Signing Carlos Correa and 3 other roster moves or decisions the team still needs to make

The New York Mets offseason has been a busy one, maybe more so than any other team. Signing Carlos Correa to a deal is the priority. Once that gets complete, the front office can focus on some other moves and decisions.

For the most part, this club is in solid shape and mostly ready to fight it out in 2023. The moves they should be making after Correa are more minor, obvious, or can be corrected if they don’t work out.

There is still, amazingly, quite a lot of offseason left. In that time, the Mets will need to finalize these three moves and decisions.

1) NY Mets need to get rid of Darin Ruf by any means necessary

Not only am I driving the anti-Darin Ruf train, I’m fighting with everyone else to sit in the conductor’s chair. There is no reason why he should be on the Mets roster in 2023. It’s honestly a little surprising to see the club hasn’t DFA’d him or found a taker to eat all but $500K of his salary.

Teams may simply have other priorities or prefer other pieces before trading for Ruf. His struggles with the Mets definitely soured the rest of the league on what they can expect from him in the coming year. He’ll be buried on most rosters with only the weakest of ball clubs being able to provide him with consistent playing time.

I do believe Billy Eppler has a plan for Ruf. He can’t make all of those other great moves and miss on the most obvious subtraction to make. Ruf isn’t a payroll burden. He is, however, a wasted roster spot better used on even a Travis Jankowski-type.

The Mets have more than enough righties to pair alongside Daniel Vogelbach. Ruf should be gone yesterday and the day before that.

3) NY Mets need to decide how they fill their bench internally or with outside options

Once Ruf is gone, the Mets will need to fill his roster spot. Do they do it externally with a free agent signing or trade? It might not be so necessary. Brett Baty as a part-time player in left field and off the bench could work. Mark Vientos, in a role very similar to Ruf, is another option. They’re not preferred but they do give the Mets room to demote or promote players without having to DFA someone.

It does appear the Mets will start the season with a bench that includes the backup catcher, Luis Guillorme, Eduardo Escobar, and one player capable of playing the outfield. Two classic choices are the speedy, glove-first type or the power-hitter to hide in a corner spot only when necessary.

The Mets don’t need to look outward to find suitable options to round it out. It’s something to continue to consider, though. A more experienced bat feels like the smarter direction to go.

If the Mets do stay internal, they won’t have to make their final choice until closer to Opening Day. How players like Baty, Vientos, and maybe but probably not Francisco Alvarez perform in the spring can lead the team toward the final bench piece.

In the meantime, it’s worth the effort to check in with free agents and other teams about trade possibilities.