Inside The Mets

Mets Have Yet to Make Important Top Prospect Decision

Although Carson Benge has strung together a great spring, the Mets have not made a decision on him yet.
Logan VanDine|
The New York Mets' Carson Benge heads to the dugout after hitting a home run against Israel in a spring training game, March 4, 2026, at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie. Mets won 5-2.
The New York Mets' Carson Benge heads to the dugout after hitting a home run against Israel in a spring training game, March 4, 2026, at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie. Mets won 5-2. | CRYSTAL VANDER WEIT/TCPALM / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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New York Mets

With Opening Day nearly two weeks away, the New York Mets still have one important decision to make.

Speaking with reporters down in Port St. Lucie on Monday, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said they have not made a decision on top outfield prospect Carson Benge and whether or not he will make the Opening Day roster.

"I think Carson is having a nice camp, similar to all our guys," Stearns said. "He's worked really hard, I think we've had a very work-intensive camp across the field and Carson has participated in that, in the games."

"We've seen what we would've expected, he's taken very competitive at-bats, he's a tough out, I think he's played a nice right field, he's done what we expect him to do, we think he's going to be a really good player and we'll have a difficult decision to make at the end of camp," Stearns added.

Benge, who is ranked as the Mets' No. 2 prospect according to MLB.com, has been competing for the starting right field job this spring along with Tyrone Taylor, MJ Melendez, Mike Tauchman and even Brett Baty.

At the onset of spring training, Stearns made it very clear that Benge would have an opportunity to win the starting job in right field due to the enormous amount of promise and talent he possesses. In seven games, Benge has gone 7-for-20 (.350) at the plate with one RBI, a stolen base and a .381 OBP; the 23-year-old also slugged his first homer of the spring on March 4 in an exhibition game against Team Israel.

As for his minor league stats from last year, Benge batted .281/.385/.472 with 15 home runs, 73 RBI and a .857 OPS in 131 games playing for the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones, the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies and the Triple-A Syracuse Mets. However, he struggled at the Triple-A level, slashing only .178/.272/.311 with three long balls, 13 RBI and an OPS of .583 in 24 games with Syracuse.

Despite those struggles at the Triple-A level, Benge has strung together an exceptional spring to this point and has certainly made his case to Stearns and the rest of the Mets that he should have the starting right field job.

If Benge does not crack the Opening Day roster, his significant usage throughout the spring clearly shows that the young outfielder will contribute in the major leagues at some capacity this season.

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Logan VanDine
LOGAN VANDINE

Logan VanDine is a contributing writer for On SI's Mets. Logan is a graduate of Rider University where he majored in Sports Media and minored in Sports Studies. During his time at Rider, Logan worked for Rider's radio station, 107.7 The Bronc as a sports host, producer and broadcaster, and for the school's paper: The Rider News. He began his time with The Rider News as a section writer for sports and was a copy editor for two years followed by being one of the sports editors during his senior year. Logan also placed third in the New Jersey Press Foundation Awards for sports feature writing. Aside from his work at On SI, he is also a writer for FanSided covering the New York Giants and Mets and also covers the Giants for Total Apex Sports. Give him a follow on X: @VandineLogan

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