PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — For the time being, the Mets are sticking with experience.
On Saturday night, New York optioned infielders Brett Baty and Mark Vientos to Triple-A Syracuse. After a meeting earlier in the day that included members of the front office and coaching staff, the Mets decided that neither of the top prospects, who each debuted down the stretch of the 2022 season, will start this year in the major leagues.
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“They’re a phone call away,” general manager Billy Eppler said. “They don’t need something to happen at the major-league level. They have the type of talent where they can push their way up here. There’s still some development objectives to reach.”
Even with significant strides forward this spring, defense remains a critical area of improvement for each. When discussing Baty, Eppler cited the minor-league experience of another star third baseman — Rafael Devers played more than 300 games at third in the minors, Nolan Arenado and Austin Riley more than 400. Baty, thanks to the lost 2020 season, has played 173.
“One of the things we talked about is, with Brett, we think he has a chance to be an above-average regular player at the major-league level for a championship-caliber team,” Eppler said. “(It’s) just continuing to get tested in different game situations: learning the speed, when to give ground, when to take ground — just being put in different types of circumstances, different types of situations.”
Eppler was confident that both Baty and Vientos would still play large roles for the major-league club this season.
“We end up using a lot of players over the course of a season,” he said. “It’s going to take more than 26 players.”
“It bodes well for us down the line,” manager Buck Showalter said of the impressive spring performances from both players.
Showalter said the Mets have a “pretty good idea” of their 26-man Opening Day roster for Thursday in Miami. The roster doesn’t have to be announced until Thursday, and the club wants to make sure of the health of all its players before then.
One of those players is Darin Ruf. Ruf said early Saturday that his wrist, which required a cortisone shot earlier this spring, “feels a lot better.” Nevertheless, the team wants to make sure Ruf is ready for the regular season. If it decides to place Ruf on the injured list, New York could carry outfielder Tim Locastro and give Tommy Pham more at-bats as the designated hitter.
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With David Peterson looking set to be the club’s fifth starter (albeit one who starts the second game of the season in Miami), the other uncertainty is the final spot in the bullpen. The team informed Tommy Hunter on Saturday that he will make the Opening Day roster. Hunter had an “upward-mobility clause” that forced the team to make a binding decision on his roster status by Saturday. Hunter will need to be added to the 40-man roster by Thursday; the Mets can clear a spot by placing someone (such as Edwin Díaz or José Quintana) on the 60-day injured list.
The Mets are monitoring players on other rosters with that same clause to see if any would fit their bullpen better than their current in-house options.
At the moment, right-hander Dennis Santana, whom the Mets claimed from the Twins last week, probably has a leg up on the final roster spot because he’s out of options. Eppler has reiterated throughout spring training the importance of preserving depth — especially in a bullpen that’s already lost Díaz as well as Sam Coonrod and Bryce Montes de Oca.
“You’ve got to think about the long game,” Eppler said Saturday. “We have to think about the 162 games we’re going to play over 183 days. We’re not positioning a roster for a three-game series only. We’re positioning the roster to manage all the way through September and, with our standards, into October.”
(Top photo of Brett Baty and Mark Vientos: Rich Storry / USA Today)