Entering this offseason, the New York Mets have question marks at several positions. One of them is third base.
In 2023, the Mets had little production from the third base side. Whether it was Eduardo Escobar, Brett Baty, Mark Vientos or Ronny Mauricio, the Mets did not get much from any of them offensively and not much better defensively.
Earlier this week on new Mets president David Stearns interview, he mentioned that the Mets are likely to put one of their own for the third base position, and not acquiring another name.
If Stearns’s words hold true, it’ll look more like Baty will be the starting third baseman, with Vientos and Mauricio getting some opportunities.
Baty was one of the Mets top prospects, coming into the 2023 season. He was brought back up to the major leagues in May, and once Escobar was traded, Baty manned third base for most of the season. In his first full year in the majors, Baty was anything but spectacular. He only batted .212 with 9 home runs and 34 RBIs in 108 games. He also struggled defensively, making 10 errors at third baseman.
With his production, I know many fans are clamoring Stearns to acquire a new third baseman. However, the Mets should still give Baty more opportunities, for him to develop and mature more. He’s only 24 years old and last season was his first full year in the majors. A lot of players have struggled early in their careers, only to improve and become solid players, some of the stars.
Mets should not give up on Baty too quickly. He was one of the top prospects and he does possess a nice smooth left-handed swing that when he makes contact, he can hit it in the gap for doubles or home runs.
Maybe the Mets losing in 2023, really affected Baty mentally. If the Mets can win more in 2024, perhaps it’ll give Baty a better mentality and perhaps more joy in playing the game. The worst moment would be if the Mets give up on Baty too quickly and he goes elsewhere and becomes an All Star, which the Mets have gone through many times.
Give Baty another few more years and if it still doesn’t work out with him, then perhaps the Mets should move elsewhere at third base. But for now, it’s too early for the Mets to cut the cord with Baty.
Yesterday at the winter meetings, Stearns made clear that 3B is going to addressed from within, so that is coming like it or not. Im guessing we see a split between Mauricio and Baty and let the best player win.
Vientos putting the work with Lindor
The Mets should Baty a second chance. Mauricio and Vientos should also get a second chance. Stearns has cleared third base for all them. Now all they have to do is earned the position and apparently they have all year to do it. It is a good strategy that Stearns is employing. All three of them fail in 2023 so he is risking only one position player in the batting order. All three of them have a good minor league resume. Stearns wants McNeil predominantly at second base and is planning on obtaining an everyday outfielder. Let the competition begin.
The problem with this franchise is that they absolutely suck at player development, at least as far as having guys arrive at the major league level ready to contribute.
Alvarez is the example of the superior talent overriding the influence of an inferior organization. Pete Alonso, David Wright, Jose Reyes, Jacob deGrom, Brandon Nimmo, and to a lesser extent Matt Harvey, are others from the past two decades. I don’t count Noah Syndergaard, as he came from another org., while Michael Conforto only played half a year in the minors. Meanwhile, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, the Dodgers, and Houston have cranked out that many in just a few years. Arizona and Baltimore appear to be emerging from a long rebuilt. Even the Phillies have shown an ability to bring guys up that can jump right in.
Steven Matz, Amed Rosario, Dom Smith, Andres Gimenez, and Luis Guillorme, are recent examples of guys who came up here and just weren’t ready. Some righted the ship (at least temporarily) others never have. In the past two years, Baty, Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio, Grant Hartwig, and Josh Walker all came up and quickly had their weaknesses exposed. Mauricio is particularly grating, as they knew he wouldn’t play shortstop in the majors, yet he is just now trying to learn a different position.
The Mets strategy appears to be “toss ’em in, let ’em figure it out.” That’s hard on any young player, let alone one playing under the 24/7/365 spotlight that is NYC. I think Stearns and Cohen realize this, and are putting changes in place. That’s the good news. The bad news is that a turnaround will take time.
Back to the OT: might as well give Baty another shot, Vientos and Mauricio too. Just don’t expect much.
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While I generally agree with you that the pipeline has largely been missing a through going progress that has meaning, something I fault ownership and leadership with, I do wonder if part of the problem is more basic than not ready: really, it seems to me the issue is not good enough. I faul them for delaying position transitions when there is time to get enough minor league reps to become proficient. And we even see tragic mistakes of believing everyone is a utility player, thus we saw Duda in RF, Dom in LF, McNeil everywhere, Wilmer Flores everywhere etc. Its a huge problem in my eyes that I hope the Stearns reign addresses, esp for 3B.
Of your list, I would not include Giminez, who had a distinguished season in Queens and been great for Cleveland.
While they certainly should not give up on Baty, its also time to move past the Baty worship that fans have expressed over the past year. Simply giving Baty more time to develop, in whatever form that takes, does not equate to giving up on him.
We’ve got three frogs in this race. Any of them could become princes. Maybe even all of them. But all of them still have some warts. We just do not know yet how this will turn out. Letting them all compete is the smart, correct, and appropriate plan at this time, IMO.
Using Baty in a platoon role, off of the bench, or even sending him back to the minors does not constitute giving up on him. It just says they think he needs more development, or that someone else is better than him for now. Key words: for now.
Another all-too-common fan misconception is that decisions made in spring are binding. They are not. The situation is fluid, and roles can be changes as that situation progresses. In all likelihood, they will all have some ups and downs an some growing pains during the season. And any of them might just need to go back and forth between AAA and the Mets during the course of the season before hitting that stride that let’s them stick. Because in reality, that is what happens to most prospects, even the good ones.
The lack of development is in the past. All we can do now is move forward. Baty is still a kid. Look at Bryson Stott. Hit .234 as a rookie and a solid .280 last year.
Look at Kelenic. Going about hist fourth chance and he still has value, by the Braves of all teams. With their luck, he will hit .300 next season.
We can’t give up too soon on the kids.
Last off season Baty worked hard on improving his defense. It did not translate into an average fielder at the hot corner. I would not give up on him but I’d rather see Mauricio get playing time at third, since he has a much better bat and great speed on the base paths. Neither are great fielders and that includes Vientos. I think that Baty or Vientos could go in a trade to improve our team. It is one thing to draft the best available athlete, but it is another thing to make sure that you don’t continue to develop that athlete at a fielding position that is blocked. Hopefully those days are over. One problem is if we were secure at most of our positions, then we could withstand growing pains of a young player. But because there is so much to question, we can’t afford to have a player who struggles on both sides of the ball.
Whether Baty or Mauricio wins the job, the best player between the two of them for the depends on the rest of the roster. Mauricio has more pop and speed, but his flaw to me is a big one, he doesn’t walk.
I want the guy who is going to outwork his competition to improve.
Cal Ripken would hit like a million balls a day off of a tee. Wade Boggs turned himself into a decent fielder at third.