The Mets Pod

Hi guys, With the likelihood that Harrison Bader will not be re-signed, who do you think are some viable candidates to patrol center field? I know you guys mentioned Cedric Mullins in past shows as a possibility. Tyrone Taylor seems best suited for a fourth outfielder role, and while we have a few prospects who may be able to eventually play center in Drew Gilbert and Jett Williams, are there any other viable options out there that could provide good defense up the middle along with consistent offense? Thank you! — Tom from NJ

The Mets Pod is by far the most interesting, informative, and fun baseball podcast I have ever listened to. Of course, as a Mets fan, I am probably pretty biased in that regard. Nor have I listened to many baseball podcasts aimed at fans of other teams. However, if you are a Mets fan, you are probably just as biased as I am and I expect you will enjoy the Mets Pod as much as I do. Question for the next Mets Pod. Please feel free to edit/shorten my question if you feel that is appropriate. Given how many Mets players and prospects can play multiple positions, what is the likelihood that some combination of Mark Vientos, Luisangel Acuna, Ronny Mauricio, Jeff McNeil, and Brett Baty will go into Spring Training competing for jobs at second, third, center-field, and DH? Acuna could win the center-field job outright, while McNeil could play in Left while Brandon Nimmo moved back to Center. Drew Gilbert and Jett Williams will be just a phone call away in the event of injury or bad slumps. Hopefully, of course, Juan Soto will win the job in Right-Field.

I’ve been listening to Connor and Joe for about 2 seasons and I’ve been hella impressed by their wealth of knowledge in various fields as well as the passion they express as Mets fans when on the air. Hoping this hot stove season brings a lot of good reasons to tune in! Question for the mailbag: Hey Joe, Dylan White of Baseball America in the past day or so rated the Mets minor league hitting collective at 28th, pretty low imo. I know we had a ton of good hitting prospects out with injuries this year, but it seemed even before those injuries that we were pretty top heavy and barren in the lower levels. I’ve heard of very few high average or power hitters catching on and the parks below AA are notoriously un-hitter friendly. How do we fix this? Are there any specific coaches or hitting instructors you would target to join us in the lower levels to move the farm in the right direction? Or is this just a result of bad drafting over the past few seasons? Thanks and keep up the good fight, dudes!

I started listening about a year and a half ago when y'all interviewed Jim Callis prior to the 2023 draft and have been a weekly listener since - this show truly enhances my experience of both the baseball season and the offseason. Mailbag question (11/8/24): A lot of attention is (rightly!) being paid to the free agent market, but there are a lot of interesting trade pieces available, too. I was wondering about your thoughts on particular players you think the Mets might target. (A name that stuck out to me personally was Pete Fairbanks!) Relatedly, are there any prospects besides the obvious that you would consider untouchable?