Outfielder Mike Tauchman is in camp with the Mets on a minor league deal. If the club doesn’t give him a roster spot at the end of camp, he can seek out opportunities elsewhere. Will Sammon of The Athletic reports that Tauchman has a March 25th opt-out in that deal. The Mets start the season on March 26th.
The Mets have two outfield spots spoken for. Juan Soto will be in left field and Luis Robert Jr. in center. The right field job was seemingly left open by design, as the Mets wanted to give prospect Carson Benge a chance to earn a spot. Benge has not yet made his major league debut, so the club needed to have some contingency plans. Tyrone Taylor is on the roster and could step up but he also would be a good fit as a glove-first fourth outfielder. Brett Baty is going to be in a super utility role and will be in the mix as well. Tauchman was brought in to give the Mets another option without taking up a roster spot. MJ Melendez was added to the roster but he has an option remaining and could be sent to Triple-A.
Benge is doing what he can to get the job, with a .367/.406/.433 line in spring so far. That’s held up by an unsustainable .440 batting average on balls in play but it’s encouraging nonetheless. Tauchman is putting up even better numbers. With a .400 BABIP, he has a .333/.481/.619 line in spring action so far.
Sammon floats the idea of both players cracking the roster but also notes it may not be realistic. With Francisco Lindor trending towards being ready on Opening Day, the roster is tight. Backup catcher Luis Torrens will have one of the four bench spots. Taylor and Mark Vientos are out of options and should have two more. The final spot could go to a backup infielder like Ronny Mauricio.
Mauricio does still have an option remaining, so the Mets could send him to Triple-A and add Tauchman to the bench. Doing so would leave them without a bench infielder, so the Mets would have to be comfortable with the versatility of their starters. Second baseman Marcus Semien and third baseman Bo Bichette are both former shortstops, with Bichette being an everyday guy there as recently as last year. Baty can play second and third. Vientos give them some cover at the hot corner. Jorge Polanco is expected to play a lot of first base but he also has recent experience at second and third.
It’s unknown how the Mets feel about that jumble but it’s theoretically possible they could feel comfortable without Mauricio in the mix. If he were sent to Triple-A, he could get some regular playing time, which he hasn’t had for a while. He missed 2024 due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Last year, he was still rehabbing that knee to start the year and then was mostly kept in a bench role once he was healthy. Vidal Bruján is only on the roster and out of options but the Mets may try to get him through waivers.
If the Mets don’t find a spot for Tauchman, he could find one somewhere else. He’s not a star but has been pretty solid for the past three years. Since the start of 2023, he has a combined .255/.359/.381 line, which translates to a 111 wRC+. He doesn’t have huge power but he has drawn walks at a strong 13% clip, while keeping his strikeouts down to a 21.3% clip. His defensive grades have been strong as well. FanGraphs credited him with 4.1 wins above replacement in 310 games over that span.
Despite the solid production, teams have somewhat surprisingly been averse to investing in him. The Cubs non-tendered him after 2024 despite a fairly modest $2.9MM projected salary from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. He spent 2025 with the White Sox and had another decent campaign but he was once again non-tendered, with Swartz projecting a $3.4MM salary.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
Figure out a way to carry em both. Spring can be an illusion but Benge has made a big impression
Absolutely. Keep both Benge and Tauchman. Mauricio to Syracuse.
Definitely an option but so is keeping both Benge & Tauchman as well as Mauricio north because he’s looked good and can backup 3 infield spots and send Mark Vientos packing to whoever will offer anything for him. Bet they wish they traded him to the Pirates before spring training began lol
Tauchman hopefully opts out and joins the Astros.
Why?
Because we need a LHB.
Ain’t got anyone better than Tauchtman? Or with more upside? I’ll never understand the fascination w this guy
What’s fascinating about wanting a good hitter on your team?
Everything. What’s so fascinating about trying to persuade someone to try stay away from your favorite players when it’s not going to work?
… what?
He plays great defense, takes more pitches than anyone in baseball and hits great off the bench and can play full time if needed.
Astros71. : Bad idea. He can hit. Great 4/5 outfielder. Must be kept.
Still seems odd he needed a minors deal.
I’d rather pay him $2.6 million than Josh Lowe, for example, and Lowe cost a decent bullpen arm to acquire.
Yeah, I am leaning toward that as well. Only issue is that Tauchman basically duplicates Baty. If they are keeping Benge up, he needs to play nearly every day. Then Tauchman becomes the fourth OFer. Though they could rest the other folks with this alignment as well.
Vientos might be the biggest question mark as to keep or not at this point. He might have made a booboo competing in the WBC
Rest Polanco, Baty first, Tauchman DH
Rest Bichette/Semien, Baty 3rd/2nd, Polanco 1st, Tauchman DH
Rest Robert, Benge CF, Tauchman RF, Baty DH
Rest Lindor, Semien SS, Baty 2nd, Tauchman DH
Your lineup ideas are interesting, but I’d use Polanco as predominantly DH, Baty at first.
