Nick Madrigal dislocated his left shoulder during today’s Spring Training split-squad game between the Mets and Nationals. In the first inning of the game, Madrigal (who was playing shortstop) had to awkwardly adjust his body to gather a deflected ground ball, and suffered the injury after falling to the ground on the throw to first base.
The seriousness of the dislocation isn’t yet known, as Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters (including SNY’s Andy Martino) that Madrigal will need to undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the damage. The veteran infielder will surely miss some time recovering, and a more severe dislocation could even require surgery and an early end to Madrigal’s 2025 season.
The Cubs opted to non-tender Madrigal last fall rather than pay him a projected arbitration salary of $1.9MM, and Madrigal then caught on with the Mets on a split contract. He can earn $1.35MM if he remains on New York’s active roster, though the split nature of the deal allows the Mets to move Madrigal to Triple-A for more roster flexibility, as he has a minor league option remaining.
Between Francisco Lindor, Mark Vientos, Jeff McNeil, and now the re-signed Pete Alonso, the Mets’ everyday infield is pretty set, leaving Madrigal as the most experienced member of a set of players battling for backup jobs. Martino writes that at this point, the Mets are likely to just stick with their younger infielders rather than pursue another veteran (such as fan favorite Jose Iglesias) if Madrigal does have to miss an extended amount of time. This leaves the door open for at least one of Brett Baty, Luisangel Acuna, or Ronny Mauricio to be part of the Opening Day roster, plus Donovan Walton and Luis De Los Santos are also in camp on minor league deals.
Madrigal is a defensive specialist whose offense has cratered over the last three seasons, and past injuries could likely have contributed to this offensive decline. Madrigal separated his left shoulder during the 2020 season, which led to offseason surgery. His 2021 and 2024 seasons were both prematurely ended by injuries — a hamstring surgery and a left hand fracture, respectively. In between, Madrigal also missed significant time during the 2022 and 2023 seasons with hamstring and groin issues.
Donovan Walton is probably going to get the backup role if either of the kids don’t really shine this spring and he has a good spring.
I think the fans prefer O.M.G. Iglesias
Stearns is stubborn. I think Cohen will not get involved there.
Didn’t even make out of Spring Training. Nicky two strikes? Nicky IL.
Cohen dictates the big transactions. He didn’t ask Stearns about Soto, he simply said I’m going to get him no matter what the price. He then tasks Stearns with filling out the rest of the roster more cheaply.
@LordD99 Yeah…that’s not how it happened.
The Iglesias stuff was fun and good last year, but he’s of a certain age and wanted a multi-year deal and the Mets probably kept away to maintain flexibility and not tie up a roster spot all season on him in case he regresses.
Not sure where ‘probably’ comes from. What makes Walton any more probable than Luis de Los Santos?
Or Acuna
Possibly. But Acuna will have to win the job decisively, IMO, as he still has a lot to prove at the triple-A level after the bad season he had there last year. The Mets might prefer to have him play every day there and work on some things rather than sit on the bench and pinch run up here. Especially considering the number of off days they have those first two weeks.
Acuna could you use more reps in Syracuse unless he shines in Florida
Acuna needs to play every day, & won’t be doing that in Queens
Walton is a better middle infielder then de Los santos. Look it up.
Mets preferex someone with roster flexibility over Iglesias previoysly but maybe this opens the door.
Dude is going to be coaching by the time he turns 30. Can’t stay healthy or productive…
Hard to be productive when your always injured
Looks that way for the former #4 overall pick.
What a stupid, stupid pick.
I’m sure you said that when that draft occurred. Many picks don’t pan out. Some receive even less time in mlb than Madrigal has received.
The answer is and has been Acuna
Let’s not overstate it. The answer might be Acuna. He certainly plays major league caliber defense. But no one knows if he can hit yet. Good or bad, 40 PAs dos not prove anything. Especially in light of his decidedly sub-par AAA season.
That said, the answer is any and all of them. In most cases, a kid with this little experience winds up stumbling and going back down.
@geofft Thank you for having perspective when it comes to Acuña. People get so carried away. The most likely outcome is that Baty makes the team, while Acuña gets more time in AAA, which he needs. Sure, he hit a few meatballs off of bad pitchers while hitting ninth, but his swing decisions and such remained poor. (I also still hate that groundball swing. Big bro has the power to make it work; l’il bro really doesn’t.) Meanwhile, keeping Baty in AAA does nothing for him. It doesn’t even improve his trade value, if the Mets wanted to go that route. He’s also Vientos regression insurance, which would be wise to have around.
