6 important Mets players who could be gone next year if they fail in 2024

Failure isn’t an option for these New York Mets players in 2024. For a variety of reasons, being unsuccessful in the coming season could be the end of their tenure in Queens.

Exhausted minor league options are one of the primary reasons at play, however, a lack of vision as to what they can possibly offer is even more apparent as to why they could be gone.

In 2024, these six Mets begin the year with a role with the organization and some big questions they need to answer.

1) Brett Baty

Brett Baty may actually be the safest player on this list which is a surprise considering how poorly his career has gone after the home run in his first MLB plate appearance. Baty hasn’t hit. He has been even worse in the field than we could’ve imagined. Although he has two minor league options left which can allow the Mets to demote him and get Baty “right,” there comes a point where they’ll just need to move on.

Baty’s future is uncertain because of the mistrust in his defensive abilities. If he was hitting like a budding star, there might be an exception made.

The Mets have yet to move him away from third base during his time in the majors. In the minor leagues, he has played some left field. This doesn’t seem to make much sense with them prioritizing defense in center field. What’s more, with the rise of some other prospects who can play center field, Brandon Nimmo is the man who should start there.

What other possibilities are there for Baty? DH? First base if Pete Alonso leaves?

The Mets will have a call to make on Baty by the end of 2024. If he’s not at least a competent major league hitter, they might want to swap him in a trade. Be careful, though. Letting him spend some time in the majors as a bench player can have its benefits. First, he’ll need to show enough to prove he deserves the longer leash.

2) Jose Butto

Jose Butto will come into this season with only one minor league option left. Likely to get used, it puts him up against the ropes just like the rest of the players named on this list. Butto’s value to the Mets comes as a starting pitching depth piece. A move to the bullpen is probably the only way he sticks around and they’d need to be confident enough in him by the end of 2024 to guarantee him that spot.

Butto had an uninspiring 2023 season in Triple-A. He made 19 starts and finished with a 5.93 ERA. He was amazingly better at the major league level in his 42 innings of work which came mostly as a starter. The 3.64 ERA with nearly identical walk and strikeout numbers per 9 could suggest he was a bit unlucky in the minors. One explanation was giving up home runs at a rate of 1.7 per 9 in the minors compared to 0.6 per 9 in the majors.

Butto won’t get the luxury of spending a couple of years bouncing between the majors and minors. This year is it and that’s only if he can outperform some of the competition.

He’d need to have a phenomenal season to be even in consideration for a fifth starter role next season. In a competition alongside an optional player such as Tylor Megill (he didn’t make this list by the way), the Mets would be likelier to choose the guy they can demote over someone who’d be a candidate to get DFA’d immediately.

3) Joey Lucchesi

Time moves differently in outer space. Looking at Joey Lucchesi’s tenure with the Mets, one might conclude that they’ve been an astronaut. He is somehow about to enter his fourth season with the organization. So far, so mysterious.

Tommy John surgery stole his second half of 2021 and expelled him from having any MLB innings in 2022. He did get to make 9 starts for the big league club last year, posting an impressive 4-0 record and 2.89 ERA to boot. The promising turn in a career that seemed stalled should have him very much in the mix for more starts again in 2024.

Lucchesi, now 30, is down to his final minor league option. It’ll get used this year at which point the Mets will then have to decide for 2025 if he’s a major league option for them or not. They could either tender him a contract in his final year of arbitration eligibility and see if there’s space on the roster, trade him, or non-tender him in the offseason and move on.

There will be opportunities for Lucchesi this season to start for the Mets. Another outcome is for them to trade him away midseason in any sort of a sell-off they may undertake. As a sixth starter down the stretch for another club, he might have some value. We saw how pricy free agent pitchers in the mid-tier class were in the offseason. They’ll be worth something this summer even if they’re as unproven on a regular basis as Lucchesi.

5) DJ Stewart

A newcomer to the organization, DJ Stewart surprised us all with how well he hit in August of 2023. Then reality set in. He was a pumpkin again in the final month of the season. He came to the Mets with only one minor league option left. A toss up to get used this year based entirely on his own performance, it should be easy to know whether or not Stewart fits into the plans for 2025 by the end of this coming campaign.

Stewart’s ceiling likely has him never becoming much more than a part-time player. It’s fine. For the price to have him around, it’d be a welcomed bat to have available, especially if he can continue to crush righties and play better defense than expected.

The difficulty for Stewart could be competing alongside the up-and-coming rookies whom the Mets will view as more “toolsy” in what they offer. Players such as Drew Gilbert and Jett Williams will see regular action upon their promotion, but could also share some playing time along the way, too.

Stewart is fighting for a spot on the Mets roster next year. He’s also going to be competing for an opportunity to stick around in the major leagues. Possibly headed to journeyman status where he’ll bounce around on multiple teams for the remainder of his career, a strong performance in 2024 can help him at the very least become a niche player.

6) Mark Vientos

The microscope is on Mark Vientos this year. Basically without a position and still questionable as a major league hitter, his back is so far up against the wall he can hear the conversation in the other room. What is this, a doctor’s office? If there’s a place for thicker walls, you’d think it was in a medical facility.

Vientos won’t be seriously competing for too many innings at third base. It’s the DH spot where he’ll either sink or swim. The Mets are putting a lot of faith in him to succeed this year. It’s up to him to seize the opportunity and make the most of every at-bat.

His tenure with the Mets could be over after 2024 because of the lack of minor league options if his final one is used up this year. A non-competitive team would have to claim him off waivers to see what they can get from the young power hitter. The Mets have too many other goals and prospects on the way to have the luxury of stashing him somewhere on the bench, especially when he doesn’t offer much in terms of defense.

There are far more paths and scenarios where the Mets keep Baty around even if he has a worse year. With Vientos, the only thing he needs to prove is that he is indeed a major league hitter.