Part of how New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns reacted to the alleged clubhouse issues that impacted the club throughout its collapse last summer involved Stearns dismantling the core of the Mets roster and trading utility man Jeff McNeil to the Athletics.
26-year-old Brett Baty is currently on track to serve in McNeil’s prior role with the Mets. During a recent chat with Max Goodman of NJ Advance Media, Baty revealed that he has received some pointers from McNeil about handling different kinds of defensive duties this year.
Brett Baty still has “love” for Jeff McNeil
“Me and [McNeil], we still text off and on,” Baty explained. “I love that guy. We’ve got a great group of coaches in here who have been helping me out with everything. They’ve been telling me, ‘You’re gonna miss reads sometimes, that’s part of learning something new. Get back out there and keep trusting your athleticism.'”
It is possible, if not likely, that outsiders will never know the full details about the alleged disconnect in the Mets clubhouse last year. What is known is that the Mets were clearly ready to move on from McNeil, outfielder Brandon Nimmo and fan-favorite first baseman Pete Alonso, among others, following the 2025 campaign.
A November report shared that Mets star shortstop Francisco Lindor and McNeil had a “heated confrontation” on June 20 of last year regarding a defensive lapse McNeil had during a game at the Philadelphia Phillies. Lindor and McNeil were previously involved in a different altercation that reportedly happened in the spring of 2021.
What Brett Baty is focusing on amid uncertainty
As for Baty, he could lose playing time to new Mets third baseman Bo Bichette, new second baseman Marcus Semien and new first baseman Jorge Polanco. As recently as an article posted on Monday, Tim Britton of The Athletic argued that exciting prospect Carson Benge and not Baty should be the Mets’ Opening Day right fielder.
“My job isn’t to worry about who’s on the team,” Baty told Goodman about the Mets adding Bichette this offseason. “My job is to be the best baseball player that I can be. Like, ‘Hey, you gotta go win a job somewhere else now.’ I thought it was awesome. I think it makes our lineup super, super deep. … I’m super pumped for him, and I’m also pumped to be able to take on the challenge of learning new positions.”
How Baty learns those positions could determine if he’s still with the Mets by the time the trade deadline comes and goes later this summer.