Here’s some good New York Mets news: the cavalry is suiting up. The horses are fed. The stirrups have been cleaned. The blow horns have been waxed.
General manager Billy Eppler spoke on Friday about two of the organization’s top prospects, Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio. Appearing ready for some big league at-bats, Eppler sent Carlos Beltran to Syracuse in what looks like a final call as to whether or not they deserve a big league promotion.
How the NY Mets can clear a roster spot for either prospect
Finding a way to get either Vientos or Mauricio onto the roster isn’t as challenging as it used to be. Brett Baty has won over the starting third base gig from Eduardo Escobar. Aside from the drastic change of designating him for assignment or finding a trade partner, there is one other obvious move for the Mets to make.
Luis Guillorme is batting .217/.321/.239 for the Mets this season. Still an effective player to have on the roster in a limited capacity, he’s the easy scapegoat for their offensive woes. The team doesn’t have any other logical player to demote. With Mark Canha and Starling Marte both struggling, igniting a little more offensive firepower onto the roster could come from promoting either of these young players and inserting them into the lineup immediately.
Mauricio could become the starting second baseman for a period. Move Jeff McNeil to either corner spot. With Vientos, he might fit in best as the right-handed DH. Tommy Pham has outplayed Canha and Marte this season. He deserves more playing time than either of them at this point. Vientos has played some left field which gives the Mets one more option to find ways to use him.
Vientos is hitting .354/.431/.717 with 9 home runs and 26 RBI through 116 plate appearances. Mauricio is at .353/.391/.622 with 6 home runs and 19 RBI after 128 trips to the plate. What more could Beltran possibly need to see in order to prove one of them belongs on the MLB roster? Perhaps it’s a matter of deciding on which one is the better fit. We can only hope so.