With a universal designated hitter not currently in the cards for the 2021 season, the New York Mets find themselves with a dilemma: who’s on first?

The Amazin’s have two appealing options for the “other” hot corner going forward, with 2019 National League Rookie of the Year Pete Alonso and breakout star Dominic Smith.

Alonso, 26, and Smith, 25, were able to play harmoniously alongside each other in the shortened 2020 season due to the designated hitter, but not having that now throws a wrench in their plans.

The team could decide to trot Smith out to left field on a regular basis, but they would be compromising their defense severely. Alonso is also not equipped to play any other position besides first base.

It might boil down to the team trying to capitalize on one of their potentials via trade to bolster other parts of their roster, or the team could attempt to stick it out for 2021 with hopes of a universal designated hitter in 2022 and beyond.

Rob Piersall selects:
Keep Smith, Trade Alonso

While there are some good arguments to be made about keeping both Smith and Alonso for 2022 and beyond, I think the Mets are in a good position to trade Alonso now at what might be the height of his value.

Coming off a monster Rookie of the Year campaign that saw Alonso launch 53 home runs, have a .384 wOBA and a 143 wRC+ and be worth 4.8 fWAR, there’s no doubt he has a lot of pop in that bat. With that being said, I do believe that Alonso’s future — whether it be with the Mets or not — is as a designated hitter.

The big knock on Alonso coming up through the system was that his bat was robust, but his defense would bog him down. He did make strides after working his tail off last season to improve on the other side of the ball, and had a passable defensive campaign in 2019.

While -3 defensive runs saved (DRS) and a 1.8 ultimate zone range (UZR) isn’t going to secure a Gold Glove any time soon, Alonso’s bat was able to lead him to a forever memorable campaign last year.

However, if there is a crack in the glass slipper, and pitchers expose Alonso and make Swiss cheese out of him at the plate, his contributions to the team will fall precipitously.

We could chalk 2020 up to a sophomore slump for Alonso, along with the strange circumstances of a shortened season, but those defensive numbers still plagued him. He had -4 DRS and a -1.7 UZR in far less innings than the year prior (320.1 in 2020 compared to 1,328.0 in 2019).

The Florida native didn’t struggle at the plate per se, as he still had 16 long balls, a .342 wOBA and 119 wRC+, but was worth just 0.4 fWAR.

Smith on the other hand has slowly but surely been working towards a breakout, which we finally got to see in 2020.

The former first round pick by the Mets back in 2013 clobbered the ball in 2020 with a staggering .412 wOBA, 165 wRC+, 10 dingers and 1.8 fWAR.

In the field, Smith isn’t astounding either, with -2 DRS and a -0.3 UZR in 193.0 innings at first this season, but from 2018-20, his 0 DRS is still an improvement over Alonso.

While a 60-game season isn’t truly enough to come to any conclusions about Smith’s star power, it certainly appears as if he’s become more confident and comfortable in his game.

After his monster rookie year, Alonso endeared himself to fans all around baseball and secured his status as a household name. Trading him would be a tough pill to swallow due to his strong presence among teammates and fans, but could net the Mets a big package and resources they could allocate elsewhere.

It would also allow them to not bury Smith in the outfield, and would help make a clearer path to sign someone like George Springer by getting rid of a logjam.

Mojo Hill selects:
Keep Alonso, Trade Smith

It’s amazing how short some fans memories are. Let us not forget that just a calendar year ago, Alonso was being hailed as the new face of New York baseball and was even drawing some David Wright comparisons, not only in his baseball ability but in his character as well. This dude was breaking records every other day and finished his rookie season with a 143 wRC+ and 0.4 fWAR.

But sure, a sample size of fewer than 60 games in a bizarre season is enough to flip the narrative.

Sophomore slumps are not uncommon, and when you have a rookie year as historic as Alonso’s, it’s pretty much impossible to live up to the hype in your second season. The strange, shortened, COVID-regulated season certainly couldn’t have helped matters either.

But even still, Alonso had what most would still consider a solid season in 2020. In 57 games (repeat: 57 games), he posted a 119 wRC+, still well above average. His power marks were still strong. Was it the superstar campaign fans hoped for? No. But again, a sophomore “slump” isn’t something that we should be overreacting to even in a 162-game season, let alone a 60-game season.

Who knows what would have happened if there were 100 more games? Surely Alonso would have heated up at some point. Then probably cooled off again. Then heated up again. There’s no use trying to forecast that, but the point is that it’s just too small of a sample size to base any rash decisions on. Now, if he had been completely terrible in 2020, and especially if his power had disappeared, it could be cause for concern. But he still posted a .260 ISO, and plus, his BABIP was .242 compared to .280 in his rookie season.

This is not a guy you trade away. If Alonso has a weak 2021 campaign in what should be a full season, then talk to me and I will reassess. But to completely dismiss his talents as someone they should just trade away is completely asinine to me.

