The Mets announced that infield prospect Brett Baty suffered a fracture in his left index finger last Thursday, while playing for Triple-A Syracuse. Baty was hit by a pitch during a check swing, and the team estimated a recovery timeline of 4-6 weeks. This means that Baty’s 2024 season could well be over, barring some quicker-than-expected healing or a return at the very end of September.
The injury adds to what has been an overall disappointing season for the third baseman, as Baty hit only .229/.306/.327 over 171 plate appearances in the major leagues. This brings Baty’s career totals to 15 home runs and a .215/.282/.325 slash line in 602 PA and 169 games — about the equivalent of one full season since he made his MLB debut in 2022. It isn’t a huge sample size, and the 24-year-old Baty would hardly be the first star prospect to have some initial struggles before going on to have a successful big league career.
However, more has been expected from the former 12th overall pick, and Baty’s place as the Mets’ third baseman of the future has now seemingly been filled by Mark Vientos, who has hit tremendously well in his first extended taste of MLB playing time. Pete Alonso’s possible departure in free agency this winter could conceivably leave first base open so Vientos and Baty could both be part of the 2025 lineup, yet while Vientos seems to be cementing his spot in New York’s future plans, the jury is still out on Baty. He drew plenty of attention prior to the trade deadline, but there isn’t yet any indication that the Mets are open to moving on from Baty.
While Baty didn’t have much left to prove against minor league pitching, his .262/.358/.528 slash line over 254 Triple-A plate appearances indicated that he was in a groove at the plate, and could’ve potentially carried this good form into a September call-up with the Mets. It would’ve been interesting to see how Baty’s development would’ve been weighed against the Mets’ efforts to land a wild card spot, yet it now may be a moot point given the finger injury.
Very disappointing. Still a lot of time for Baty. In May, Vientos was branded a 4A player and a bust by the loudmouths. Now look at him.
Agree. And now we are faced with going into yet another season with no real idea on whether Baty has made any progress at the plate.
With Vientos looking solid and Baty still a question mark going into ’25, I wouldn’t be surprised if Brett is moved in a trade to fill another lineup hole, such as a corner outfielder.
A definite possibility, but just one of many: If Alonso goes, Vientos probably moves across the field to 1B. Baty has also been playing more 2B lately and reports have him playing it rather adequately and with a very low error rate. He could be used at 2B while McNeil spends more time in the OF next year or even gets traded.
Seems like the Mets, who will be getting under the first LT threshold in 2025 before getting seriously back into the contender’s mix in 2026 (or 2027–in either case even Cohen isn’t going to spend $300 million-plus and penalties indefinitely by going over in 2025) will be giving the year over to Mauricio and Baty, in that order, to find out if either can cut it at 3B—and perhaps with Mauricio at 2B if both hit and field competently in ST.
Still, the Mets in the Stearns era seem bent on continuing the confusion and indecision of the Alderson / Eppler years, where they can’t commit to a position for minor leaguers, even for minor leaguers whose fielding is so precarious is may wall them off for every position but DH. Baty’s playing 3B and 2B, when even a full season at either wouldn’t be enough to assure competence, while Acuna Jr is playing CF, SS, and 2B, with 50% of his games at the one position he won’t be playing in the majors.
Good organizations put players where they’re most likely to succeed and work that decision. Weak organizations hem and haw and fart around, never really committing because ‘what if we’re wrong’? or because ‘maybe the player will make the decision for us.’ As for moving Acuna around and around, having the 22 yo play 3 positions when he needs to hit to become a major leaguer? A typical sequence, game by game, is 2B, SS, SS, CF, SS, 2B, SS, CF, SS, 2B, CF…. Hard to get more foolish than that.
It wasn’t surprising to see Alderson and Eppler pull this kind of nonsense—it’s startling to see Stearns doing it, though.
The year of the finger fracture rolls on…….
Between this and the Rosario release, Syracuse is now down to 11 healthy players, tow of those being catchers. The Binghamton roster offers close to nothing in the way of legitimate promotable players. Ryan Clifford has been emerging from a deep slump recently, but its been an inconsiostent emergence. No one else looks like anything more than temporary roster filler. Disappointing that the org can’t do better than that this late in the season.
