Mets President David Stearns Expresses Confidence in Marcus Semien's Motivation
Mets President David Stearns Expresses Confidence in Marcus Semien's Motivation
New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns has identified Marcus Semien’s self-motivation as the primary factor in his potential recovery from an underwhelming debut season. Speaking at the general managers meetings in Las Vegas, Stearns affirmed that the team remains confident in Semien’s ability to improve, even as they evaluate other infield options for next year.
LAS VEGAS — New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns identified Marcus Semien’s self-motivation as the critical asset for the infielder’s recovery from a difficult first season in Queens. Speaking at the general managers meetings on Tuesday, Stearns addressed the team’s plans for second base and expressed confidence that Semien will rebound despite posting a .620 OPS and struggling defensively last year.
"This is an extremely motivated player," Stearns said. "This is someone who works as hard as anyone, who believes in his own ability, and who I know is going to get everything out of what he has."
Semien, 36, finished the season with minus-9 outs above average according to Statcast, a ranking that placed him in the fifth percentile among Major League Baseball second basemen. He still has $46 million remaining on his contract over the next two seasons.
"[Semien] didn’t have the type of year that he wanted to last year," Stearns said. "He didn’t have the type of year we believe he’s capable of. We also think we have got a lot of options, both guys who played in the big leagues last year for us and guys who are knocking on the door of the big leagues that we feel good about that position."
While Semien is expected to play "a lot" of second base next season, the Mets have other possibilities at the position. Brett Baty remains an option, along with prospects Jefferson Rojas, Émilien Pitre, and Mitch Voit, who could be ready for major league duty at some point next season.
Stearns also clarified the infield alignment regarding Bo Bichette. Although Bichette has demonstrated flexibility to play multiple infield spots, Stearns stated the plan is to keep him at third base. Bichette switched from shortstop last season upon joining the Mets and opted in to a contract that will pay him $42 million next season.
"I was happy about it," Stearns said regarding Bichette’s return. "We expect Bo to have a really good year next year. We saw what he’s capable of doing over the last three or four months of the season, and I think he is excited to come back. He’s comfortable with our group, he’s emerging as a leader in our clubhouse. I am very excited to have him back."
The approach to evaluating infield prospects differs from the previous year. Last season at the general managers meetings, Stearns placed top prospect Carson Benge in the conversation for a starting job by stating the player would head to spring training with an opportunity to win a major league role.
Stearns indicated he is not prepared to make similar definitive pronouncements about prospects this offseason. "That could change by the time we get to spring training or Opening Day," Stearns said. "But sitting here right now there’s not a name that I am going to put out there like that."
P.Mitchell--EWJ
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