3 challenging NY Mets roster questions the team may have to answer early in 2024

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The best built teams in baseball face significant roster challenges. Nobody is immune to it. The 2024 New York Mets certainly don’t look built to speed their way to a championship either. A roster filled with some risky additions and returning players, challenges aplenty are on the way.

These three challenging roster questions could pop up sooner than we’d like. The solution isn’t so straightforward.

1) What’s the best situation at third base if Brett Baty struggles?

Third base was supposed to be a bit more open to start the season. Then came the ACL injury to Ronny Mauricio. A big wrench thrown into the team’s plan of letting the kids battle it out, Brett Baty now appears to be unchallenged.

Sure, Mark Vientos can surprise us all and look more capable of playing the position in the spring. Joey Wendle, as defensively gifted as he is, might not have the level of production at the plate to justify keeping him in the lineup over Baty.

The problem with Baty is nothing went right for him in 2023. His bat didn’t do nearly enough to keep him in the majors for the full season. When he returned after a temporary demotion, he picked up where he left off in the worst way possible.

So what happens if it’s more of the same from Baty? Do the Mets let Vientos man the position and see him cost them with his defense? Or do they move Wendle to the hot corner and suffer with a .200 batting average at the position yet again?

This coming year is a big one for Baty personally and for the team at the position. None of the backup plans look particularly satisfying.

2) Is it time to move one of the projected starters to the bullpen?

The Mets added a couple of starting pitchers this offseason whose abilities are debatable. Luis Severino is coming off of a terrible year with the New York Yankees and looking to get somewhere closer to his All-Star capabilities from the past. Sean Manaea, who was never as good as Severino in his prime, has been far more productive and yet he’s the one who was moved to the bullpen last season while with the San Francisco Giants. There’s also Adrian Houser whose career has seen him flip between the rotation and bullpen on numerous occasions.

Those three, and even Jose Quintana for that matter, are serious contenders to eventually get moved into the bullpen if things go awry. A thought last year with a pitcher like Carlos Carrasco, it never ended up happening, but probably would have if the team bought at the trade deadline instead of sold.

Not completely unusual, the Mets are more set up to make such a move with the personnel they have. Starting pitching depth is abundant. Tylor Megill and David Peterson when he returns from the IL will be contenders to boot someone out. Jose Butto and Joey Lucchesi are another pair we could see overtake one of the higher-priced projected opening day starters.

A challenging roster decision like this is two-fold as it requires the correct timing and replacement option. Don’t pull the plug on a player too quickly, but don’t force him on the mound to the point where his and your year is unsalvageable. It’s not a particularly unique situation for the Mets other than the fact that they have more candidates for a move like this than usual.

3) Where does Starling Marte belong on defense and in the lineup?

A specific player Mets fans have their concerns with, Starling Marte is someone whose role on the team is far from defined. Ideally, he would have still been the starting right fielder this year and batting near or at the top of the starting lineup. Injuries and a poor performance in year two with the team have us second-guessing everything.

Where does Marte line up defensively? Right field will be his spot to lose. The open DH spot should provide him with enough opportunities to get into the lineup more regularly without having to worry about playing defense. Let Tyrone Taylor track down a few extra balls or if he’s hitting well enough, ask DJ Stewart to grab a glove.

Perhaps more alarming is how little Marte may offer the Mets on offense. A defensive decline is expected for all players. The sudden drop off from 2022 to 2023 came at us too quickly. Marte didn’t play like a top of the lineup guy last year. He wasn’t even worth hitting somewhere around fifth or sixth where some lineup projections have him.

Could Marte end up dropped to one of the last two spots in the batting order? Out of respect to him as a veteran, it might take a while. For the sake of the Mets, it may indeed end up becoming the right decision to make at some point. Let’s just hope he’s not a DH batting ninth. That looks ridiculous.

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