The Mets prospect who will have the biggest impact in 2023

The New York Mets have a good problem with roster construction heading into the 2023 season. They have a star-studded roster with some of the game's best-ranked prospects knocking on the door as well.

There are three guys the Mets are expected to have play a role on their team that got a small taste last year with Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, and Francisco Alvarez. Baty received time when Eduardo Escobar was struggling but ended up on the IL and missing the rest of the season. Vientos and Alvarez each saw time in the DH spot at the end of the year, but all three should have much bigger roles this season.

All three guys will likely have a decent role on the team by the time the season is done, but one more than the others. Vientos will likely have the smallest role as he does not have a set position and the DH spot will be occupied by guys like Daniel Vogelbach, Darin Ruf, and Tommy Pham mainly. Baty and Alvarez are the two interesting cases of how big of a role they will play throughout the year.

Fransisco Alvarez will have the biggest impact out of all the Mets prospects in 2023

Bret Baty will likely have a big impact on the Mets this season, although Escobar is expected to start the season as the Mets third basemen and be that for most if not the entire year unless something happens to him, whether he is traded or gets hurt. The Mets do have a team option on Escobar for 2024 for $9 million or a $500,000 buyout, so they could trade him if they feel Baty is ready and want something in return for Escobar.

Fransisco Alvarez is very intriguing to me because of what he can bring on offense. Tomas Nido and Omar Narvaez are a bit underwhelming on offense, to say the least, but they bring much more on the defensive side than Alvarez currently offers. Narvaez has a career OPS+ of 100 and Nido's is 61 so the Mets need help offensively behind the plate. Nido is under contract through 2024 and Narvaez has a player option for $7M for 2024 so the Mets are not "stuck" with either of them.

If both Nido and Narvaez are not contributing offensively and Alvarez is in the minors raking, we could see him called up with one of Nido or Narvaez being traded. Even if they are both having respectable offensive production we could see Alvarez strictly because of what he can provide offensively and what he could learn defensively from both of them.

I would not be overly shocked to see Alvarez make the opening day roster, although the Mets have said they would like him to work on his defense more. If he mashes in spring training it would be hard to ignore that and leave him off the roster, if anything he splits time behind the plate and DH'ing with others if he is not fully ready to catch major league pitching everyday.