Evan is in London, and so is Brett Baty, who is the extra player the Mets were allowed to bring on the trip as their 27th man for the two-game series with the Phillies.
Baty has been in Triple-A for a week, and when asked about that Friday before the London Series, he revealed that the Mets told him he was going to get some reps at second base.
“I think it's cool. I love defensive versatility, always have,” Baty said of that. “I played a lot of different positions in high school, and I love moving all around the field, so it’s cool. It’s like a different game from other points of view. So, any way I can help the team.”
With no Evan in the studio Friday, how did the guys react to this news?
“This tells me two things: one, Vientos has clearly, with his bat, earned the right to continue to be the third baseman,” Shaun said, and when Tiki chimed in that Vientos has ‘actually been pretty slick over there with his glove, too,’ Shaun said this:
“I felt this way back when with the Yankees; remember when Miguel Andujar was a butcher at third base and he ended up getting hurt and the Yankees screwed around with him?” Shaun asked. “I feel like the Yankees screwed up his career because they didn't let him figure it out. His bat could play, but they didn’t give Andujar enough of a leash at third base, and I think they screwed up his career.”
The Mets, he thinks, will be different with Vientos, and that’s where moving Baty comes in.
“I think the Mets are gonna try to let Vientos figure it out. He’s a live bat, and this goes back to the David Stearns thing; if you doubted David Stearns at the beginning of the year, and we all cried and eventually they signed J.D. Martinez – they wanted to evaluate what they had this year, and whether they're in the wild card race or not,” Shaun said. “Ultimately, this year is going to be about evaluating the properties here. They like Vientos’ bat, they’re gonna stick with it, but they’re not gonna just give up on Baty.
So how do you do that if you’re gonna create this log jam at third base? Make him versatile.”
And so, that’s part two about how he feels about the move.
“Who is the second baseman for the New York Mets who hasn't played in a week? Jeff McNeil,” Shaun said. “We haven’t heard (they’re trying to trade McNeil), but this makes me do a one plus one equals two thing. Maybe Baty is a disaster at second base, but David Stearns needs to leave all options open. The Mets have taken off in the last week, played better, and McNeil has missed most of these games. Maybe this is a message; the Mets have sent Baty down and said maybe this is our answer. McNeil got paid, and he’s versatile, but if he's not hitting for average, he does the Mets no good.”
Listen to the whole discussion above!