After months of silence, the New York Mets made a gigantic splash on Thursday, acquiring shortstop Francisco Lindor and pitcher Carlos Carrasco in exchange for infielders Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario along with prospects Josh Wolf and Isaiah Greene.

So what does this blockbuster trade mean for the Mets moving forward?

Well, they certainly don’t have a massive hole at the shortstop position anymore, as they now feature one of the top shortstops in the majors. Assuming Lindor – who’s set to become a free agent after next season – signs an extension in the near future, the 27-year-old should help this organization become a serious playoff contender over the next several seasons.

While this trade appears to be a major win for the Mets, especially since they didn’t surrender any of their top five prospects, sending both Gimenez and Rosario to the Cleveland Indians creates somewhat of a vacancy at the third base spot. Though neither of these players controlled the starting gig at the hot corner last season, whoever wasn’t dealt this offseason probably would’ve spent a massive chunk of time at that position in 2021.

If the front office doesn’t acquire an impact third baseman before next season begins, and there’s still time for that to happen, then there’ll likely be an internal competition for the starting role involving J.D. Davis and Luis Guillorme. That being said, it’s possible this impending battle could be determined fairly quickly this spring and it might not end favorably for the player who controlled the everyday job in 2020.

Despite starting last season in left field, which didn’t last for very long as Davis posted a -2 OAA in just 52.0 innings, the 27-year-old quickly swapped positions with teammate Jeff McNeil and remained at third base through the rest of the campaign. Failing to perform effectively in the infield, the former Houston Astro became a defensive liability on the left side of the diamond and ultimately lost his starting role to veteran Todd Frazier – who was acquired from the Texas Rangers at the trade deadline.

Putting his woes into perspective to the rest of the majors, the 6-foot-3 infielder finished tied with the worst OAA (-3), the sixth-lowest RngR (-1.4), tied for the seventh-fewest DRS (-8), the 11th-lowest UZR/150 (-0.9), and tied for the 12th-lowest UZR (-0.3) among all third basemen who compiled at least 200.0 innings in 2020, according to FanGraphs.com.

John Flanigan/MMO

Adding on to his disappointing defensive showing, Davis also struggled mightily at the plate, which prevented him from making up for his ineffectiveness in the field. Though he broke out in a massive way during his inaugural season in Queens, the right-handed hitter took a major step backward in 2020, as both his contact and slugging metrics regressed significantly.

Over his 229 plate appearances last season, the former fourth-round pick produced just six home runs, 19 RBIs, .142 ISO, .318 BABIP, .339 wOBA, .397 wOBAcon, 24.5% strikeout rate, 29.3% whiff rate, 20.0% LD rate, 56.3% GB rate, 23.7% FB rate, 8.9% barrel rate, 45.2% hard-hit rate, a 3.3 degree average launch angle, a 117 wRC+ score, and a slashing line of .247/.371/.389/.761.

In comparison, the California State product generated 22 home runs, 57 RBIs, .220 ISO, .355 BABIP, .373 wOBA, .478 wOBAcon, 21.4% strikeout rate, 28.1% whiff rate, 22.9% LD rate, 47.0% GB rate, 30.2% FB rate, 10.5% barrel rate, 47.3% hard-hit rate, a 10.2 degree average launch angle, a 136 wRC+ score, and a slasing line of .307/.369/.527/.895 through his 453 plate appearances in 2019.

Even though it’s still possible for Davis to reclaim the starting third base job this spring, his recent offensive regression and poor defensive results have cast a shadow over his future on the left side of the infield. To make matters worse, it seems management may have lost some confidence in him and might feel Guillorme could make a strong push to take over the everyday role next season.

Before the 2020 campaign, making any sort of claim about Guillorme serving as the starting third baseman would’ve been laughed at severely, as he owned less than 200 plate appearances of experience at the major league level and was essentially an afterthought at that point of his career. Changing the narrative about himself last season, the 26-year-old was called upon to fill in as an injury replacement for teammate Robinson Cano and ran with the opportunity in both the field and in the batter’s box.

Starting with his defense, the versatile infielder – who’s capable of playing at third base, second base, and shortstop – has gradually improved his traits in the field ever since he made his major league debut in 2018, particularly at the hot corner. Though things didn’t start out well, as he posted a -2 OAA at third base as a rookie, the former 10th-round pick has since improved his range, which resulted in a -0.2 RngR (an increase of 0.5 from 2018) last season.

Thanks to this adjustment, Guillorme started coming into his own at third base, as he created a 1 OAA, -0.2 UZR, and a 2.1 UZR/150 through just 30.0 innings. Considering he recorded a -1.2 UZR and a -43.4 UZR/150 over 98 2/3 innings in 2018, there’s a strong possibility the 5-foot-10 infielder could be capable of serving as an average defender in an everyday role, although his performance could increase even further if he continues to improve his range.

Along with trending in the right direction regarding his defense, the native of Venezuela also took the offensive aspect of his game up another level, as he refined his swing path and became a much more effective contact hitter in 2020. While most experts are teaching hitters to increase their launch angle, the Coral Springs Charter HS product did the complete opposite, which actually allowed him to start unlocking his full potential at the plate.

Despite receiving just 68 plate appearances, Guillorme certainly made the most of them by producing six doubles, nine RBIs, .463 BABIP, .381 wOBA, .345 wOBAcon, 14.7% walk rate, 25.0% strikeout rate, 31.7% LD rate, 31.7% hard-hit rate, an 89.8 mph average exit velocity (2.8 mph increase from 2019), a 144 wRC+ score, along with a slashing line of .333/.426/.439/.865.

Considering all of these metrics were career-highs for him and were created over a small sample size, the youngster will probably endure some sort of regression in 2021, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be able to perform effectively on a regular basis. As long as he maintains his 10.7-degree average launch angle, which he decreased by 6.1 degrees from 2019, the left-handed batter shouldn’t have any issues replicating his impressive contact results moving forward.

Sure, the Mets could decide to platoon both Guillorme and Davis at third base until one of them run away with the starting job, but the coaching staff must prioritize defense over offense in this situation, as it’ll be crucial to dramatically improve the club’s run prevention in 2021. Taking that into account, this team may be better off handing the starting gig to the lefty hitter coming out of spring training.

With the organization aiming to surge into the playoffs for the first time since 2016, they can’t afford to have the third base position become a weakness once again and will need one of these two players, or someone who’s currently playing on another team, to step up and take the reigns of the hot corner.