BY MIKE RIFKIN
Mets President Of Baseball Operations David Stearns spoke at the GM meetings on Tuesday and said a lot. One of the things he said revolved around Mark Vientos. Stearns said “ Mark didn’t have the season he wanted to. He didn’t have the season that we think he’s capable of having. He’s going into the offseason as a really motivated player. If he’s able to do that, he’s going to have an opportunity with us.”
Here’s my issue with Stearns’ statement, this isn’t a one year thing for Vientos, this was the second consecutive season he underperformed. In fact outside of 2024 Vientos is a negative WAR player. (2022 : -0.2, 2023: -1.0, 2024 : 3.1, 2025 : -0.3, 2026: -1.2). In 2026 Vientos hit 13 homers and had 41 RBI’S while having a slash line of .212/.258/.394, in 2025 the slash line was .233/.289/.413. In his breakout ‘24 campaign he slashed .266/.322/.516, so those numbers have been down.
Stearns always talks about run prevention and defense, right now Mark Vientos is a man without a position. Bo Bichette will man third base, and the Mets need a true upgrade at first base, Vientos had eight errors playing first base last season. The Mets let Pete Alonso go (wrong move) because of his “defense”, but also in part because they thought Vientos would take that next step, he hasn’t.
I know there are people who are relieved to hear about a player being “motivated”, but I really don’t care. The Mets are in a position where they need to be a playoff team in 2027 (if there’s a season) otherwise it might be a goodbye to Stearns. And if he is putting his eggs in the Mark Vientos basket, I’m not sure that’s the wisest decision. Mets fans saw the breakouts from Carson Benge and AJ Ewing, while the “baby Mets” of Alvarez, Baty, Mauricio, and Vientos are still trying to make their mark. Alvarez and Baty I think have places on the team, but Vientos has a lot to prove that 2024 wasn’t a fluke and he better hope David Stearns belief in him was the wrong decision.
