"Unique" Luisangel Acuna gets an endorsement from the NY Mets that doesn't fully ring

David Stearns was in midseason mode at this week’s GM Meetings. The more he talked, the more we were reminded of what an expert he is at saying words without really saying much else. Ahead of what should be another significant offseason for the New York Mets, Stearns offered an evaluation on some of the younger players on the roster.

Through a poker face, he evaluated Luisangel Acuna as “unique” with a high floor. He pointed out how Acuna can be useful to the Mets even without elite offensive skills which was one of the more honest assessments because based on last year’s performance, elite is one of the furthest adjectives to describe Acuna’s hitting abilities.

Exciting in different ways, mostly for his defense and more so his speed, Stearns’ use of describing him as someone with an “everyday” role carefully implies he’ll fit in just where we think he does: in a limited capacity.

David Stearns carefully crafted the best way to describe Luisangel Acuna without insulting him

The NL Rookie of the Month for April, Acuna was well on his way to winning a starting job on the Mets based on his success in late 2024 and to start the 2025 season. Tragically, those two months separated by an entire offseason ended up as outliers.

Acuna hit .288 with 5 doubles in the first month of the season. Sparse playing time in the final months with several demotions along the way, he managed to go the full season with only 2 barrelled balls out of 141 batted balls. Not a significant number the year prior, he had 3 from 33 batted balls.

Acuna didn’t hit a single home run in the majors or minors last year. The absence of power wasn’t a shock to those who’ve followed him beyond the brief time he spent in the majors at the end of 2024 when he hit an unorthodox 3 homers. Not one expected to ever grow into a slugger, he’ll have to do other things incredibly well to stick around the big leagues.

An everyday role is appropriate for Acuna under the right circumstances. He managed to sneak into 95 games for the Mets last year, starting only 45 of them. He’s someone we can expect to be a candidate to take on the role of 26th man on the bench, pinch running as needed and finishing games at second base. 

After two seasons of watching how Stearns operates, we know the Mets are heavily interested in having a player on the bench with a specialized role like Acuna. Dismissing his offensive shortcomings, Stearns endorsed the big 2023 trade deadline for a spot on the Mets roster next year. Still a candidate to potentially get traded, Stearns knows better than to focus on the negatives in his game.