If the New York Mets intend on rolling with what they have at designated hitter heading into the season, young power-hitter Mark Vientos appears to be the favorite to land the job.
But Vientos, who smashed 65 home runs across the last three seasons in the minor leagues and hit 25 between the majors and minors last year, has yet to prove himself at the big-league level on a consistent basis.
So, with former Met J.D. Davis being placed on waivers by the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, this might be an avenue worth exploring for president of baseball operations David Stearns.
Davis, who played for the Mets from 2019 until being dealt to San Francisco at the 2022 trade deadline, wound up finding his footing with the Giants in an every day role. Playing in a total of 193 games with the Giants after the Mets shipped him out of town, Davis slashed .251/.333/.431 with a .764 OPS, 26 home runs and 83 RBIs.
While Stearns and the Mets have made it clear that 2024 is a transition year, it could make sense to bring Davis back in order to receive more production out of the DH spot. They do want to see what they have in Vientos, but he also needs to work on his defensive skills at first base and third base in the minor leagues. By serving as an everyday DH, Vientos' development could be stunted by making him too one-dimensional, as a hitter only.
Davis also has a ton of experience at third base, which would provide the Mets with an insurance option should Brett Baty falter again. The presence of Davis would give the club more flexibility if Baty needs to go back down to Triple-A for more seasoning in the minor leagues.
Picking up Davis off waivers isn't a given for the Mets, but it gives them another DH option, as opposed to relying on Vientos, Luke Voit and Ji-man Choi to carry the load. Should they decide to stick with what they have, and Vientos breaks out into the home run hitting slugger that he was in the minors, Stearns and the Mets will look pretty smart, too.
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