Should The Mets Capitalize On Luisangel Acuña’s Early Successes?

It is no secret that New York Mets prospect, Luisangel Acuña, impressed mightily to end the 2024 regular season. Acuña was called up and filled a large role for the club after Francisco Lindor injured his back. Acuña ended the regular season with 39 at-bats, going 12-for-39 with six extra-base hits, six runs batted in, and a .966 OPS. He impressed so much, he was included on the postseason roster, albeit, only getting three at-bats with Lindor back and healthy.

Despite the strong first showing in the big leagues to end the regular season, would it serve the Mets better to look to move their 22-year-old prospect? Especially in a deal for a controllable, young starting pitcher?

Not So Fast?

The concern starts with Acuña’s minor-league production since coming over from the Texas Rangers in the deal for Max Scherzer. At the time of the trade, Acuña had an .830 OPS across 362 at-bats for Double-A Frisco. However, he finished 2022 with Double-A Binghamton, in the Mets’ system, posting a .622 OPS across 148 at-bats, over a 200-point drop. For those curious, according to Baseball America, the ballpark factors at both Frisco and Binghamton’s home parks are very comparable.

Despite the troubling end to 2023, Acuña, who has spent some time ranked as a top-100 prospect in baseball, was still regarded as a top prospect in the Mets’ system to begin 2024. Unfortunately, it was mostly the same story for the versatile prospect as, now playing with Triple-A Syracuse, Acuña posted a .654 OPS across 547 at-bats prior to his call-up. Both his walk rate (5.5%) and overall power (.097 ISO) were very troubling. However, he did swipe 40 bags.

Of course, as funny as baseball is, Acuña showed none of this mattered and exploded when he was called up to end the season with the Mets. With that in mind, where exactly would he factor into things next season? Should fans expect similar production from what he brought to end the regular season?

Projecting Acuña’s Future With The Mets

Acuña is a middle infielder by trade, but also has the capability to play in center field. As it stands, without the Mets making any moves offensively, which we know won’t continue to be the case, second base is likely occupied by Jeff McNeil and the Mets’ have a projected platoon of Tyrone Taylor and the newly acquired Jose Siri in center field. If he remains on the team, the most likely scenario would be Acuña platooning at second base with McNeil. Though, as mentioned, we have yet to see the Mets make any offensive moves, so who knows which direction president of baseball operations, David Stearns, may take.

Outside of this upcoming season, the Mets have a rich pipeline of infielder talent ready to take the next step in the coming years. Jett Williams, who is regarded as the top prospect in the system, can either project at second base or center field long term with Lindor occupying shortstop. Drew Gilbert (acquired in the Justin Verlander trade), can slot in either at center or right field, if Williams does indeed player center. Not to mention, Ronny Mauricio is rehabbing from a knee injury and likely projects at second base in the long term as well. Then, you have the Brett Baty variable. He has been experimenting at second base, but is a third baseman by trade.

Bottom-line, Acuña is expendable. The Mets have the luxury of having infield prospect depth as well as a few prospects who project in the other position Acuña can play; center field.

Why A Trade Makes Sense

With Acuña being expendable, and keeping his underwhelming minor-league performances prior to his call-up in mind, if the right trade arises, moving Acuña would make a lot a sense.

One of the largest needs in the organization, as a whole, is a controllable and established starting pitcher. As it stands, no Mets starting pitchers are under team control past 2027, with only newly signed Clay Holmes (player option), Tylor Megill, and Kodai Senga (team options) under control through 2026. In the pipeline, Brandon Sproat is really the only starter held in high regard. Of course, others are likely to emerge at some point (Nolan McLean, Blade Tidwell, Jonah Tong, etc.), but as it stands, the Mets really need a younger starter who is both under team control and effective right now.

If the Mets can obtain that, with Acuña involved, they should certainly try to do so. Of course, controllable starting pitchers who are quality won’t be cheap, so the deal would have to include more than just Acuña, especially if the other teams share the same concerns about Acuña that were outlined above. However, if the Mets can, given all their prospect position-player depth, especially in the infield, moving a package centered around Acuña, for an established starting pitcher would make a lot of sense.

Final Thoughts

All the above is not to say Acuña’s ending to 2024 isn’t sustainable and won’t be an indication of things to come. However, given how small of a sample size it was (39 at-bats), and the underwhelming minor-league performances after the trade, capitalizing on his hot finish, as well as strong performances currently in the Venezuela Winter League (.882 OPS across 64 at-bats), could be a sharp move. Especially if the team can get a more guaranteed and established consistent success with a young, under team control, starting pitcher.

At the end of the day, with the whole sample size in mind, the most realistic projection for Acuña is a versatile fielder (center field and infield capabilities) who can provide speed on the bases. A valuable asset to any ball club. However, he likely isn’t a .800-plus OPS player who provided the pop he did when he was recalled. Again, this is not to say him developing into the elite player he was down the stretch is out of question, but, the overall sample indicates it isn’t exactly a bet the front office should be making.

Using a player with that projected development potential, as well as some other pieces, say a Brett Baty, who is reportedly already being pursued by others teams, to acquire a young, controllable starting pitcher, an area that the Mets need so badly, would be smart business by president of baseball operations David Stearns.

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