Bring back Tebow
I see a lot of those AA Mets… agreed, the Binghamton talent pool is thin. Too many non-prospects… Ryan Clifford has not impressed and will likely have to “repeat” this level next summer.
The only player with a pulse is Altuve-sized middle infielder Wyatt Young, who is hitting in the .280s, but with only 14 extra base hits in 96 games.
baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=you…
Looks like the Mets may have erred in not moving more veterans at the deadline as they did a year ago.
Clifford was only moved to AA in mid-season. So going back for half a season next year wouldn’t be unusual. And while he is a bit older than Williams and Ramirez, Clifford is still one of the ten or 12 youngest players at the ent
Yes, Young and Peroza have been used as AAA filler before, and it seems like they’re the only candidates to go back up (although Peroza’s hitting seems to have dropped off this year).
That said, Alex Ramirez being on the 40-man roster might prompt the Mets to give him a look at the next level, despite his erratic hitting and high K rate.
To be fair, the situation left Stearns no choice but to play things the way he did. The Mets were in a wild card spot at the week leading into the deadline. As such, they simply could not deal off pieces from that contending team.
agree that the org would be/have been better off trading off the free agents rather than adding players, but I can’t call it an error. It was just unfortunate that they stayed hot, and did not come back down to earth until after the deadline, rather than before.
Please don’t overlook Jett Williams — finally health after hand surgery, he is now playing at Low-A St. Lucie.
Not sure if he’ll be returned to Binghamton before the regular MiLB season ends.
baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=wil…
He’s still a very good prospect. But he lost almost all season with that bad hand.
@ ctyank Not overlooking Williams. But I was merely talking about who might be promotable to AAA now. And Jett clearly is not. He just started rehab a few days ago after nearly four months on the IL.
And please don’t overstate Williams, either. Even before the injury, he was struggling to hit at the AA level. He might be a good prospect. But he’s undersized, and underaged for that level. It looks to me like he’s going to have a longer learning curve in AA than most fans want to believe. I know I’ll get killed for saying this. But don’t be surprised if he spends all of next year in AA and doesn’t move to AAA until 2026.
@geofft Very disappointing—and the Mets farm is down to middle of the road, around 16th of 30, where that’s a virtual tie bt 16 and 21.
It’s hardly clear any longer what path the organization should take for 2025 and after. They already have the oldest nucleus in baseball, with every good player who’s returning 31 or older (god forbid they should add Alonso, turning 30 for 2025), and so far with only two young players doing anything of note: Alvarez, who is still only a 2 WAR catcher, and Vientos, who has had a terrific 300 ABs, but only 300 ABs, and whose fielding at -10 for a full season figuring to be a constant drag on his performance.
The Mets have no one in the minors who rates to succeed in 2025, who rates to even be a 2 win contributor that year—but they do have an old nucleus that on average in 2025 will lose about 3 wins over its 2024 performance—and another 3 wins in 2026, and another 3 wins in 2027.. Cohen needed a real GM when he bought the team, instead of saddling the club with this much drag just when it needed to be free of elderly players paid to man key positions: CF, Closer, Ace, 2B, SS …
Say the Mets’ minor leaguers start to do well as a group, and they’re looking good by 2027. At that point the old nucleus will be three years older than in 2024, making it 33, 34, 35, 33, and 34, and making $100m+. And that’s without Alonso, who will be 32 in 2027. Things aren’t going to get better for several years, at least—unless Cohen gets under the LT in 2025 then resumes $350 million payrolls, plus penalties.
Should Baty still be referred to as an infield prospect? He has already had his full rookie MLB season and was working on his second. After over 500 ABs in three MLB seasons, I think the word prospect is no longer applicable to him.
He is no longer a rookie, but as he hasn’t established himself, yet, Prospect seems apt.
To me, prospect comes before rookie. Once you pass rookie, you don’t go back to prospect again. He is now just a young player looking to establish himself before his time to do so runs out.
