It’s never too late to improve your roster even if the final upgrades aren’t necessarily the biggest. According to Joel Sherman of the NY Post, the season of New York Mets rumors aren’t over quite yet. Much like last year’s late spring pursuit of an upgrade over DJ Stewart, which they never found, the Mets are reportedly interested in adding a right-handed infielder to their Opening Day roster.
A flood of immediate thoughts arise from these Mets rumors. Questions of why they didn’t just sign Jose Iglesias as well. More than likely, if the Mets do add outside help, it’ll be on a smaller scale. If they’re not awarding an Opening Day roster spot to Donovan Walton or Luis De Los Santos, the hope is probably for someone a bit more reliable or proven at the major league level.
The days leading up to Opening Day include plenty of players opting out of their contracts or getting cut. Someone the Mets could have an eye on might not even be available just yet. Above all else, these rumors send a warning to Luisangel Acuna that even if he does make the team, the Mets weren’t buying into him 100%.
The latest Mets rumors suggest the team isn’t ready for Luisangel Acuna to play a significant role in the major leagues
Acuna is no doubt talented and when at his best a strong role-player. At bare minimum he is a flashy multi-positional player whose speed can cause chaos. He was good enough in September of last season to be a strong consideration for this year’s Opening Day roster. His work ethic, kindly called out by Francisco Lindor publicly, makes it no secret how his teammates view him.
It’s mostly slim pickins as far as free agency goes. Any sort of last-minute trade wouldn’t be earth shattering either. The Mets are essentially looking for a Nick Madrigal replacement rather than their next starting second baseman. That job, until Jeff McNeil comes back, looks like it belongs to Brett Baty as much as possible.
Rather than sign one of the handful of players who never did get a contract this offseason, the likeliest conclusion would be to pick up someone warmed up enough from spring training action. They’d conceivably want to have any right-handed infielder ready for Opening Day when they face lefty Framber Valdez. It looks to be one of the rare times the Mets will face a left-handed starting pitcher at the start of the year with the Houston Astros throwing nothing but righties after and the same trajectory in both series versus the Miami Marlins and their homestand against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Mets would be wise to not force someone onto the roster unless they have realistic plans and a belief he’ll be better than Acuna. These rumors at least help send yet another ticking alarm clock his way.
