The Mets overhauled their offense this past winter, and most of the players they shipped out have been swapped out for new faces. They weren’t traded for one another, but Marcus Semien is taking Jeff McNeil‘s spot at second base. Pete Alonso is an Oriole, and Jorge Polanco will take up plenty of the first base reps in his absence (although new third baseman Bo Bichette is arguably more of a direct replacement for Alonso’s big right-handed bat). One player who wasn’t directly replaced, however, is left fielder Brandon Nimmo.
After Nimmo was dealt to the Rangers to land Semien, the Mets seemed like the most logical landing spot for star outfielder Kyle Tucker. The Mets pursued him, but Tucker ended up going to the Dodgers. The Mets quickly pivoted to signing Bichette to fill out the middle of their lineup. A trade for Luis Robert Jr. patched up the existing hole the club had in center following Cedric Mullins‘ departure, but that still left a vacancy in an outfield corner. That position has more or less remained unfilled. Mike Tauchman (minor league deal) and MJ Melendez (split big league deal) signed as free agents, but the Mets are planning to give top prospect Carson Benge an opportunity to earn the big league job.
After Tucker and Cody Bellinger came off the market, there weren’t many surefire impact outfielders available. Benge could wind up being more productive than someone like Harrison Bader or Mike Yastrzemski, so it made little sense to block him by signing a player of that caliber to a multi-year deal. Benge is a consensus top-20 prospect in the sport who reached Triple-A near the end of his 2025 campaign. Plenty of other top prospects, including Konnor Griffin of the Pirates, JJ Wetherholt of the Cardinals, Justin Crawford of the Phillies, and Bryce Eldridge of the Giants stand a strong chance of making their organization’s big league roster out of Spring Training despite little to no MLB experience.
Does Benge fall into that category as well? There’s little doubt that the team views him as a long-term option, but he hasn’t exactly forced the issue with his minor league output. Benge played in 24 Triple-A games late last year but slashed only .178/.272/.311. It’s a sample of just 103 plate appearances, of course, and his work at both High-A (.302/.417/.480 in 271 plate appearances) and Double-A (.317/.407/.571 in 145 plate appearances) earlier in the year showed how electric his bat could be. Benge is out to a 4-for-14 start this spring.
There’s some competition in camp. The aforementioned Melendez never found his footing in the majors with Kansas City but long ranked as a top prospect. He’s a career .257/.340/.496 hitter with 35 home runs in 173 Triple-A games. He’s homered twice and added a double in 11 spring plate appearances.
Tauchman, a 35-year-old veteran, provides a low-cost alternative with a steady big league track record. He split time between right field and DH for the White Sox last year after spending two seasons as a part-time outfielder for the Cubs. Over the past three seasons, he’s slashed .255/.359/.381 with a wRC+ of 111, balancing a 21.3% strikeout rate against a strong 13.0% walk rate. Tauchman’s first nine plate appearances this spring have produced a double and a homer.
We’re still about three weeks out from Opening Day, which provides Benge with plenty of time to show himself to be MLB capable, or for Tauchman to cool off. There are plenty of aspects to consider with the Benge decision. Sending him to Triple-A could allow him more seasoning after struggling there late last year and could buy the Mets an extra year of club control. Breaking camp with Benge on the roster could open the Mets up to some future draft considerations via MLB’s prospect promotion incentives.
What do MLBTR readers think? Will the Mets commit to Benge as their opening day right fielder, or will they go for another option like Tauchman or Melendez? Have your say in the poll below:
Benge or Tauchman. Gun to my head I’d say Tauchman with Benge taking over at some point. Just my opinion.
Benge or Tauchman*
Why is there a fun to your head?
This is the smart move. Tauchman is and has been better than average. Benge gets more seasoning at AAA and you get him for longer / cheaper. I don’t think him being on the opening day roster moves the needle more than Tauchman.
Never pull a gun on your therapist !
@chrismonte
Good advice but I’d like to add, don’t forget to bring your gun to an intervention
If they want Benge to take the job, he’d have to fall on his face not to get that opportunity.
They got backups though in case he doesn’t cut it in the first couple of months.
I wish I knew. Oh how I wish
Don’t binge on Benge
Tauchman is a nice option to have on the bench , at least
Benge has a bright future. Even his poor stats in his short AAA stint don’t show the hard contact and unnaturally low babip he had in that small sample size. He’ll be a quality player for sure.
3 starting RF on opening day and no CF or LF? …. thats a bold move cotton.
Ummm… I am guessing he meant on the active roster not the starting lineup unless they plan to sit Soto and Robert… Taylor will still be on the roster, but Melendez, Tauchman and Benge would make for an interesting game of K M F.
“Who will start in right field for the Mets on Opening Day 2026?”
if all 3 are in RF who are in the other spots?
This Benge is no mutt! Good times ahead for the formerly Lolmetz
Benge gets the job, Tauchman wins a bench spot, and Melendez goes to AAA since he still has an option left.
This is a good scenario, but I think the service time manipulation is probably more important here. Benge would have to have a killer spring to make the team despite what was initially said by the Mets. Right now, he just hasn’t had enough quality at bats in Triple-A to automatically deem him ready. Melendez and Tauchman can hold the fort until he is. The combo of needing a little more seasoning and service time is enough to make starting him at Triple-A the most likely scenario.
If Tauchman can stay on the field, his patient quality ABs are ideal to start the year while Benge proves in AAA he is truly ready. Rushing someone up off hype is short-sighted. If Benge tears it up, he could force his way up late April/early May to play everyday most of season.
I’ll take Tauchman because. In like June though, it’s Benge.
I think it comes down to how they view Brett Baty. If everyone else is healthy, they probably stick him in right. Can’t imagine them doing the Vientos/Baty experiment again if they value these guys and wouldnt trade them.
Yeah, maybe a month in AAA makes more sense. I always thought that month was the best bargain in baseball … until the incentive program came along. I’m pretty sure Benge won’t come top 2 in ROY so sit back and suck up that 7th year.
Sterns has talked up Benge more then he has any prospect in recent memory, I think that is an interesting factor in this discussion. MJ did this to the royals every year selling them on potential but never putting it together in the majors, so I don’t think he is actually a factor, more likely they signed him as a just incase and then got Tauchman who is fine but really a 4th OF and I think they are better off with Tylor as their 4th given that Roberts gets hurt a lot and no one else beside Benge can really play CF.
Not sure why they would consider the scrubs Stearns signed over Baty. Leave Soto in RF for now and Baty in LF. Vientos at 1B (can’t be worse than Alonso) and Polanco at DH.Solid D up the middle in Robert, Lindor, Semein. Tauchman is a pinch hitter at best. The kid from the Royals shouldn’t even be in the show. Couldn’t even make it on a team that needed outfield help.