Who Goes When Jed Lowrie Returns?

Jed Lowrie was supposed to be a major contributor for the New York Mets. After being sidelined with a knee capsule sprain very early on in Spring Training, the roving infielder has begun his rehab assignment with Single-A St. Lucie and looks to be well on his way to making his Mets debut.

General manager Brodie Van Wagenen brought his former CAA client into the fold on a two-year, $20 million deal this offseason with the expectation that the 35-year-old would continue to stay healthy and produce, as he did over the last two seasons with Oakland (153 and 157 games played, respectively, with a cumulative .272/.356/.448 slash line, 37 homers, 86 doubles, and 168 RBIs).

Adding a player of Lowrie’s caliber to this offensively-gifted lineup will be a great thing, no doubt. Finding a spot for him to play while keeping Jeff McNeil in the lineup could be a challenge, but shouldn’t be a tall task. In any case, it’s a great problem to have.

It may require some basic maneuvering on manager Mickey Callaway‘s part — or whoever comes up with the daily lineups — but Van Wagenen’s depth-minded roster construction was literally built for this.

During his first offseason at the helm of the Mets, the Stanford University alum went infielder-crazy, bringing in Robinson Cano, Lowrie, and J.D. Davis to fill out the major-league roster with major-league talent, then brought first-basemen Dominic Smith and Pete Alonso up north to start the year.

We’ve all seen injuries and prolonged slumps negatively affect this organization over the years. Having viable options is always a great thing. That was Van Wagenen’s angle and it appears to be working out so far.

But when Lowrie’s ready to join the Mets, someone’s got to go. One would assume the roster casualty would be a fellow infielder, but that might not be the case.

Davis and Smith have both played well and been integral — albeit minor — cogs on the Mets’ bench. Davis’ defensive skills leave a lot to be desired, but his .299/.397/.493 slash line, .383 wOBA, and 145 wRC+ through 78 plate appearances will surely keep him around.

Smith has been outstanding in limited opportunities at the plate (.357/.486/.429, .410 wOBA, 162 wRC+ in 35 plate appearances), provides a 50-grade glove at first to spell and/or come in as a late-inning replacement for Alonso, and is currently the team’s only left-handed bat off the bench. He appears to be safe.

Side note, I’ve had some great discussions on Twitter over the last few days regarding Dom Smith’s potential trade value. While Smith’s long-awaited development as a ballplayer is a wonderful thing to see, there is a valid point to be made about him being virtually blocked at his natural position by one of the more exciting rookies to come along in some time.

We all want to see Smith succeed as an everyday player, and in all honesty, it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen for him anytime soon with the Mets. That being said, Dom Smith’s value to this team as a pinch-hitter/backup first-baseman is immeasurable, and for him to be dealt, the return had better be worth it.

At least Dom can offer more than just a bat. And yes, Davis has a more prolific power quotient, but there’s most certainly an American League team out there with a need for a third base/DH-type player with elite Statcast metrics.

Sorry, got sidetracked. Back to the infield…

Amed Rosario isn’t going anywhere, though he may concede a game or two a week to Lowrie at shortstop. In all likelihood, Lowrie’s going to spend the bulk of his time at third base. With McNeil’s ability to roam around the diamond, the situation at first being all but sewn up, and J.D. Davis settling in nicely to his role on the Mets’ bench, Todd Frazier of Toms River, NJ could be the odd-man out.

Since making his season debut on April 22 (oblique strain), the 33-year-old is hitting .207/.233/.414. He’s delivered on a couple of big home runs and seems to be a positive veteran influence in the clubhouse, but if there’s a potential trade match for Frazier out there, Brodie should be all ears.

The most obvious option given how they’ve played it outfielder Keon Broxton. He’s hit just .146/.222/.146 with a 10 wRC+ that ranks 320th out of 330 hitters with at least 40 plate appearances. This is coming after he hit only .179/.278/.410 for the Brewers in 2018.

Brodie Van Wagenen traded RHP Bobby Wahl, RHP Adam Hill, and infielder Felix Valerio to the Brewers this offseason for Broxton. Broxton is also out of options, meaning the Mets would have to designate him for assignment and then hope he clears waivers to get him to the minors. Combine that with the fact that the Mets have control of Broxton through the 2022 season, and it’s not that simple to push Broxton off the roster.

Broxton’s glove and speed are nice assets to have, but he’s looked like a poor man’s Juan Lagares. However, Lagares will be a free agent following this season (assuming Mets give him $500,000 buyout instead of $9.5 million option) and the Mets outfield depth is weak in upper minors.

Smith and Davis have both shown they can have value to the Mets roster even if their roles are merely as bench pieces. Though the Mets could simply option either of Davis or Smith to Triple-A Syracuse, but would have to risk losing Broxton to get him off the major league roster.

Lowrie can only spend 20 days on his rehab assignment, giving Van Wagenen potentially two more weeks to make the needed roster decision.