Over the past couple of weeks, Brodie Van Wagenen has been working hard to fill the Mets’ hole at the catcher position. On Sunday evening, they finally found a resolution. Van Wagenen and the Mets reached an agreement with veteran catcher Wilson Ramos on a two year, $19 million deal.
Ramos is heading into his tenth year in the big leagues. In 111 games with the Rays and Phillies in 2018, he hit .306/.358/.487, hitting 15 homers. Ramos has had his fair share of injury problems, but if he can stay healthy he is one of the top offensive catchers in baseball, as Mets fans saw so often with the Nationals!
While this addition helps the Mets cross off another one of their offseason goals, there is still work to be done. Next up on the wish list is a centerfielder, and as Jon Heyman of Fancred Sports mentions they like AJ Pollock, but are said to have a couple mystery options.
We will find out what direction they are moving in to fill that hole soon enough. For now, let’s take a look at the Mets potential 2019 Opening Day lineup after the acquisition of Ramos:
- Brandon Nimmo RF
- Amed Rosario SS
- Robinson Cano 2B
- Wilson Ramos C
- Michael Conforto LF
- Peter Alonso 1B
- Todd Frazier 3B
- Juan Lagares CF
Let’s begin at the top, just last week at the Winter Meetings, Mets manager Mickey Callaway told reporters that Nimmo is the Mets’ “ideal leadoff hitter,” and he’ll definitely be in that spot next season. I think we can all agree here, Nimmo and his .404 on-base percentage certainly belong in the leadoff spot.
Moving to the two hole, some people may disagree with me here. Following Nimmo, I have shortstop Amed Rosario. During the 2018 season, Rosario had a ton of success towards the top of the order. He took some tremendous strides in the second-half, and is in for a breakout 2019 season.
Along with telling reporters Nimmo was the leadoff man, Callaway also named the recently acquired Robbie Cano his number three hitter. Over his 14-year MLB career, Cano has a .297/.357/.477 slash line with 117 homers and 459 RBI in 3,416 at-bats in the three hole.
Conforto and Ramos can be flip-flopped in the four and five spots. If Callaway is looking for more balance, he can bat Ramos four and Conforto five to avoid back-to-back lefties. I would rather it this way, Callaway should look to avoid forcing Conforto into the cleanup spot. In fact, for his career Conforto has a .920 OPS while hitting fifth.
Either way, the Mets have certainly added some pop to the middle of the order with the addition of Ramos and his career .756 OPS.
When it comes to Peter Alonso, it is sounding more and more like Van Wagenen and Callaway are going to give the kid an opportunity to win the starting first base job out of camp. If that is the case and service time is in fact being put aside, Alonso figures to no doubt crack the Opening Day lineup.
However, if the Mets do decide to send Alonso to the minors to begin the season, we will likely see Dominic Smith in this spot of the order.
For me, the two spots most likely to be changed up are the last two; Todd Frazier and Juan Lagares.
As Callaway told reporters last week, at the moment Todd Frazier is the Mets starting third baseman. Most Mets fans, myself included, would prefer to see Jeff McNeil and his advanced plate approach in this spot. I could see McNeil taking the role over if he has a big spring, however for now Frazier is slotted in as the starting third baseman.
And as for Lagares, at the moment he is the starter in center. However, I do not think this is going to last for long as the Mets seem very motivated to add another outfielder. If he is not traded I do think he has a role on this team, I just do not see him as a starter.
It is only December, and Van Wagenen has already significantly improved this team. This lineup is certainly looking much better compared to last seasons. With that being said, there is certainly still some more work to be done. It will be interesting to see which direction Van Wagenen decides to go to fill the last few holes on the 2019 roster.