“Prospect comes before rookie”…I agree, but in my opinion “prospect” lasts until the young player is either cut loose or firmly establishes that he can or cannot play at this level. I consider certain guys “prospects” for as long as 1-3 yrs, depending on how much playing time he actually gets. In my view Baty still potentially has a Major League future(the clock is clearly ticking though)so I still consider him a prospect and apparently so do the Mets.
I agree if the player doesn’t pass the rookie parameters. But Baty had almost 400 ABs last year.. That’s a lot. I too think he could have a future, but it is kind of like Jo Adell or Spencer Torkelson. They are just not prospects anymore, they are just young players. Not quite veterans yet, but definitely not prospects either.
“400 ABs last year”…I had no idea Baty had that many ABs last year. You make some solid points.
adell is out of options, so right on that account. torkelson was a 1st overall pick so he is likely to live out his career in bust status, even if he ends up as a nice first baseman. to baty, though, i do think the term prospect would still apply. yeah he got playing time last year, but it didnt earn him any leash. he was in the minors for a majority of this season serving as injury replacement, which with potential and age combine to where the team can still count him among their prospects. it doesnt mean much, but i think a young players in the majors can still be a prospect longer than rookie status
“Was a first overall pick”…,Tork & Andre Vaugn of the Whitesox have shown you might not wanna go with a one trick pony, 1b/DH type player in the top 15. I don’t watch a lot of the Pirates, but I think that guy(Davis I believe)they picked first is in the same boat. In the top 15 picks, I’d go with pitching or versatile, athletic, multi dimensional players.
I agree. The Rockies picked up similar player Michael Toglia in the latter half of the first round in 2019 and he has thus far outplayed both Torkelson and Vaughn. He seems like he should be pretty good going forward, but he was too big of a gamble to draft any higher than he went.
Good point. As of late in the 2024 season he’s far more “depth,” than “prospect,” behind Mauricio at 3B and 2B, and even behind Acuna Jr at 2B.
Mauricio’s fielding is good enough, assuming the injury doesn’t impair him, to support a modest bat—and he can play two IF positions and perhaps a corner OF spot—, whereas Baty is probably limited to 3B, at most, making his path to the majors that much more difficult. To anyone pointing to his OAA in 50 games in 2024, that’s the equivalent of 17 games at the plate, an almost meaningless figure.
Fwiw, that the Mets haven’t tried Baty for as much as a single game at 1B speaks loudly. It all but declares that’s where Vientos is going in 2025. If that wasn’t the case, wouldn’t you as Stearns want to see if Baty could handle 1B? Instead, the Mets can’t do any better in Syracuse than play two 30 year olds at 1B. Do they really believe that Baty has a future at 2B, or that he’s more likely to succeed as a gallumphing 6′-2″ 210 lb middle infielder than he does at first??
Baty should have been playing 2nd base in the big leagues these past 2 weeks. Its time for the Mets to step up and give Luke Ritter an opportunity, hes paid his dues. If Stewart gets recalled thats going to be a big mistake. They should call up the best player available
@ LFGMets Please just stop with the half-baked half-truths about Ritter. Striking out 31% of the time in the minors year after year through the age of 27 is not paying his dues. Paying his dues would involve showing some actual improvement in that area for more than a random month here and there. Until he actually corrects that, his dues will remain unpaid.
Your read on Baty is also wrong. Thus far, there has been no correlation between his big AAA numbers and major league stats. But if you want to talk about his AAA performance, he posted a July OPS that was below league average, then opened up August with a 2-for-21 and didn’t start hitting again until Aug 14. And a six game hot streak simply isn’t enough to prove that league won’t figure him out and slow him down again. So there was simply no basis for calling him up two weeks ago, or now.
@geofft Baty at 2B, no less! After 25 games at 2B for his career, in 8 years in pro ball.
Why is this an improvement on McNeil or Iglesias at 2B? How could it be an improvement??
