The New York Mets and their fans were dealt a tough blow on Tuesday afternoon when it was revealed that the team’s deal with star shortstop Carlos Correa had fallen through.
After the San Francisco Giants failed to close the deal, the same fate befell the Mets after having reviewed the two-time All-Star’s physical.
And so, the Mets will move forward without Correa in the fold.
Correa would have given the Mets some youthful energy, and that’s something that they could use right now given the state of their infield.
Granted, it’s a solid infield, with Eduardo Escobar, Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil, and Pete Alonso.
However, as pointed out by Jon Morosi, the Mets will only have two infielders in their age-29 season or younger, those being Lindor and Alonso.
One point on #Mets raised by @williamfleitch in his @MLB.com column: They had the third-oldest position player group in the majors last year.
In 2023, the Mets will have only 2 everyday position players — Lindor and Alonso — in their age-29 season or younger. @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 11, 2023
Again, this is not to say that the Mets don’t have a solid infield.
But Escobar is aging, and McNeil has hit the age of 30, so a potential issue could arise for the Mets in 2023.
The plan for the Mets was to have Correa shift to third base upon his arrival in New York.
However, that did not pan out.
And so, the Mets could find themselves in the market for a corner infielder at the trade deadline.
More specifically, somebody who can play third base and is relatively young still.
They could also potentially shift McNeil to third base and find somebody to play second.
This isn’t a huge issue for the Mets, but it’s something that they may need to keep an eye on during the season.
