Brett Baty, Mark Vientos Optioned To Triple-A

The New York Mets announced on Saturday evening that they have optioned infielders Brett Baty and Mark Vientos to Triple-A.

With the Mets set to play their final spring training game on Sunday, we should start seeing a slew of roster cuts as Opening Day draws ever closer.

That process has now started with Baty and Vientos both being sent down.

It probably won’t prove popular that Baty has been optioned to Triple-A given the dominant spring he enjoyed. There were many who felt strongly that the rookie should start the 2023 MLB season as the Mets’ third baseman over veteran Eduardo Escobar.

There were also multiple reports that suggested Vientos had a better chance of sticking around in the majors than Baty, but both will have to begin the year in the minors and hope to get a call-up to the bigs sooner rather than later.

“They’re a phone call away,” Mets general manager Billy Eppler said. “They don’t need something to happen at the Major League level. They have the type of talent where they can push their way up here. There’s still some development objectives to reach. You’ve got to think about the long game. We have to think about the 162 games we’re going to play over 183 days. We’re not positioning a roster for a three-game series only. We’re positioning the roster to manage all the way through September and into October.”

It is somewhat surprising that Baty won’t begin the year on the Major League roster given how much of a tear he had been on throughout spring training. The lefty bat hit .325/.460/.425/.885 with one double, one homer, six RBIs, two stolen bases and eight walks. He was electric at the plate and also came through in the clutch on countless occasions.

Furthermore, while the biggest mark against Baty was his defense at the hot corner, he showed tangible signs of improvement in that department throughout spring, making both routine and highlight-reel plays with ease and showing that he was becoming more and more comfortable at third base defensively with every game he played.

Therefore, given his ability to absolutely rake at the plate coupled with his improving defense, there was a very strong argument to be made that Baty proved at the very least he deserved to be in a platoon at third base with Escobar, with the chance to eventually win the job full-time.

“It was a tough decision,” Eppler said when asked about Baty specifically. “The coaching staff and the front office staff had a pretty long meeting (on Saturday morning), we walked through a lot of different combinations, went around the room and the consensus of the room was that it was best to have him start in Triple-A. One of the things we talked about is that with Brett, we think he’s got a chance to be an above-average regular player at the Major League level for a championship-caliber team.

“And, so, that has you start looking back a little bit and looking at players like Nolan Arenado. Nolan was a High School Draft, like Brett, and he played over 400 games at third base in the minor leagues, Rafael Devers, who was an International Signing, played 310 games at third base and Austin Riley who played 430 games at third base. You learn by playing a lot and, while Brett had a great camp and we’re really excited about his future, there’s still some development markers left for him to reach. He’ll go down and probably carry a lot that he consumed here into Triple-A and we’re really excited about his future, the type of kid he is, what he does in the batters box and also the strides he’s made defensively.”

It appears clear that the powers that be at Citi Field believe Baty needs more seasoning, and he would be better off continuing to learn his craft in the minors rather than getting reps in the majors. While some may question that logic, Eppler expanded on the improvements he wants to continue to see from Baty.

“Just continuing to get tested in different game situations,” Eppler said. “Learning the speed, when to give ground, when to take ground. Just being put in different types of circumstances, different types of situations.”

Vientos also had a solid spring after slashing .278/.310/.481/.792 with five doubles, two homers and 11 RBIs with three walks. Given his ability to mash at the plate, there was some suggestion that the righty would be a good option to provide some offense from the designated hitter position. Especially given Darin Ruf’s struggles this spring.

Like Baty, Vientos showed outstanding strides in his development throughout spring training, but he too will now look to impress at Triple-A before hopefully earning a call-up back to the majors.

The Mets also announced that they have reassigned LHP Zach Muckenhirn, RHP Denyi Reyes, catcher Michael Pérez, INF Jonathan Araúz, INF José Peraza and outfielder DJ Stewart to minor league camp.