I like the idea of not having a true DH. Getting guys a day a week off their feet is big.
Let a guy DH the day before an off day and that’s a nice mini break. Even taking DH the day after an off day is a nice break.
Rotating DH seems like an advantageous practice.
Says teams that don’t have a Schwarber on their roster…
Or Ohtani.
There are always exceptions.
And Philly has one of the worst team defenses behind him
Exactly and people wonder why Mets didn’t want Pete. Imagine Schwarber/Harper/Turner in 5 years. Alonso/Nimmo/Lindor would’ve been trash in 3.
the team also wants to give Robert plenty of rest to try and avoid injuries, so Benge can slide to CF those days and Tauchman can play right. IMO he should make the team and either Vientos is traded away or Brujan is put on waivers.
MUST bring Tauchman north as first bat off the bench. Polanco DH and Baty at first. Mauricio to AAA. As article says, Semien or Bichette can play short in a pinch. Vientos is a problem. Ask him to go to Syracuse voluntarily like Alvarez did.
Alvarez did not go voluntarily, Senga did. Alvarez had (and still has) options remaining.
Thanks for the correction. The talk was that Alvarez accepted it in a good state of mind and he’s hit ever since he got back. Vientos’ value is at an all-time low right now and he’s got no place on this team the way things are shaking out. Both C. Pache and even Melendez look like players more likely to contribute than Vientos.
“look like”?? Based on what? A few spring games? (And early spring, no less). Pache and Melendez have little to no upside, and have never managed to hit at the level that Vientos hit both in ’24, and for 25 – 30% of last season.
After making it a point to hang on to Vientos rather than trade him, the Mets aren’t going to simply cut him loose for nothing by DFAing him.
Geofft: what are your grounds for saying Mets made it a point not to trade Vientos? Maybe they tried hard but the offers were unacceptable. Well, they’ll be even worse now. Face up to the unfortunate fact that he’s as one-dimensional as they come. Who do you want to leave behind to allow Vientos to make the team and DH twice a week?
There have been reports to that effect – including the Mets rejecting a Vientos for Robert Jr last trade deadline.
Before I answer your 2nd question, let me clarify that I would not make the decision on March 17 when there’s another week to go. I would also not make the decision based only on the 26-man roster because teams cannot win with 26, or even 40-man ropster. It takes 50 or 60 players, sometimes more, to make it thru the season. So with that in mind, i wouild not cut Veintos for little or nothing.
The player I would remove to make room for him is one who has zero HRs, only 2 XBHs, a very low ISO of just .094, and no major league track record – Carson Benge. Because optioning Benge does not cost the organization any depth or opportunity.
We’re talking about a guy who has only 54 games above single-A, only 24 in AAA where he did not hit well. Let him finish his Jedi training before he comes up to face Vader. If Benge tears it up in ‘Cuse and Veintos keeps sputtering, you can always pivot.
geofft: Couple of things. I see your point that the Mets don’t lose anything in terms of roster management to option Benge (other than not being eligible for PPI if he doesn’t come up opening day). The down sides of doing what you say is, 1. He figures to help us win ballgames right now, and 2. He’s done all he can possibly do to show he’s ready and it creates ill will to send him down. Getting back to your assertion that the Mets made a commitment not trade Vientos over the winter, all you cite is “reports to that effect”, which is weak, especially since you demand strong evidence from others when they make claims you disagree with. I remember reading reports saying he was dangled plenty but there weren’t takers, which should surprise no one when you consider, again, that he’s a one dimensional player. Finally, you dismiss out of hand excellent spring performances like that of Pache and Melendez. If it matters so little why do they bother with spring training invites?
Your assertions that Benge “figures to help us win ball games now”, and that he has “done all he can possibly do to show he’s ready” are, again your speculation, not fact. 32 spring training at-bats with almost zero XBH power falls well short of that standard. Add in his poor AAA results, and extremely limited experience at that level, and Benge on the opening day roster is nothing more than a crapshoot. There is zero basis for a decision either way, yet you speak a if he should be a lock. Thats simply not the case. You’re cherry picking your criteria.
he’s out of options, so it’s not his call. he’d have to get through waivers first.
You’re correct. In that case, I think he’s gotta go, even though he might prosper somewhere as a DH. Basically a guy who hit well one year and had a great post season. No position. If the Mets kept him, who is he supposed to take at bats away from? Stearns is over a barrel on this one and the return may remind us of the McNeil deal.
The extremity and baselessness of your view is curious to me….
First, you’re responding as if Openig Day decisions are etched in stone for the season. They’re not. The Mets could opt to give Vientos a leash for a month or so before making that final decision.
“Basically, a guy who hit well for one season”. First of all, that statement is not accurate. His .702 OPS and 97 OPS+ plus last year rank as just around league average. He hit .778 over the second half of the season. And he hit .740 against lefties for the season. Not exactly, heck, not anywhere near “this guy is worthless, we need to cut him”.