You can’t be serious. Ritter is a 27 repeater at AAA (third time through) who would K 200 times IN THE MINORS over a full season of 650 PA—IN A LEAGUE HE’S REPEATING..
That projects to 230 to 250 strikeouts in the majors. He wouldn’t be able to put the ball in play enough to hit .180. He’d make Joey Gallo and Dave Kingman look like 5-tool guys.
A career minor league journeyman.
I’m just wondering who’s going to start for the Mets next year. They’ve gotten really good value out of Severino, Manea and Quintana but it will be quite a raise to bring any one back, well at least Sevy and Manea. If they are going to pony up $25-$30 mill for Alonso who’s available to add to Senga, Scott and Peterson?
they have a ton of cash coming off the books but a bunch of holes to fill.
Even if they sign Alonso at your numbers but hopefully less than that because in my opinion 25 should be the max unless its a very short term contract. they have another i believe 30-40M til the start of tax and he was i think near 100M over the start. I dont think he goes that high though unless he goes all out for Soto but atleast 100M after Alonso..
I would say pretty much any FA pitcher. Burnes, Bueller, Eovaldi, Fried any of their FA pitchers hitting market, and potentially even Cole (I think he does an A-rod and opts out to get longer term deal with the yankees).
@ StudWinf You’re right, its a concern. But Stearns managed to find Manaea and Sevy this year. Who knows what he and his scouts/pitching lab will conjure up next year?
I’m not sure why you blindly assume that they will pony up that kind of money for Alonso. Especially with the drop-off he’s had this year.
Depending on whose estimates you believe, the Mets could begin the off-season somewhere between $60 & $100 million below the regular tax threshold, and even further below the draft pick/bonus pool tax level.
When Stearns was asked how he reconciled the Mets’ aggressive pursuit of Ohtani and Yamamoto with the cost-conscious moves that followed, he stated that those were transformative players who raise the performance level of the entire team. Had the Mets landed those two, they would have then gone ahead and continued to spend what it takes to put a highly competitive team around them. Without them it did not make sense to dive into the high end for the next tier of free agents.
I would guess the strategy will be the same this year: pursue Soto and Burnes hard. Get them, and keep spending. Miss on them, and we’ll get more of what we got this year. But look on the bright side: we’ll be going into the off season now with a respectable back-up catcher, and a deeper, better bullpen than we had last November, that also includes more controllable and/or optionable arms .
@geoff
I think the 60-100 mil difference might be due to those who are excluding the amount everyone has to pay (benefits 18M ish and pre arb pool 1.67M) along with estimating where the cap will be. I use roster resource and they seem pretty good.
Also i could very well be wrong but I thought Butto had one more option left. I think it will be irrelevant either way as they will use him like seth lugo was used prior which i hope doesnt ruin his potential.
@ Roll RR, Cot’s, and Spotrac all use benefits and pension estimates, though they all seem to have different numbers for how much those are.
Unlike the NBA and NFL, the MLB threshold is a fixed number that was negotiated in the CBA. Its in the $240s next year, though I don’t recall the specific number.
I think the discrepancy comes from how they look at things like opt-outs and vesting options. And regardless of what they estimated before the season, the Mets have taken on new players during the season who will be under contract next season. Its not much, but it will be something. Also impossible to know from now which arb-eligible players will become non-tenders. So its really all guesstimates right now.
I agree on Butto, I don’t think the options will make much of a difference. But he was added to the 40-man after his double-A season in ’21. He was optioned down in ’22, ’23, and this year. And he did spend the requisite 20+ days in Syr each year.
Yes, Spotrac takes benefits, MILB contracts, and bonus pool contribution into account. They have the Mets currently with $98M to spend. Arb raises will take that down a lot, not sure how much though. $20M more? I don’t know the projected raises for key players well enough.
We don’t know if they’ll be able to move some of Marte’s contract in a deal, or maybe McNeil now that he’s turned it on second half. I’m sure Manaea opts out. So there are holes to fill, but like you said, they found guys like Manaea and Sevy and Bader this year, and they can do it again. I see them having money for one premiere FA, but not two. Maybe a mid-tier after that.
