Even with the New York Mets agreeing to a two-year, $15 million contract with Omar Narvaez, there is work that needs to be done to the roster. So far, the Mets have bullied their way through the offseason to not only ensure that they maintain the success of last years team (101 wins, regardless of what happened in the playoffs, is nothing to snuff at), but add the proper depth to even become a better team. Yes that will undoubtedly be a tall task, but adding pieces like Justin Verlander, Jose Quintana, Koudai Senga, and David Robertson will certainly go a long way in making it happen. Despite the additions the Mets could still look to address their glaring issue from last season, the DH position. Narvaez was not signed to fill this role. The Mets finished with the second worst DH WAR (-0.9) amongst teams that qualified for the playoffs last season. The only team that received less output from their DH spot was the Cleveland Guardians, and they plugged that hole by inking Josh Bell this offseason.
So what are the Mets to do about this black hole in their lineup? During the course of the 2022 season, they tried a lot of different options to no avail. The most popular was platooning Daniel Vogelbach and Darin Ruf, with Vogelbach taking the position against right-handed pitchers and Ruf against southpaws. While Vogelbach was good but not great against his share, Ruf did not exactly impress the Citi Field faithful with his performance. If the Mets make no other moves after Narvaez, then they are likely to try the same experiment with Vogelbach and Ruf. For a team that is pushing to win a World Series, this is likely not a strategy to help lift the trophy come October. The good thing for the Mets is that there are still three options out there at the time of this writing that could benefit the team, and elevate the DH position from a negative to a positive.
Quiet Excellence- For all of the talk about the excellence of Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, and Alex Bregman raking during this dominant period in Houston Astros history, there has been one glue guy holding down the lineup there. Michael Brantley has quietly been one of the best hitters in the game over the past couple of seasons, and would be a great plug for the DH hole that the Mets are currently dealing with. No, Brantley will not slug 30 home runs or register 100 RBIs, but that’s not what the Mets would need from him. What I think of when I think of Brantley is his refreshing lack of strikeouts. Brantley, even in his full seasons, has never struck out more than 76 times in one season. In a season where approaches at the plate will be different because of the banning of shifts, a guy with a high contact percentage would be a wise addition. Brantley fits that bill, with a career mark of 90.7%. While he’ll turn 36 during the season and he’ll be coming off of an injury-impacted season, Brantley still remains a great option for the 2023 Mets. Signing with the Mets would also have an added bonus for Brantley, as his offseason home is in Port St. Lucie.
A Career Slugger- The rumors were swirling last season about the Mets potentially acquiring J.D. Martinez during the trade deadline, but the Mets opted to go with the platoon option I mentioned before. This was probably a wise move, as Martinez saw his trade value drop as he went into a second half slump last season. That second half should not deter the Mets from at least looking into Martinez however. Prior to that slump, Martinez was an All-Star for the Red Sox. His first half stats were impressive, and would bring slugging to a lineup that finished eighth in the MLB last season in that category. While eighth is a pretty good place to finish, adding a career .520 slugger would be undoubtedly impactful. With the slugging however comes the strikeouts, and that’s something that Martinez does a lot of. Martinez will also turn 36 next season, but unlike Brantley, is not coming off of an injury-laden campaign.
The Return of an Old Friend– Sometimes, the grass really is not greener on the other side. Michael Conforto spent the entirety of the 2022 season without an MLB home due to question marks surrounding the health of his shoulder. The Mets are the only team that his sweet swing has ever known, and it might make total sense for him to take a one-year “prove it” deal with them. Conforto is the classic case of “When he’s on, he’s on and when he’s off well, he is definitely off.” However, a fully-healthy and fully-rested Conforto could make sense for the Mets for a couple of reasons. With Conforto, he’s proven that he can be effective as a Met, and just looking back at his 2017-2020 seasons makes it easy to see him being a great piece in the lineup. In addition to that, Conforto is a younger player (believe it or not, he’s still only 29), that could be plugged into the corner outfield spots if Starling Marte, Mark Canha, or Jeff McNeil need a day off from playing the field. A bounce back Conforto could be a key difference maker, and add the pop that many are clamoring for in this Mets lineup.
The Mets have a litany of options when it comes to the DH position for the upcoming season. Adding any of the guys above would be beneficial to the lineup, but that would also mean that the Mets would need to shed some of the current pieces they have on the roster like Vogelbach, Ruf, Tomas Nido, or James McCann. When in win-now mode however, these are the decisions that have to be made.
Brantley has a career CT% of 90.7%
Martinez is a career .520 slugger
Conforto is eighth on the Mets all-time home run list, trailing Pete Alonso by 14
My sentiment is for the Mets to stick with Voggie as the LHDH and go with a RH hitter, who can play the OF. That would be Adam Duvall. He’s got some pop. Second choice would be Martinez. Third choice: Wil Myers.
In a little over 1/3 of the season, Daniel Vogebach put up a 1.0 fWAR for the Mets in 2022. I want the plan to be a platoon with Vogelbach and Francisco Alvarez, which has the possibility of providing a 3-WAR position for a little over $2 million, which would be great bang for the buck.