The New York Mets got horrendous injury news this week with top prospect Ronny Mauricio set to undergo surgery for a torn right ACL. Mauricio injured his knee while playing in the Dominican Winter League where he was batting .433 (13 for 30) with a 1.118 OPS through seven games.
Mauricio was expected to be in the mix for the third base job with the Mets, and New York now has an even bigger hole to fill there.
WFAN’s Evan Roberts of the Audacy original podcast “Rico Brogna” has one free agent in mind for the Mets to sign in the wake of Mauricio’s injury.
“What’s beautiful about adding a potential third baseman, let’s say it is Justin Turner on a one-year deal,” Roberts said (9:40 in player above). “You’re not eliminating Brett Baty from third base because Justin Turner can DH.”
Roberts noted that the Mets’ current options on the 40-man roster are lacking to fill the holes at not only third base and designated hitter, but left field as well.
“I think right now, going into opening day, you can’t have what we currently have at left field, third base, and DH.”
There aren’t many free-agent third basemen available but Roberts has his eyes on Turner.
“I’m not interested in Matt Chapman. I’m not suggesting the Mets should go out and throw some kind of crazy contract at Matt Chapman. I don’t think that would be the best idea,” Roberts continued. “But Justin Turner on a one-year contract is something that’s worthy of thinking about.
“It’s worthy of thinking about it because A) He’s going to get a one-year deal. He’s not getting a multi-year contract. Number two, he continues to be a productive offensive player. He hasn’t shown that he’s falling apart. He hasn’t shown that he’s aging.”
The Red Sox signed Turner to a one-year deal tlast offseason and the veteran played well in Boston. He hit 23 home runs with 96 RBI while batting .276 with an OPS of .800.
Turner did primarly DH last season for the Red Sox with 98 appearances there, 41 at first base, 10 at second base, and just seven at third base. However, Turner has primarily been a third baseman throughout his career and played 209 games there with the Dodgers between 2021 and 2022.
“And I think it’s an easy move to make. An easy signing,” Roberts said. “And if Brett Baty emerges and ends up taking the third base job, Justin Turner can DH. It’s almost like you’re adding a bat. If the guy ends up playing a lot of third base, whatever. If the guy ends up DHing, whatever.”
Ideally, the Mets will see Brett Baty develop into their everyday third baseman.
“But you can’t be certain it’s going to play out that way because Baty was so bad last year,” Roberts said. “What’s your insurance policy if it doesn’t?”
Baty hit just .212 with a .598 OPS in 108 games last season. He got a chance to play every day and finished the season with more strikeouts (109) than hits (75) and walks (29).
“I think Turner just feels like the easiest move to make. It’s a one-year deal, so $17, $18 million in that range,” Roberts concluded. “My gut is get me the insurance policy at third – it doesn’t block third base because Turner could end up DHing and Baty could end up being the third baseman – but my gut feeling after this injury is Turner seems like the easy answer.”