The rotation needs help though. After Senga and Peterson, is it Blackburn and Scott? Sproat come up in May? I think Butto fills a much needed BP spot, and idk with Megill. He’s too inconsistent for me.
BTW… I admit it isn’t much to brag about…. but they also have Blackburn, Butto, and Megill coming back. Butto and Blackburn will be out of options.
Add Burnes and a more reliable M- to BOTR guy, and its at least credible if health holds up.
I could see something like this as a base, but there are so many what ifs with this. But it’s fun just to map it out.
Alvarez, Vientos, Mauricio, Lindor, Baty, Nimmo, Gilbert, Taylor, McNeil
Senga Peterson Blackburn Scott, Megill, Sproat, Butto, Maton, Diaz
If they somehow land Soto, do they just fill in by re-signing Manaea? Or a guy like Heaney, Pivetta, Eovaldi?
And there are always potential trades.
Mauricio and Baty have yet to prove that they’re major league ready. And Gilbert hasn’t even established himself at triple-A yet.
I dont think theyll re-sign alonso. I think if they shell out big money it could be for soto and/or burnes or maybe sasaki. In the end, theyll have about $80m to spend after arb raises and assuming they dont trade marte or mcneil. If anything, i think they’ll want to get under the threshold so they stop getting hit w the penalties that are hurting their farm.
Agreed. but keep in mind that there are two thresholds – one for the luxury tax, and a second, higher one that causes the draft pick and international pool money penalties to kick in. I had thought that the penalty phase kicked in when they went $20 million over the threshold, but I recently read somewhere that it is $40 million higher.
That said, there are other penalties that kick in for being over the luxury tax for a 5th year. I suppose we’ll see more about that if and when the payroll starts adding up in the off season.
I didnt know that about the threshold differences, thanks for sharing… gives me some hope!
@StudWinfield The Mets will not be bringing back the declining Alonso at age 30, and they won’t have more than about $30m to spend, at most, as they get under the LT threshold in 2025. That was always the plan once the team collapsed in 2023.
Beside, why wouldn’t Cohen get under the threshold? The Mets won’t be any better off wrt contending in 2025 than they are in 2024, and in 2025 the nucleus of proven good players will be another year older, projecting to 3 fewer wins.
Why would Cohen go with another $300m-plus payroll in 2025, and pay roughly $100 million more in penalties, for a team with an ancient nucleus and no prospects likely to contribute meaningfully in 2025—and quite possibly not in 2026, as well?
In short, why waste the best years of expensive free agents in 2025 and 2026, when the team is not likely to be more than a fringe third wildcard contender? You’d just be adding more players in 2025 who, by 2027 and after who will be in their 30s, to go with Nimmo, Diaz, Senga, and Lindor, who’ll be 34, 33, 35, and 34 and making $90 million in 2027—why would you do that, especially when you have nothing like a promising crop of minor leaguers and, say, the #5 farm system, but instead only a collection of uncertainties in the #16 ranked farm?
@jack
Mlb has mets 13th ranked, BA 10th ranked, Bleacher Report 10th ranked. Not sure where 16th came from but theyre regarded higher than that. Also lindor will be 33 in the 2027 season. I know that part of the core is getting older though. Vientos and alvarez look promising, and i still have hope for jett and Gilbert to be solid, as well as sproat and scott. There are some pieces. And benge off to a fast early start.
But i agree, this is THE year to get under the threshold and reset. Theyll have more than $30m to spend though.
LOLmets endures down on the farm.
I’m glad none of you guys run my team! 400 at bats and you guys are ready to give up and trade him for a box of balls? Please trade him to a team that actually has a clue on how to train a young player! The Mets have historically sucked at developing young talent. Trade Baty to ANY team and watch him blossom into a regular, everyday player.
What exactly are you reading? Nowhere on this page (other than your comment) is anyone suggesting trading him at all, let alone for scraps. Some people just like to make up the narrative they want in order to complain about it I guess.
