced in 2023. A much longer tenured member of the Mets, Mauricio was always a candidate to play shortstop until they acquired Lindor. This pushed Mauricio into the usual positions. His height makes far more sense at third base than it would with Acuna. Second base isn’t out of the question either.

Mauricio missed all of the 2024 season due to an injury he suffered in Winter League Ball. His removal from the team’s plans cut down the third base competition to Brett Baty vs. Mark Vientos. We’ve declared a winner there, unless Vientos ends up moving across the diamond or becomes more of a DH. It seems a little too abrupt to assume either scenario. In either case, Mauricio is battling alongside Acuna to be a second base option next season.

What makes this an intriguing scuffle is the two are different in just about every way. Physically different and gifted abilities that don’t match exactly, the first choice between the two should have more to do with who the front office believes is the better player and not what the ceiling can offer. Of course, there’s always a scenario where one of them ends up traded. It won’t be easy to move McNeil this offseason. Both could be fighting a losing battle.