What Correa’s arrival means for the Mets

The Dominican baseball player is one of the best prospects in the New York organization, but has little hope of playing for them due to the long contracts offered to Correa and Francisco Lindor.
Ronny Mauricio is the New York Mets’ number six prospect for 2023, but his hopes of making his major league debut have taken a hit. The shortstop (and occasional third baseman) now finds himself in a sort of limbo regarding his future, courtesy of the arrival of Puerto Rican Carlos Correa, who signed a 12-year, $315 million contract with the Mets.

However, the signing of Correa, who will play third base, points to the fact that Ronny Mauricio no longer has room to play alongside the Mets. Along with Correa, it should be noted that the team’s starting shortstop is also Puerto Rican Francisco Lindor, who has a ten-year, $341 million contract. In simple terms, the two Puerto Ricans occupy the positions that Mauricio can play.

The more than $600 million committed to the two players for the next decade makes it unlikely that the team will gamble on using the Dominican, which raises the question of what to do with him.

At this point, the Mets have two options with Mauricio. The first, they can decide to trade him to another team. “Chimi” is a well-priced shortstop, regardless of his defensive deficiencies, which are normal for a 21-year-old player. His ability to hit two-handed, as well as to generate power and contact on a consistent basis, make him an extremely interesting prospect.

In 404 games played over four minor league seasons, Mauricio has hit 53 home runs and driven in 225 runs, while boasting a .261 batting average with a .724 OPS and 691 total bases.

However, Mauricio appears to have taken a step forward offensively during his time in the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League (LIDOM), where in 47 games he batted .287 (188-54) with an OPS of .803 and led the league in hits (54), doubles (15) and RBIs (31), making him one of the leading candidates for the Most Valuable Player award for the 2022-23 campaign.

In addition, Mauricio has seen more playing time at third base, where he is clearly comfortable and has played his best defense statistically overall.

Given this, as well as the Mets’ interest in the player seeing as much action as possible, it is clear that Mauricio would generate enough interest in a potential trade if the Mets decided to place him on the open market.

The other option the New York team has is to keep him and move him. The Mets do not have enviable depth in the outfield, so a move to that position is possible, as is a move to first base, where he would share time with Pete Alonso, while the Mets could move him to shortstop.