Mark Vientos had a season the Mets considered to be “magical” in 2024. Then came 2025, which was anything but magical for most of the Mets, Vientos included.
Coming off of a breakout, 27-homer season with an .837 OPS, the 25-year-old third baseman hit only 17, despite nine more plate appearances than in 2024. By the end of the season, he was mostly relegated to a bench role, especially once it was clear that his defense had regressed.
Over the last few years, the Mets have been trying to figure out how to handle a glut of young infielders. It’s still not clear how they will handle Vientos, Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña moving forward, but what is clear is that the Mets see Vientos as a “bat-first” player.
“I think Mark’s playing time is, and always will be, driven by his bat,” President of baseball operations David Stearns said earlier this week at the MLB general manager meetings in Las Vegas. “He is a bat-first player. He works very hard on his defense, but he is a bat-first player. I think he will go, and his playing time will go, how his bat goes.”
It’s not often teams will outright label a player like that publicly, especially one as young as Vientos. Drafted as a third baseman out of high school in 2017, Vientos was supposed to be the heir apparent to his childhood hero, David Wright, at third base. Two years later, the Mets drafted Brett Baty to play third. They arrived in the big leagues at nearly the same time, which made it tough to divvy up the playing time.
In 2024, Vientos was the starting third baseman for most of the season. Last season, Baty, who played second and third, had more of a grasp on the position. The latter of the two is the leading candidate to be the regular third baseman next season.
“Brett had a really good year, he took some real steps forward in his development,” Stearns said. “I think going into the offseason, he’s probably someone we would pencil in for significant third base time next year. It’s probably premature in mid-November for me to outline exactly how playing time is going to be allocated, but Brett did a really nice job.”
So far, the Mets have not been tied to free agent third baseman Alex Bregman, but if the Mets choose to trade one or more of their infielders away for pitching, they could easily open up a spot for a championship-caliber leader and a solid defensive third baseman. While I’ll spare you the coffee-bean puns made by his agent, Scott Boras, his comments about Bregman’s leadership are relevant.
“I think all teams learned, outside of Houston, that if you want to have someone that’s going to lead a championship army, there’s no better general than the Brigadier,” Boras said.
The Mets could keep Vientos and use him as a DH. A right-handed hitter who makes hard contact, there is still plenty of upside. But there are plenty of holes in his game, even beyond defense. He chases too many pitches outside of the zone and doesn’t run the bases well. Still, the club still seems to value the power potential.
“Mark had this really magical season and magical second half in ’24 that culminated with one of the better postseason performances in Mets history. That’s a really high bar for a young player to get to get back to,” Stearns said. “For Mark, I think it starts with swinging at the right pitches. When he’s going well, he has the ability to lay off of the spin away, out of the zone. When he’s pressing a little bit, that can become a challenge. That’s probably a good starting point.”
MAURICIO PLAYING WINTER BALL
The last time the Mets infielder played in the Dominican winter league, he suffered a knee injury that cost him a year of play. They’re allowing him to play again this winter, believing that the injury was simply a fluke. Having missed key development time, the Mets think it will be valuable for the 24-year-old Mauricio to get at-bats and defensive reps all around the infield this winter.
The Mets kept him on the Major League roster even when not playing him toward the end of the season, and when Baty injured his oblique during the final weekend of the season, Mauricio struggled to produce after having been on the bench for so long. The reason behind that was to save an option year.
“By keeping him up for that last month, even though he wasn’t playing a lot, we preserved the last option,” Stearns said. “He now has the ability to go through, if he needs it, the entirety of a developmental year and get some really good at-bats under him.”
INJURY UPDATES
Catcher Francisco Alvarez has nearly recovered from his various hand and thumb injuries and should be able to start his normal offseason progression on time.
Utility man Jeff McNeil reportedly had a minor procedure for thoracic outlet syndrome after the season concluded, but is expected to be ready for spring training.
