Mets Have A Top 10 Player at Almost Every Position
MLB Network finished their Top 10 Right Now countdown on Wednesday night with the right field position, where Mets’ outfielder Michael Conforto came in ranked at №7 by the Shredder.
The ranking of Conforto meant the Mets had a player at each position in the Top 10 except for third base and relief pitcher.
Third base is no surprise, given they had five different players man the hot corner in the shortened 2020 season. Two of those players are no longer with the team — veteran Todd Frazier (second on the team with 12 games a third) is a free agent and Andrés Giménez was traded to Cleveland in the deal that netted the Mets superstar Francisco Lindor — and J.D. Davis (Mets leader in games at third with 33 in 2020) hasn’t exactly received ringing endorsements from team president Sandy Alderson.
As for relief pitchers, they had no one in that category from the Shredder (advanced data, traditional numbers, and analysis by the MLB Network research team), despite the fan vote placing two Mets’ relievers in the Top 10, Trevor May at №4 and Edwin Díaz at №7.
The Mets have been one of the most active teams this offseason in acquiring upgrades to their roster, whether through free agency (signing Trevor May and catchers James McCann) or trades (aforementioned Lindor trade and left-handed pitcher Joey Lucchesi from the Padres). While there’s likely still work to do — center field, third base, and more pitching could be the likely targets — they’ve built a team that has top 10 players (according to MLB Network) at eight different positions.
Starting Pitcher: Jacob deGrom №1
Catcher: James McCann, №10
First Base: Pete Alonso, №7
Second Base: Jeff McNeil, №2
Shortstop: Francisco Lindor, №4
Left Field: Dominic Smith, №6
Center Field: Brandon Nimmo, №5
Right Field: Michael Conforto, №7
You could certainly make a strong argument that Mets right-handed reliever Seth Lugo (2.51 ERA ranks 8th among relievers from 2018–2020) deserved to be the ninth Mets player on the list. Mike Petriello of MLB noted that Lugo wasn’t on his list because he wasn’t sure if Seth was going to be a starter or reliever moving forward.
Look, is there anything concrete about these rankings? No, not really, but they’re a fun discussion piece and gives you the sense of what is a strong core of players for the Mets.
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