The New York Mets solved their outfield problem by creating an infield problem as Bichette gets a shot at shortstop.
The New York Mets are starting to make moves to set their final roster for Opening Day, but they come with real questions about whether they’re playing chess or checkers right now.
The first move that will undoubtedly be part of a series is the announcement that infielder Ronny Mauricio was being optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, according to a report from Darragh McDonald of MLBTradeRumors.com that quoted other sources.
It’s the first domino to fall, but the next one makes it look like the Mets are playing checkers rather than chess. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that erstwhile third baseman Bo Bichette will play shortstop today in a move that could be a tryout for a possible role as a backup shortstop behind Francisco Lindor.
Let’s hope this is just one of those spring-training lab experiments where the basic logic is “hey, let’s see what happens if we try this.” Bichette has been a shortstop for most of his career, but that doesn’t mean he’s a good one. The Toronto Blue Jays ended up moving Bichette to second, and it’s unclear why the Mets think they’ll get a different result by casting him in the role of occasional backup to go with his third base duties.
As for Mauricio, he started the season as a player in limbo, and now he’s a minor leaguer in limbo. He was solid as a fill-in for Lindor while the Mets starter was out with a broken hamate bone, but at this point it seems clear that the Mets don’t see him filling any meaningful role, which raises the question of why he hasn’t been traded. Along those same lines, it’s equally unclear as to why corner infielder Mark Vientos is still around given that he hadn’t hit at all this spring.
The move behind the move here may be about the outfield. The Mets are clearly torn between two outfielders, with prospect Carson Benge having emphatically earned the right field job and veteran Mike Tauchman being a solid outfield option who’s worth keeping around.
Going without a backup shortstop—which is what the Mets would basically be doing if they try to survive with Bichette in that role for a few weeks—would allow the Mets to keep both players, with Tauchman cast as insurance if Benge suddenly looks overwhelmed in April.
It’s a bit of a mess right now, but perhaps we’ll get more clarity next week. In the meantime, the approach seems to be something like “let’s solve this problem by creating a different problem.”