3 NY Mets starters who can stay but shouldn’t be in the 2023 Opening Day lineup

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Who else has 2023 New York Mets Opening Day already on their mind? With the way things ended in 2022, it’s all we have to look forward to.

Already, fans are spending Steve Cohen’s money in an attempt to build a better roster. It’s offseason fan-general-manager time and one part of it is moving certain players off the roster or to the bench.

It’s these three players who stand out most as starts from the 2022 team who we’d prefer to see not on the lineup card to open the 2023 season. They can stay with the club. They just need to be upgraded.

1) NY Mets need to do better at the DH spot than Daniel Vogelbach

Chances were, with the ability to pay him only $1.5 million, the Mets would keep Daniel Vogelbach. It's precisely what they decided to do. It’s not a horrific move. They can escape from it without having to pay a lot of money if things don’t work out well. Vogelbach could always simply end up as one of those rare May trade pieces if the Mets suddenly realize he’s too much of a burden on the roster.

As far as Opening Day goes, I think many would be in agreement that we’d like to see someone else.

With Vogelbach remaining with the Mets, the role will be the same. The Mets will need a right-handed hitter to pair with him to get at-bats on the days the team faces a southpaw. It’s a strategic way to deplore the DH without having to spend a lot of money. However, many of the best DH options available out there are better hitters than Vogelbach and aren’t stuck playing against only lefties.

Something tells me Vogelbach will indeed be in the Mets Opening Day lineup. Odds are already in favor of them facing righty Sandy Alcantara to open the season. That means we’ll probably see Vogelbach start the season with the Mets.

2) NY Mets should improve the catcher spot over Tomas Nido and James McCann

How can the Mets possibly improve at catcher? Tomas Nido had probably a better year than expected in 2022. It wasn’t, however, anything close to what you want from a catcher on the offensive side of things. James McCann was even worse. It’d be great if they could dump him somewhere if only to clear out the roster spot and maybe a little payroll.

Where can the Mets turn as a replacement for either? The answer is so obvious and I apologize for insulting your intelligence. It’s Francisco Alvarez.

There are questions about how ready Alvarez will be by Opening Day to become the starting catcher. Buck Showalter barely used him behind the plate during his brief time with the MLB team in 2022. His defense is the only question there is. He can clearly hit even if there are some growing pains we’ll have to endure.

Something tells me there is a greater chance of Alvarez starting in Syracuse than behind the plate for the Mets in 2023. However, there is another option. What if Alvarez starts at DH over Vogelbach even with a righty on the mound?

The Mets waited long enough to start promoting the kids. Trade them or starting playing them as much as possible. Opening Day might not be when we see Alvarez take his first regular hacks for the Mets. Wouldn’t it be nice if it is?

3) NY Mets can give Brett Baty the third base start over Eduardo Escobar

Brett Baty is probably the most likely of the top prospects to start on Opening Day. The team called him up first in 2022 and the performance from starting third baseman Eduardo Escobar this past year makes it a possibility that they reconsider his role with the team.

Escobar did finish strongly and if Baty doesn’t look quite ready, expect zero changes. However, depending on where Vogelbach is and how he performs, Baty could also be a candidate to be the DH or starting third baseman with Escobar in the role instead.

A Mets starting lineup to open the 2023 season with an improved DH from the outside, Alvarez behind the plate, and Baty at third base seems to be a little too dramatic for what this club has done. They like their proven veterans. We would need to see some injuries during spring training for the Mets to give more than one rookie an Opening Day start.

Your guess is as good as anyone’s as to what this team looks like when the 2023 season begins. We all do want to see some changes. Clearly, what they had this past year wasn’t enough.

An answer we’ll need to wait on: will these changes take place immediately or will we have to wait patiently for someone to lose their job?

Next. 3 potential James McCann trade destinations. dark

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