As spring training approaches, we look at how the Mets stack up against their division at each position. (We look at how the team is set up internally, too.)
We’ve ranked first base, second base and the starting rotation so far. Let’s review third base.
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
1. Austin Riley — ATL
There’s a clear-cut No. 1 in this position group: Austin Riley.
Riley’s breakout 2021 season wasn’t a fluke, and he’s reproduced it—30+ homers, 90+ RBIs and pretty good defense at third—every season since. He’s gathered 15.6 fWAR over the last three seasons—the second-most at the position in that time. (That’s more than Manny Machado, Rafael Devers, Nolan Arenado, and plenty of other solid third basemen.)
He’s so good, the Liberty Media Group gave him more than $200 million – and he’s not even an executive.
2. Jake Burger — MIA
Jake Burger arrived in the NL East at the trade deadline last offseason when the Marlins dealt prospect Jake Eder to the White Sox. Kim Ng made the trade to add power to the Marlins’ lineup, and it worked. Burger slashed .303/.355/.505/.860 over 217 plate appearances with the Fish, including 22 extra-base hits (nine homers and 13 doubles).
The White Sox traded Burger when his value was low. (He had a .214 average and .278 OBP, albeit with 25 homers, when he was traded.) The Marlins dealt a good pitching prospect, but they’ve grown those on trees recently.
Burger will be 28 next season, and he has easy 30-homer power. He’s below average as a defender, but after cementing himself as a big leaguer in 2023, Burger enters 2024 as a solid starting third baseman.
3. Alec Bohm — PHI
The Mets made Alec Bohm hate Philadelphia at one point in 2022. Then he grew into a classic Philly sports hero.
Bohm has turned into a serviceable third baseman with the versatility to man third and first—he split his time almost evenly last year. He swings at half the pitches he sees and makes a lot of contact as one of the top 20 players in the league at both in-zone and out-of-zone contact. That has resulted in him being an average hitter with a 102 wRC+ combined over the last two years.
He was criticized last postseason for his poor performance (and his manager wouldn’t move him from the clean-up spot), but he’s done enough to be ranked as the third-best third baseman in his division.
Brett Baty. Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
4. Brett Baty — NYM
These next two rankings are based on potential, as neither has produced in their time in the big leagues just yet. But Brett Baty gets the higher ranking because I’d bet 90% of you don’t know who No. 5 is on this list.
Baty’s 2023 season was awful. He had nearly 400 plate appearances, and he didn’t really have a good stretch among them. He slashed .212/.275/.323/.598 at the plate, and his expected numbers didn’t leave much room to use luck as an excuse. But Baty has the potential and hit tool to succeed. It just hasn’t translated against major league pitching yet.
This is Baty’s year to prove if he’s the Mets’ starting third baseman for years to come. He hasn’t been able to grab those reins just yet. It looks like he’ll have his chance in 2024, though, with David Stearns stating early in the offseason that the team likes their internal options at third. (This was before Ronny Mauricio got injured, but they haven’t made a significant move since to take at-bats from Baty.)
If he doesn’t produce—and impress as he does—the Mets will surely have their eyes on someone like Mauricio or an external option (Alex Bregman, Manny Machado, etc.) to man third in 2025.
5. Nick Senzel — WAS
If Brett Baty hasn’t reached his potential, Nick Senzel is still employed because of his.
Nick Senzel is projected for negative WAR. The training staff that keeps him healthy will win a medical grant from the NIH. He will do at least one thing that will cost the Mets a game. That said, he will also probably play so poorly in a series that the Mets will sweep it. The Nationals’ other options are Carter Kieboom (just give him one more season and it will all click) and Ildemaro Vargas. Yes, Brett Baty is the fourth-best third baseman in the NL East.
They have a couple of decent third base prospects—Brady House and Yohandy Morales—but neither will likely impact the 2024 team.