But of course, let’s not forget the other side of the equation here in Dominic Smith. I see so many fans who seem to be convinced that Smith is this bona fide superstar now who outshines Alonso and is the better option going forward. Again, making a claim like this after a shortened season is completely reactionary. Yes, Smith was good in 2020. In particular, he found his power stroke, though he may have benefitted from some luck in the batting average department.

But he also played in only 50 games. In his major league career now, he has a 117 wRC+ compared to Alonso’s 137. And let’s be real here, Smith is not going to repeat that 165 wRC+ ever again. His true talent may be around that 117 mark, which is good, but as a regular first baseman, I doubt he’s very far above average. Alonso’s ceiling is a superstar and legitimately one of the best hitters in the league. Come to think of it, Alonso’s floor as a hitter might be similar to Smith’s ceiling.

Then there is the defensive question, and you won’t hear any arguments from me on that side. Smith is a better defensive first baseman. But the way I view it, the gap in offense is much wider and will make much more of an impact in the long term. And with Alonso’s work ethic, and the generally low bar around Major League Baseball when it comes to first base defense, I think he’s more than equipped to learn and handle the position just fine.

Plus, the Mets could use the fact that Smith had a “breakout” 2020 to their favor. Smith’s value may never be higher than it is right now, and I’d rather get a solid piece for him now then have him be dead weight on the end of the bench after he regresses.

I know I sound harsh on Smith, but I just really think Alonso is that good and Smith, while a solid baseball player in his own right, is someone the Mets don’t have as much of a need for at this point and could give up for some actual value. I followed Smith when he was in the minors and I have nothing but respect for the guy and will always continue to root for him. That being said, from a baseball perspective, I still strongly lean Alonso and think he’s going to be a consistent All-Star player for the Mets.

If Alonso’s 2020 production was his floor — if that’s him STRUGGLING — then oh man, sign me up.

Josh Finkelstein selects:
Keep Alonso and Smith

Keeping two first basemen on the roster without a DH would more often than not seem to make little sense for any organization.

However, Smith and Alonso present a unique situation as it is very likely there will be a DH in the near future, even though it appears as if there won’t be one for the 2021 season.

Aside from the fact that both Alonso and Smith have shown the ability to produce at a high level, keeping Smith and Alonso together could actually open up more possibilities that might be necessary to pursue at some point.

While both of them won’t be free agents until after the 2024 season, there are two corner outfielders on the roster that will be in the near future.

Michael Conforto could leave next offseason if he wants to, although it appears that the team will be trying to extend him this offseason.

Brandon Nimmo will be a free agent after the 2022 season.

Now, to this point, you are probably wondering why this would make keeping Smith and Alonso in 2021 a smart decision.

Well, the reason to keep Smith and Alonso might actually be to use Nimmo in a trade to fill another need on the roster.

Losing Nimmo would obviously have major ramifications as he is a crucial part of the organization. That being said, the writing could be on the wall for him to play for another organization in the next few years.

If the team were to ink Conforto to an extension, that would give them an everyday right fielder for the next half decade, minimum.

Then, factor in all the rumors of the team trying to sign George Springer this offseason. At the moment, this might seem very hypothetical, but it is nonetheless something to strongly consider.

Signing Springer and extending Conforto would lock up two outfield positions, with left field being the only opening.

While an outfield from left to right of Nimmo, Springer and Conforto would be one of the best in baseball in 2021, it likely wouldn’t be one of the best, at least defensively, in baseball by 2023 or 2024.

Springer is likely going to need to move over to a corner outfield spot at some point over the life of his new deal and having Nimmo with the team long-term would complicate the Mets’ ability to make that move.

On top of it, while the Mets can afford to have three high-priced outfielders long-term with Steve Cohen’s deep pockets, it probably isn’t the smartest strategy to dedicate what could amount to $60-70 million in payroll to the team’s outfield from 2022-on.

How does this relate to Smith and Alonso?

Well, Smith has played left field before and keeping him would allow the Mets to at least stay strong on the offensive end in left field for 2021 and then the organization could re-assess their needs next offseason.

If the National League were to adopt a DH for the 2022 season, the Mets could either decide to leave Smith in left field and acquire someone to take over the DH spot or they could move Smith/Alonso to DH and sign an outfielder.

Doing this would actually give the Mets an ability to assess Springer’s defense in a controlled way that would allow them to accommodate him long-term as they see fit.

As you can see, all of these scenarios and talking points being made are a bunch of “what-if’s.”

However, that actually is the exact reason that trading Alonso or Smith right now doesn’t make sense.

There are way too many variables still in play for the Mets right now and until those are resolved, there’s no way they can trade someone like Alonso or Smith.

***

We took to Twitter to poll our readers and followers on the situation, and the results were overwhelmingly in favor of keeping both Smith and Alonso.

Check out the full numbers below: