New York Mets in good position at hot corner for foreseeable future

The New York Mets have the future well in hand at the hot corner.

Oct 20, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; New York Mets third baseman Mark Vientos (27) celebrates with outfielder Harrison Bader (44) after hitting a two run home run in the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game six of the NLCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Dodger Stadium. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

September 29 will mark seven years since David Wright last manned third base for the New York Mets. Since that day, several different men have set up shop at the hot corner in Queens, from J.D. Davis to Jeff McNeil, and even Andres Gimenez.

Over the last two seasons, the starting job at third has been handed back and forth between Brett Baty and Mark Vientos. Both players have shown flashes of brilliance at times, but it was an extended hot streak, along with the recent re-signing of Pete Alonso, that has firmly entrenched Vientos in the role for the foreseeable future.

A recent article from Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report discussed each team's future outlook for the hot corner, and Reuter waxed poetic about New York's future with Vientos.

"After struggling to find his footing in the big leagues in 2023," writes Reuter, "Vientos was one of the breakout stars of last season, posting a 3.1 WAR in 111 games. He also crushed five home runs in 13 games in the playoffs, and he has staked his claim to the starting third base job ahead of Brett Baty on the depth chart."

There were rumors before Alonso re-signed that Vientos would potentially move to first base if the Polar Bear took his igloo elsewhere or if they could not find another first baseman on the trade market. However, with Alonso now back in Queens, the plan is for Vientos to remain at third.

Mets preferred to keep Mark Vientos at 3B if they could given the strides he made at the position in 2024

That’s why they explored/checked on Torkelson, Mountcastle and Yandy Diaz

They were prepared/open to move Vientos to 1B but now they don’t have to with Pete Alonso back

— Pat Ragazzo (@ragazzoreport) February 6, 2025

Vientos made his Major League debut on September 11, 2022. It was rough sailing for the youngster through 2023, batting just .205/.255/.354 with 10 home runs, 25 RBI, and a 68 OPS+ across 274 plate appearances in 81 games, but there were signs that the best was yet to come.

2024 would prove to be Vientos's coming-out party. He was briefly called up for three games at the end of April, and hit a walk-off home run against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 28 to set the tone for the season he would put together; although Vientos was sent back down to Triple-A Syracuse on April 30, he would return to the big leagues for good on May 15.

A torrid first half cemented the infielder as an everyday player and he ended the year with a .266/.322/.516 line with 27 home runs, 71 RBI, and a 135 OPS+ across 454 plate appearances in 111 games. Vientos's adjusted OPS ranked second on the team among those with 400 or more plate appearances, behind Francisco Lindor by only three points.

Vientos is still under team control through 2029 and will not be arbitration-eligible for the first time until after the 2026 season. If the young slugger is able to repeat his performance from 2024, the Mets are in good shape for the foreseeable future at third base.