While Mets fans and perhaps even the front office are weighing what the right thing to do with Brett Baty is, it seems like the Braves have taken a rather unusual step with one of their youngsters. Last year Atlanta called up Vaughn Grissom from Double-A and he more than held his own, posting a 121 OPS+ in 156 PA. In Grapefruit League play this year, Grissom had a strong .829 OPS in 40 PA. Nevertheless, the Braves sent him to the minor leagues and have given the starting shortstop job to Orlando Arcia, once a top prospect with the Brewers. But in 2,188 PA in the majors, Arcia has a 75 OPS+. Will this be the latest head-scratching move by the Braves to come up smelling like roses?
Meanwhile, the Mets have sent down top prospects Francisco Alvarez and Ronny Mauricio but still have Baty and Mark Vientos in major league camp. That’s a quasi-win for the youngsters, not being sent down like their brethren. Baty and Vientos will hope to join Pete Alonso and Andres Gimenez as recent rookies to earn a spot on the Mets’ Opening Day roster, although it took a 30-man roster in the Covid year for Gimenez to get the call.
Grissom must have struggled defensively, and he has options, that’s the only things I could think of for him going to the minors
From what has been written, Baty is ready to play third as long as we can withstand his errors. With our pitchers throwing a lot of ground balls we would be best to have Guillorme at 3B but can’t afford his bat there if the DH and catcher positions can’t get on base and drive in runs. Remember that Alonso was kept because of his bat and he needed a lot of improvement in his fielding. He worked hard at making himself at least an adequate 1B and when you think of all the balls he digs out of the dirt, the rest of the infield should be thrilled not having 5-6 more errors each. Still willing to see if Escobar starts off hitting like he left off. He is not sparkling in the field having made 12 errors last year, but he seems to make the routine plays.
Alvarez shouldn’t be in Triple-A too long. Based on on what I saw in Spring Training, his swing still needs more work in terms of pitch selection. But he has power and even though his arm behind the plate can be a little inaccurate, he has a cannon arm too. Looking forward to his continual development.
Alvarez is still really young. Some more seasoning could be good for him. I really eoyld like to see Baty make the team.
Really want to see Ruf go.
I’m so old I remember how the Phillies kept Mike Schmidt on the roster when he first came up to play 3B despite; low batting avg., lots of strikeouts, and a horrendous glove. Raw power was all he offered. Turned out OK I think.
It also helped that the Phillies were coming off five straight losing seasons, including a 59-97 mark in the previous year.
I accept your explanation for this years decision……..but it hasn’t been different when the Mets also were enduring losing seasons and youngsters were passed over or traded for fading veterans.
You’re absolutely right. And if you check the archives, you’ll see me consistently complaining about the Mets’ choices to chase other team’s former stars, hoping for a dead cat bounce, rather than giving shots to guys from their own farm system.
Vientos better than Ruf and he was getting reps at 1B. Ruf hss an injury to him wrist that is not responding so he could start the season on the IL.
Baty is better than Guillorme who an option. Baty could split 3B with Escobar. Escobar is better than Guillorme.
Both rookies should be, and can be, on the opening day roster.
….and I second your logic Metsense. And I still think Locastro should be the extra OF (rather then Pham). Speed, can play CF, and while his ST #s might be a chimera, what would you call Pham’s?
Do y’all think the Mets will keep the kids in AAA long enough to hold on to them for an extra year before free agency?
Why not?
If BVW could get the Wilpons to bypass the extra year of control with Alonso, it’s difficult to imagine that Eppler couldn’t do likewise with this year’s crop of rookies. Realistically, the only one who falls into this category is Baty. And if they send him to the minors, my view is that it has more to do with respect for Escobar and his place on the team, rather than playing service-time games.
I hadn’t seen this before: “But, since Alonso’s career started in 2019, he’s hit more homers (146) than anyone, including runner-up Judge (137).” (from Yahoo Sports!, author: Anthony McCarron)