Not sold on Baty’s readiness. The Mets do have two NRIs in camp who can play all three IF positions. it should be a wide open competition for all 4 players.
The Mets roster is already handicapped by having two full-time DH types. It doesn’t help the team to have the only IF on your bench who is limited to just one position.
I think sending him down again for just one more go does a couple of things: it gives him the chance to play more 2B. In the event that he simply is not a major league starter by 2026 (when he is out of options), then the flexibility will serve him and the team well.
I’d also like to see more evidence that he has learned to make adjustments when the league’s pitching figures him out and slows him down. He showed that a little bit last season for the first time in his career. But I don’t know that the slumps were long or significant enough to show us much.
If Vientos shows regression, it wouldn’t take long to bring Baty here.
This is the same shoulder he separated and had surgery on a few years ago. Doesn’t look good.
It’s quite a stretch to say that Madrigal is a “defensive specialist.” He’s a one tool player, if that.
remember when nick madrigal thought he was going to get 3000 hits?
Pepperidge Farms remembers…
When I hear that the Mets are still going with McNeil Nimmo Marte Siri and still have the likes of Taylor & Megill on the team, I wonder why they bothered signing Soto. How long will prospects like Acuna Jett Gilbert Mauricio Sproat & Tidwell not be playing for this team while those tired old zeros are still there?
Relax. Spring training decisions are not permanent, and Stearns has shown that he has no problem cutting a player if he fails to perform and bringing someone else up or in. For now, none of the players you’ve mentioned has shown to be major league ready, and all but Mauricio, who is still not back to 100% health, have not even shown anything at the AAA level yet.
Two months from now, all of that may have changed. Maybe even two weeks. But for now, none of them has earned a big league roster spot.
Nick Madrigal is a defensive standout whose elite glove remains a valuable asset at the major league level, showcasing his skill and resilience despite past injuries.
Nice sentencing …are you auditioning for a writers job here at MLBtraderumors?
@Grey matter
No, I like my job as a greeter at Walmart.
Easy to see why the Cubs non-tendered Madrigal … now they may have the biggest LOL of the weekend.
Yep lol on a split contract. Crazy to think you are a JETS fan, which could be the biggest LOL team in NY.
Dumb Sportsball Fans do mash-ups. Intelligent people do not.
BTW this ain’t an NFL blog.
Good luck pal, Glad Giancarlo is healthy. Troll
Sign Iglesias and be done with it.
I feel sadrigal for Nick Madrigal:(
Time to sign OMG
Doubtful
Too tiny to play baseball.
Man, when the Cubs got him for Kimbrel, I thought it was going to be an epic fleecing. Too bad he just couldn’t stay healthy.
In other news, water is wet.
Not so fast. Most scientists define wetness as a liquid’s ability to maintain contact with a solid surface, meaning that water itself is not wet.
OMG!
1-year deal for Iglesias. That’s it. They’ll get it done. 1 more year for the youngsters to get MLB ready. Easy decision here and probably the right one.
I thought Madrigal choosing to sign with the Mets was an odd choice, but liked that he chose to play with a winning team, he has that confidence, is a winning player. Unfortunate that he got hurt, still like Madrigal to find some success in the MLB. Acuna should be taking that second base position from McNeil sooner or later, and it will be hard to wrestle that away from him once he gets going.
OMG isn’t going to be a Met unless a veteran goes down. He would block the path of any developing minor leaguers (Bath, Acunà, Mauricio, Young…..).
Would love to see him be a coach to these kids though
An option is Jared Young to start on OD roster; don’t need a backup SS on 26 man given Lindor being an iron man
Doubtful in Iglesias return at this point. Mets need flexibility and better shot at integrating the kids.
Young can spell at 3B, 1B, corner OF and even 2nd if needed (admittedly hasn’t played there since 2018
Young is a split contract so maintain roster flexibility as can be sent down in event of injury injury to anyone allowing Baty and/or Acuna to come up for better coverage
Other option is getting Baty regular 2b exposure in AAA to allow for better utility