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3 members of the Mets roster playing their way out of next year’s plans
The 2024 performance is showing these three might not be in 2025's plans.
Many New York Mets fans are already looking to 2025, but the current team isn’t finished quite yet. As optimistic as the front office, management, and ownership appears to be about this current season, a lot of what they’re doing is about next year as well. It’s a season of discovery. What we’ve discovered already is that some Mets players are working their way out of next year’s plans.
1) Jeff McNeil
The Mets did everything but call what they did to Jeff McNeil a benching. It’s a swear word for a position player and to spare some embarrassment the club has instead suggested what he must do to improve.
Going back to the basics of hitting line drives is what made McNeil such a unique MLB player. It’s what earned him the 2022 National League batting title.
Unfortunately, McNeil has been snakebitten for the third season of the last four. He was pretty awful in 2021 and in 2023 wasn’t nearly as good as he had been in the past. Whatever it is that’s causing him to spiral downward doesn’t bode well for his future with the Mets.
Many Mets fans are ready to send him packing at this year’s trade deadline. If someone nibbled and made the Mets an offer, we should expect them to budge. However, with McNeil’s value so low and the team yet to decide on whether they’ll buy or sell, we can put a pause on those trade ideas for now. Check back in a week.
At second base, the Mets have a ton of options for the 2025 season. Luisangel Acuna seems like an easy assumption. Jett Williams is a little further behind but also another young and exciting prospect. Let’s not rule out the possibility of a stop gap veteran either. Jose Iglesias appears to fit in well and love the team he’s on.
The trouble with moving on from McNeil is the salary. Owed $15.75 million in each of the next two seasons with a $2 million buyout or the same amount in 2027, he’s one of the more difficult players to swap without having to eat some of the many. Still a useful utility guy, holding out hope a little longer might not be the worst thing. However, he’s far from a lock to be the second baseman on Opening Day 2025.
2) Brett Baty
Sent to the minors in two consecutive seasons because of his performance, it’s easy to see the Mets moving on from Brett Baty in the offseason. At the very least he won’t be the starting third baseman. They’ve tried this long enough and barring some kind of a major turnaround, it’s a lame bet to believe he’ll figure things out in time for the 2025 season.
We shouldn’t completely give up on Baty. There’s a reason why he was such a highly rated prospect not long ago. His improvements on defense are noteworthy. Surprisingly, it has been his lack of production at the plate that has kept him off the MLB roster.
Mark Vientos has grabbed the third base gig for now, but lingering doubts of whether he is truly a major league third baseman remain present. Vientos could be a natural DH or first baseman for the Mets next year if there’s no Pete Alonso. The ability to play both corner infield positions would allow the club a bit more flexibility and maybe work Baty back into the picture at some point—if he’s not somewhere else.
Baty will have a minor league option left next season so the urgency isn’t there like it is with Vientos. His final option was already used when the Mets sent him to the minors before the season began.
At the very least, the Mets will have to add some more serious third base competition. Baty had practically no one fighting against him in camp. Vientos was written off quickly and incorrectly as an option. Joey Wendle offered the Mets nothing. Only the return of Ronny Mauricio can offer the club some sort of an internal candidate. He remains as big of a mystery as anyone.
3) DJ Stewart
The things that made DJ Stewart an important part of the Mets roster have fizzled. He’s no longer walking as much and the strikeouts are piling up. A limited player already, his presence on the Mets roster is far less important with J.D. Martinez present. The Mets have had more trouble getting him into games since their free agent DH addition returning from his minor league ramp up.
Stewart could be playing his way off the roster. The Mendoza Line is above his forehead. Defensive skills not on-par with several others on the roster, including McNeil, have him at his most useful in a very limited capacity. Able to offer competitive at-bats against right-handed pitchers, he’s not very useful at all whenever the Mets face a lefty. Flashbacks of Daniel Vogelbach aren’t in full effect but the two aren’t too different.
The Mets were interested in upgrading Stewart’s roster spot heading into Opening Day. We should expect them to explore alternatives more thoroughly in the offseason. If sent down at any point this season, he’ll lose his final minor league option. As a result, he’ll be in a spot where he’ll need to be on the Opening Day roster coming out of camp or get designated for assignment.
Unfortunately, Stewart hasn’t seemed to perform well in his more limited role off the bench rather than in a platoon. As streaky as any part-time player we’ve seen on the Mets in recent years, there just isn’t going to be any room for him at the inn in 2025. Leave the DH spot for a rotation of players and not a guy more interested in walks than anything else.
We love the idea of Stewart more than we love the actual performance.
Honorable Mention: Starling Marte. More on him tomorrow.
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