The Mets hope McNeil figures things out and the time away from the lineup helps him get on track.
www.nytimes.com
Vientos has applied a few lessons he picked up to his first sustained opportunity in the majors, and he's thriving because of it.
www.nytimes.com
I'm optimistic enough to presume that players are always giving their best but sometimes I think they don't know what their best is, or what's necessary to maintain their position in the big leagues. Baty had third base handed to him at the beginning of the season and was batting .225/.304/.325 when he was sent down. Vientos is hitting .339/.400/.645 in his place and I saw Baty hit two 420 foot home runs in Sunday's Smets game. I think he got the message.
Again, Baty basically skipped the AAA level coming through the Met system. Only played 32 games at that level until he was recently sent down. Vientos played over 200 AAA games. Baty did not have anywhere close to as much high level experience playing pro ball and it showed.
Hopefully he spends most of the summer in Syracuse, gains an appreciation for salt potatoes and chicken riggies, meets a nice girl from CNY and has a great summer on and off the field.
And then gets called up and plays like he is capable of playing.
I think Vientos is the fall back at 1B if management decides to trade Pete or let him walk. In a weird way, how Baty handles AAA this time around might play a big role in whether the Mets let Pete go or commit to him long term.
If Brett kills it here, they have the option of putting Brett at 3B and Mark at 1B and paying at or near the league minimum for two power positions (they would actually also be doing with with Alarez at catcher). Acuna is really coming on and appears to be a legit talent not too far from being a factor in the big leagues. At 2B or in CF, where Syracuse is playing him increasingly.
By this time next year, we could see 4 young players all starting at key positions for the Mets. I think Igelsias is close to taking over for McNeil right now (though he is probably more of a short term solution).
If you want to sign Soto and a big name starting pitcher like say Max Fried, this is how to free up enough payroll to make the penalties for going over the cap fairly manageable.
If we see the Mets deal McNeil and/Alonso soon, I think this is what is driving it.
Hate to lose Pete but if it allows the Mets to sign Soto, it might be for the best.
As always, it will be interesting to see how things unfold. It is sometimes painful and always interesting to be a Mets fan.