Mets showing interest in Spencer Torkelson?

The former first overall pick in the draft has struggled at times in the majors

What’s up with the Mets? 🍎

• Pete Alonso recently met with the Angels, while the Mets have considered a trade with the Tigers for 1B Spencer Torkelson (SI)

• The Mets have instructed Mark Vientos and Brett Baty to begin working out at first base (New York Post)

• The Mets were one of a handful of teams to watch Max Scherzer throw this week (SI)

• The Mets agreed to sign RHP Albert Alzolay to a two-year minor league contract - he had Tommy John Surgery last year (Athletic)

• The Mets had interest in signing OF Jurickson Profar before he signed with the Braves (FanSided)

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Rumor Mill 💨

• The Astros have asked Ryan Pressly to accept a trade to the Cubs, where he would be the full-time closer - he has a no-trade clause and would need to approve a deal (New York Post)

• Alex Bregman has multiple five-year offers (KPRC 2)

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I am not drinking the kool-aid! ✍️

I maintain the position that until Pete Alonso signs elsewhere, I believe there’s still a chance he lands with the Mets. Having said that, can you imagine that press conference for Alonso with the club? That would be a tad on the brutal side.

Hell, a press conference with any team would come with a lot of difficult questions and answers.

If the Mets don’t sign Alonso though, fine. I get it. I get where the Mets are coming from, I get Alonso might have sour grapes, I get that one side is valuing the other differently and it might not be a small difference, either. Even if it feels like it’s meant to be, maybe it isn’t, and the business gulf sometimes can serve as a cold dish of reality.

But it is only fine if the Mets do something else to replace Alonso’s wins. And doing something else isn’t AJ Minter and Jesse Winker. They needed them even if they sign Alonso.

And no, doing something else isn’t moving Mark Vientos to first base, trying Brett Baty out at first or third, hoping Ronny Mauricio is both competent enough and healthy enough to somehow switch positions and play third, or Luisangel Acuña to switch positions for a second time and be a third baseman, either.

Also - second base was already a fluid situation with these players plus Jeff McNeil, who for a second year in a row is looking to bounce back and didn’t exactly have a job during the playoffs three months ago.

In other words, doing something else is not having first, second or third base completely up in the air.

Hope isn’t a strategy, as the owner likes to say. And it would be foolish to think this would all work. Asking the IF’s at three infield positions to all go well?

I am not drinking out of that Kool-Aid packet.

I mean, the Baty thing last year failed by May 15. Mauricio had a cup of coffee in the big leagues a year and a half ago, three months before he blew out his ACL. He hasn’t played one inning of a game since. If they don’t believe in Vientos at third, whose greatest defensive asset is his arm, would he be that much better as a first baseman?

Come on. It’s all a bunch of nonsense to me.

USA Today Sports

Now, if the Mets were to swing a trade for Spencer Torkelson, that would be interesting.

Torkelson, 25, is under team control through the 2028 season. He is still pre-arbitration eligible, meaning his salary will be $775,000 in 2025. He had a big power year in 2023 - he hit 31 home runs with 94 RBI that year and led the club in extra-base hits. He was the first overall pick in the 2020 draft by Detroit and is a competent defensive first baseman.

He was underwhelming to a point in 2024 where Detroit demoted him to Triple-A on June 2, and he didn’t return to the big leagues until August 17. He hit just .201/.266/.330 with 56. He was okay when he got back - he hit .248/.338/.444 with six home runs and 19 RBI although he struck out 49 times in 151 plate appearances. He struggled against velocity in 2024, whereas that was a strength for him at the plate in 2023. He’s a plus hitter against breaking balls, which is something the Mets definitely need more of in their lineup.

The question with Torkelson is, what would the Mets be getting? Would they be getting the middle of the order force from 2023? Or the ineffective version from 2024? Can the Mets read much into what can only be considered progress in his numbers from August 17 to the end of the year? Would a change of scenery from the only club he has ever known benefit him going forward?

I think all of that depends on how Detroit values their former number one pick, that which they’ve made a hefty investment in with both dollars and his development in the last four years.

Torkelson would be added to the IF pile if the Mets acquired him. There’s no question about it. But he’s a first baseman with upside, and I believe in giving young players opportunities, especially high upside players like Torkelson who has shown what he can do (with a lot of polishing required, of course) in this league. At least initially though, he would be at first, Vientos would still be at third, and the Mets would have the tryout only at second base.

If such an experiment fails, then the Mets would have to either find a first or third baseman via trade before the deadline in July.

Or, the Mets and Alonso can just sit down and figure all of this out at this point. That’s the path of least resistance on the baseball field, solves their infield problem and solves their lineup problem. Once again, he remains unsigned despite reported interest from the Angels and Blue Jays. There’s no better fit for him, there’s no better fit for them.

So, what the hell are we doing? Lets put our hubris aside and make the right baseball move already.

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Around the League 🚩

• The Angels signed JD Davis to a minor league contract (FanSided)

• The Padres acquired RHP Rob Marinaccio from the White Sox for cash (official)

• The Nationals signed LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara to a two-year deal - he is coming from the Chunichi Dragons of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League (official)