Mets Monday Morning GM: Jeff McNeil usage confirms his future in Flushing

New York Mets fans have a unique relationship with Jeff McNeil. He’s definitely a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately type of player. On the other hand, he’s homegrown and a guy who worked his way into becoming a major league player and batting champion.

There is a lot to like about McNeil. Plenty of follies, however, have had fans dreaming up scenarios where he isn’t on the roster. His contract extension hasn’t gone too well. A salary that goes up to $15.75 million in each of the next two seasons, his 97 OPS+ in 2023 and 2024 doesn’t match closely enough to the paycheck.

Have we seen the last of McNeil in a Mets uniform? Before his season-ending injury, it was well-confirmed that he will be back again in 2025.

The way the Mets used Jeff McNeil suggests they aren’t about to dump him anywhere

David Stearns didn’t make any salary dump moves in his first offseason with the Mets. In a winter when Starling Marte, Omar Narvaez, and even McNeil were suggested salary dump candidates, he held onto all three. His approach to building the roster didn’t involve paying players to suit up for other ball clubs. In fact, his lone major trade with the Milwaukee Brewers had the Mets taking on the salaries of Adrian Houser and Tyrone Taylor in exchange for an injured pitching prospect.

McNeil did himself a lot of favors by hitting so well out of the All-Star Break after what was a miserable first half. The .289/.376/.547 he slashed was outrageously good. The OBP was a full 100 points higher. He drove in only 4 fewer runs than he did in the entire first half of the season. He had 19 extra-base hits (14 doubles, 5 home runs) in the first half. He had another 19 in the second half in less than half as many plate appearances (12 doubles, 7 home runs).

But we already knew McNeil could hit. We’ve seen power surges like this before, too. The real hint as to why he’ll be back again is the more openness in which they used him in the outfield.

Jeff McNeil fit in perfectly with the defensive alignment late in games

Even in June when the Mets had Jose Iglesias hitting well, McNeil didn’t play a single inning in the outfield. This changed in July. A part of the reason was the injury to Starling Marte. However, even upon Marte’s return, McNeil still got into the outfield mix. He’d regularly start games at one spot and transition to another. On September 3 against the Boston Red Sox, he went from left field to right field and finally to second base. It’s the quality that has always made McNeil so unique.

It’s not only McNeil whom Carlos Mendoza likes to move around. Aligning the defense late in games is a regular occurrence. Brandon Nimmo isn’t going to finish a game in center field if they can help it. And because Mendoza has fallen in love with this manipulation of the defense late in games and McNeil allows so many more options, it seems entirely too likely that he returns again next year in some capacity.

A team like the Seattle Mariners who are constantly looking for exactly what McNeil can do (contact hitter, high average, second baseman) are the best match to strike a deal for him. Considering how reluctant they’ve been to promote Luisangel Acuna for any reps at second base, it seems far fetched to believe they’d be open to subtracting McNeil. He offers a lot, especially when he is hitting well. At his salary, age, and tendency to slump, no one is going to make a satisfying enough offer when he can be this useful to the Mets.