While the Winter Meetings have been quiet on the Mets front, David Stearns and Carlos Mendoza spoke to the media regarding the club’s next season.
The most glaring, and reassuring, update given today was from Carlos Mendoza regarding Edwin Díaz‘s health.
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“I spoke with him (Díaz) a couple of weeks ago, and, fully healthy,” Mendoza said. “He’s going through his offseason routines and preparation. He’s excited.”
The news regarding Díaz is the first positive step toward the 2024 season. Díaz missed the entire 2023 season after injuring his knee in the World Baseball Classic. He won’t be fully off the reigns, though, as Mendoza says the Mets will have a plan for Díaz to ramp up after being out a year.
Third Base
Mendoza also spoke on the status of two glaring holes in the Mets lineup: third base and the designated hitter.
“Look, the talent is there,” Mendoza said regarding third base. “We got Brett (Baty), who is another good-looking player. We got (Ronny) Mauricio, we got (Joey) Wendle, so, there’s depth there. We’re a few weeks away until we report and have to make that final decision.”
Third base may be the most intriguing position heading into spring training due to the Mets prospect trio of Mark Vientos, Brett Baty, and Ronny Mauricio. The position was an overall struggle, as the Mets got a collective .212/.266/.324 slash line from their third basemen in 2023.
However, it seems that both Mendoza and Stearns view third base as taken care of. Stearns, who spoke to the media after Mendoza, also reiterated that third base wasn’t a position to address this offseason.
“I am (comfortable),” Stearns stated when asked about the in-house options at third base.
Designated Hitter
Outside of third base, the other position the Mets struggled at in 2023 was the DH. Mendoza was also asked about the designated hitter on Monday and whether or not he thought the DH was already on the Mets’ roster. Mendoza, this time, didn’t allude to any player.
“I don’t know,” Mendoza said. “It’s too early to tell. We’re a few months away from opening day and we’ll see how the winter unfolds.”
Along with Mendoza, Stearns also spoke to the media on Monday. He was more direct with the media, informing them of exactly what the Mets needed before the 2024 season.
David Stearns’ Wishlist
That list included the following from Stearns: one starting pitcher, one outfielder, and bullpen arms. While it’s not news the Mets were in all those markets, Stearns was frank about the type of outfielders he was targeting.
“I think finding an outfielder who can take significant playing time is a goal of ours,” Stearns told SNY. “That could take a variety of different paths, it could be more defensive-oriented, it could be someone who we view as a bat-first player. There are options via free agency and trade we are looking through.”
Based on the information provided today, Stearns and Mets will be quite busy in both the free agent and trade market. They’ve been connected to players such as Eduardo Rodriguez and Michael A. Taylor, but the market might be held up by top free agents Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani.
“It’s probably a little slower from a conversation standpoint than a winter meeting than it normally would be,” Stearns told the media. “But there could be a variety of factors that contribute to that, but a possibility that, yeah, the top of the free agent market hasn’t moved yet.”