“Basically, a guy who hit well for one season”., pt II: Well, we can say the same thing about Baty. Yet you’ve advocated loudly for him to be handed the starting job at 1B, where he’s never played before.
Vientos doesn’t need to “take away” at bats from anyone. He can be used as a bench player until someone else gets injured or underperforms and plays his way out of the rotation.
You’ve arbitrarily decided that a lot of speculative possibilities are actual facts: that Vientos will keep hitting as miserably as he has this spring. That Benge will win a roster spot – AND play well enough to hold it all year long. (How often do Mets’ position playing prospects do that?). That everyione will stay healthy. That Tauchman, Baty, et al will not slump and need a benching or platoon partner…..
Geoff: see above comment. I’ve been a vientos fan but he’s chosen a bad time to go in the tank. A bat only player who can’t buy a hit.
He won’t when the Astros need a left handed bat.
@Joel: Agreed about Mauricio. Send him to AAA, keep Tauchman. Tauchman has three straight seasons of an OPS+ over 100. Mauricio is talented but too raw. Use the option.
They probably don’t need Mauricio. He should start on the farm. They don’t need a bench infielder with Baty in the super UTIL role and Bichette likely able to fill in at SS/2B in short stints (despite detractor’s criticism of his defense).
the team has already been pretty clear about Mauricio spending the year at AAA. they kept him up last year just sitting on the bench to preserve his final option just for this reason.
It genuinely shouldn’t be this hard for Tauchman to get a job. Still surprised he needed to settle for a minor league deal with an invite
If Tauchman opts out CLE SHOULD be first in line because we have a total bum named Nolan Jones who the FO have an illogical obsession with. Tauchman would be a huge upgrade over Jones, and the FO needs to finally confess they’ve been wrong about Jones all along.
Even Tom Hamilton was saying last night on the radio broadcast that Jones has to get it together this week.
There are so many offense-starved teams in the league and yet guys like Tauchman can only get minor league deals. Always interesting to see.
He needs to be on the team. Mauricio and Vientos should not be blocking his path to the opening day roster.
Have to keep Tauchman. Benge is benefitting from a huge and unsustainable BABiP. If you let Tauch go, you deplete your depth behind Benge in the event that Benge struggles and needs to go back down.
In fairness Tauchman also has an unsustainable BABiP.
Yes, he does. But he also has a track record of hitting at MLB over the last few years.
But all of that misses the point. The point is that Benge may cut it right away and may need more time in the minors. Leaving Tauchman off of the roster means losing him to another team and not having him or Benge if that happens.
This whole opening day roster stuff is completely overblown by the fans and media. Ron Darling said once that every team has two or three roles and roster spots that they’re still trying to figure out after opening day. Most teams don’t figure it out the 1st or 2nd week of May. The good teams might get it sorted by the 3rd week of April. The bad teams take longer, and some teams never figure it out. A little bit of roster roulette in and thru April is part of the process.
Mark Vientos for Thomas Harrington and Yordany De Los Santos
@PiratesFan1981… Substitute Yordany De Los Dantos for Omar Alfonzo and you have yourself a deal!
While I think that Benge may very well succeed on the Mets, his experience at AAA is all of 24 games and just under 100 at bats. I’ve always believed that you need to hit your way out of AAA to get to the majors, and he hasn’t done that yet, so I think that the prudent thing to do is to send hm down and see how he does. Although he showed positive signs last year advancing through multiple levels, he didn’t do well at AAA. If he’s tearing the cover off the ball after 30 or 60 days, by all means, bring him up.
In the meantime, Tauchman can play RF at an acceptable level while Benge gets at bats in AAA, and he can also play 1B and DH. And you know that someone is always going to get hurt, and all of a sudden you need an extra outfielder.
Mauricio is going to start the season at Syracuse since he has that last option, plus with Baty’s versatility they don’t need him to start the year in the majors. Plus he still needs to fix his overswing. Vientos is the odd man out at the moment, but they can’t send him down, and his trade value is close to nil, especially with him hitting .040 in ST, so he’s the RH DH and bench bat by default on opening day.
These things always seem to resolve themselves somehow.
I also believe they’ll send Benge down in order to maintain an extra year of control. Listening to the last media session with Stearns that was the sense I came away with. He’ll be up this year but I doubt he’ll make the opening day roster.
Tauchman is one of those really good players who no one quite believes is really good.
Worry not. Someone will get hurt and all will be cured.
Would love to get him back on the Cubs
Mets don’t need any mediocrities. Let Tauchman leave. I wish they hadn’t re-signed Taylor. Former blue chipper Pache is having an amazing spring, and I don’t see why nobody is mentioning him. I like Melendez. I’ve had enough of Baty & Vientos as well.
Alproof: well, I agree with 2 out of the 6 things you said!
Tauchmann could join the Phillies which makes it super important to keep him
The obvious solution is to move Vientos for minor league talent
Enc1:that may be the least bad solution.
Love Benge. Been following him since he’s been drafted, but if Tauch doesn’t make this roster; we riot.