I’m surprised no one’s mentioning Mauricio. I’d really prefer he man 2nd next year, as I believe that’s his natural position. I’m ok with moving on without Baty. As for vientos… if he goes to third and plays his natural position, great. Alonso has definitely shown signs of wear n tear, IN MY OPINION, but his bat is still needed in this lineup. if vientos goes to 1st… Bergman maybe? but if we can keep vientos where he is, at third, maybe bring back Martinez for another year as DH too, while signing Alonso. Regardless, McNeil needs to be moved as well as marte (wishful thinking, I know)… so the HOPE there is to get Soto as well (although he’s truly shining as a Yankee).
No surprise about Mauricio. Despite his exciting start in the majors, it was still only five weeks and his hitting dropped off considerably in the last two weeks. So, while he’s demonstrated great talent, he is still not a proven major leaguer at this point, let alone a starter. As for his natural position, he doesn’t have one. He came up a shortstop and spent most of his time there despite being highly error-prone. He was only moved to 2B in June of 23 and he played it poorly for his first six weeks or so before settling in. My opinion is that his tools will play best at 3rd once he gets more time under his belt at that spot. Reports on Baty’s play at 2B in Syracuse have been encouraging, and he’s made only one error there in 25 games, and has turned 17 DPs.
so… thinking maybe vientos at third at the minimum with Baty at second. Mauricio as a backup… if Alonso stays. otherwise vientos to first and Mauricio to third?
@ jmaggio Maybe. Maybe not. Or maybe not right away. Can’t pencil Mauricio in anywhere right now. Five to six weeks weeks in the majors does not prove major league readiness. Especially when his hitting dropped off and his K rate went up after just three weeks. Plus, he hasn’t played anywhere in a year due to the injury. And while I believe his tools will play well at 3rd, thats just an opinion. He made some atrocious errors there last year, so he needs more seasoning before he can take that position away from anyone. And he does still have one option remaining. It would not surprise me if he opens up the season in Syracuse due to any or all of these reasons.
@geofft Always enjoy your comments, comrade.
Fwiw in this case I absolutely would pencil Mauricio in somewhere for 2025. The Mets won’t be seriously involved in the FA market as they get under the first LT threshold, and after McNeil, who may have to play the OF a fair amount given the lack of milb development among prospects, will have Vientos, Baty, and Mauricio to fill out 2b, 3b, 1b, and DH. Put another way, with those 3 in the mix and Vientos a lock as of today for 3B or 1B, Mauricio and Baty will head the depth chart at 2 of those positions—not because they’re overwhelmingly likely to succeed, but bc the Mets control them for another 5 years and because given how much pitching they’ll need while having little to spend, bringing in FAs for 2B and 3B are probably 8th and 12th on their TO DO list.
For now they also have McNeil as an option at 2B—assuming they’re willing to once again live with 2 backup OFers through FA in starting roles—if Mauricio and Baty fail there, and if they bring back Iglesias have a competent fill in at either position.
That’s probably the Mets’ recipe for 2025 especially since their projected rotation for next season, among pitchers you wouldn’t mind seeing in one of the 5 slots, consists of David Peterson.
Along w DP it’s maybe Senga, maybe Megill, maybe Butto, maybe Sproat, maybe Scott…?
You’d rather add $10m to whatever you can spend adding to the rotation than you would $10m to find a modest starter in the IF, given the talent on hand in the org.
2025 is a good year to find out if Mauricio and particularly Baty can cut it, esp if you go in with McNeil and Iglesias to keep the positions from becoming bottomless chasms of Baty v 2022-2023. The Mets at best will once again be fringe contenders, and aren’t likely to improve on Mauricio + Baty in FA in any case, short of signing a proven regular for 4/60m–and why do that, and block a potential, young regular?
Couldn’t agree more, Mauricio and Baty need to be given 2025 to see if they can be MLB regulars or not. I have to believe the Mets think at least one of the two can be. Mauricio would likely be the type of player who will never have high OBP, but can generate counting stats with his power and speed. Likely another streaky player with big talent, and though the Mets have a lot of streakiness in their lineup already, I think they’d take the potential highs with the lows.