As the situation currently stands, Major League Baseball will enter the 2021 season without the universal designated hitter in place. That could pose quite the conundrum for the New York Mets.

Both the league and the MLB Players’ Association agreed to the universal DH through 2021 last spring. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred nixed that agreement when he implemented the COVID-shortened 2020 season under his terms once negotiations broke down between the two parties.

As Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported on Monday morning, “MLB instructed clubs in a memo last week to proceed under the assumption the DH will not be used in the NL this year”. Whether that stands as the winter trudges on is yet to be determined.

In early November, Jeff Passan of ESPN shed some light as to what might be holding up an agreement:

“Players want it, sources said, but owners want the players to agree to expanded playoffs for the 2021 season in exchange. Understandably, the players don’t find that to be a particularly equitable trade.”

An eventual middle ground could very well be attainable. But at the present moment, offseason preparations around the league have been thrown into flux.

The Mets, for example, are saddled with a number of alluring offensive options throughout their roster (with more on the way, per the team’s stated plans this winter), but not enough defensive positions to get everyone at-bats.

That dilemma only figures to be exacerbated under traditional National League rules.

With the designated hitter in place last season, three of the Mets’ best hitters — Pete Alonso, Dominic Smith, and J.D. Davis — were able to co-exist in the lineup on an almost daily basis; Pete at first base or DH, Dom at first, in left field or at DH, and Davis at third, in left, or at DH.

Davis’ defensive liabilities have been well-chronicled, but his batted-ball profile pretty much demands that manager Luis Rojas find a spot for him. Sticking him at third base every day is a plus for the batting order but hurts the team’s defense. Pick your poison there.

Without the DH, Smith would be relegated to left field unless the Mets are willing to head into 2021 with a platoon at first base — highly unlikely considering the pitfalls of having either Smith or Alonso on your bench as opposed to both being in the lineup every day.

Smith, who broke out to the tune of a .316/.377/.616, 165 wRC+ (sixth in MLB) batting line in 2020, should be a stalwart of the Mets’ lineup moving forward, no question.

And Brandon Nimmo, whose .397 on-base percentage since 2017 ranks tenth in baseball, has to be in the lineup every day, too, right?

Sure, as long as the Mets are willing to continue trotting out Nimmo as the team’s starting centerfielder (-4 outs above average in CF last season; bottom second percentile in MLB), passing on George Springer in the process, just to get Dom into the lineup on a daily basis.

Heavy sarcasm, but this is an actual decision the Mets must make under these conditions.

To clarify, by no means should this deter the Mets from signing Springer. But if he does land in Flushing, either Nimmo is a fourth outfielder or Smith is a role player. That’s a lot of value on the bench in any scenario.

Unless team president Sandy Alderson and owner/CEO Steve Cohen are prepared to start dismantling their core to make all the pieces fit, there’s going to be an odd-man (or three) out.

Or, they can just employ the deepest roster in the majors — the fulcrum being all parties involved buying in — and potentially dominate. Exciting times.