The Mets enter the 2024 season with long-term uncertainty surrounding the first base position. As Pete Alonso enters the final year of his contract with the Mets, the Mets could be looking at a new starting first baseman beginning in 2025.

The Mets have a handful of interesting names down in the farm, including one of the two prized prospects the Mets received in return for Justin Verlander at the 2023 trading deadline.

In The Bigs

Pete Alonso, Mark Vientos

The Mets enter 2024 with Pete Alonso as their starting first baseman. Alonso has been the starting man for the Mets since he debuted at the start of the 2019 season, and has been the most prolific power hitter in team history. Alonso enters the year with 192 homers, tied for 4th all-time in team history.

The 2016 2nd-round selection put up a slash line of .217/.318/.504 with 46 home runs and 118 RBI. With five full seasons under his belt, Alonso has posted a .870 OPS and is averaging 45 home runs per every 162 games, one of the highest marks in the sport’s history. Simply put, the Mets are entering 2024 with one of the premier power hitters of all time.

Behind Alonso figures to be Mark Vientos, who showed signs of life in the final month or so of the Mets season. Overall, Vientos hit .211/.253/.367 with nine homers over the course of 65 total games. Vientos’ best stretch came between September and October, when he put up a .739 OPS with six homers over 24 games.

Vientos could be the Mets starter at designated hitter, but also finds himself as the second first baseman on the depth chart, behind just the incumbent starter Alonso. Defensively, first base could be the position that best fits Vientos long-term, but the American Heritage High School product will have to wait at minimum one more year before being able to see if he can be a long-term answer at first base for the Mets.

Prospects On The Farm

1. Ryan Clifford

Age: 21
Height/Weight: 6’3″, 200 lbs
Acquired: Trade with the Houston Astros (8/1/23)
2024 MMO Prospect Rank: 4

Ryan Clifford, a 2022 11th round selection by the Astros, was one of the better prep bats in the 2022 class, but dropped to the 11th round due to his Vanderbilt commitment, one that some teams felt would keep him from professional baseball. However, Clifford has mashed his way through a strong minor league career so far and has become a back-end top-100 prospect.

The lefty masher put up a slash line of .262/.374/.480 (.854 OPS) with 24 homers overall, but performed much better in the Astros organization than in the Mets organization. Clifford managed just a .683 OPS and six homers with the Mets, a sizable step down from two homers and a .945 OPS in Low-A Fayetteville and then 16 homers and a .903 OPS in High-A Ashford.

Clifford came out of high school in North Carolina as a corner outfielder but has largely played first base over the last year. Clifford only played three games at first base in 2022 after being drafted, but then played 52 games at first, with another 55 games split between LF/RF in 2023. Clifford figures to receive a larger share of first base time this year and could do so starting the year in Double-A with Binghamton.

2. JT Schwartz

Age: 24
Height/Weight: 6′ 4″/215 lbs
Acquired: 2021 Amateur Draft, 4th round
2024 MMO Prospect Rank: NR

Schwartz, a 2021 fourth-round pick out of UCLA, has struggled at times in his professional career, but put together a strong 2023 campaign that was the best of his career. Between Double-A Binghamton and his rehab assignment in late-July, Schwartz posted a line of .305/.392/.432 with four homers. While Schwartz has struggled with power as a prof, he has still managed a successful start to his career.

The left-handed hitter missed a decent chunk of the 2023 season, including most all of June and July. In total, Schwartz only managed 72 games in his second full season, 27 less than he played in 2022. Schwartz had only played first base prior to the 2023 season. However, he played 14 games in left field last year – with 12 of those games being during the Binghamton playoff run.

Schwartz figures to continue to be a first baseman with the Mets, but his versatility has become an added bonus for his prospect status. Schwartz becomes of much larger importance if Pete Alonso is to walk in free agency, considering he is the Mets’ first base prospect that is closest to the show. Schwartz played 66 games in Double-A last year, and figures to start the year in Triple-A as the starting first baseman.

3. Yohairo Cuevas

Age: 20
Height/Weight: 6′ 3″/172 lbs
Acquired: 2021 international free agent signing
2024 MMO Prospect Rank: NR

2023 was a tale of two seasons for Cuevas. The 2021 international free agent signing started off by dominating the Florida Complex League to the tune of a 1.021 OPS, highlighted by an OBP of .444 in 23 total games at the level. At the FCL level, Cuevas split his time almost 50/50 between the corners of the outfield and first base.

Once Cuevas moved up to Low-A St. Lucie, he found more of the same defensive positioning, a near-even split between the corners of the outfield and first base. However, the main drop-off would be his bat. The 20-year-old managed just a .662 OPS with the St. Lucie squad, bringing his overall season-long OPS crashing from 1.021 to .836.

The overall mark for Cuevas was still impressive, and shot Cuevas’ prospect status upwards. Overall, he hit .260/.376/.460 with six homers and 28 RBI in 46 games. 

Cuevas figures to start the 2024 campaign in a repeat of St. Lucie, where he played just 23 games. The lanky left-handed hitter figures to be one of the more prominent bats in the Mets lineup, but could see a power jump as he continues to fill out his frame and enters his age 21-season.

4. José Hernández

Age: 21
Height/Weight: 5′ 10″/190 lbs
Acquired: 2019 international free agent signing
2024 MMO Prospect Rank: NR

The Mets’ depth with first base prospects takes a bit of a decline after Clifford, Schwartz, and Cuevas. Next, José Hernandéz comes in at number four. Hernandez, initially a catcher, put up a respectable campaign with the Low-A St. Lucie Mets, posting a .741 OPS with six homers, 23 of his 41 games being played at first base.

Hernandéz played 42 games in the 2019 season, but managed just 13 games between 2020 and 2022. Hernandéz made it into 13 games in 2022, but posted just a .352 OPS in those games. Hernandéz missed a few weeks of the summer due to injury, and was mainly playing in a part-time role. However, due to his recent success, Hernandéz figures to get more playing time in 2024, injury permitting.

Hernandéz was assigned to Double-A Binghamton at the end of the season on September 12th, but was not activated until the 28th, and never made it into a game. Ultimately, it is hard to see where Hernandéz starts the 2024 season, but High-A Brooklyn might make the most sense.

Honorable Mention

Joe Suozzi

Age: 25
Height/Weight: 6′ 2″/215
Acquired: Undrafted free agent signing (6/15/2020)
2024 MMO Prospect Rank: NR

The former Boston College Eagle finished his career at BC un-drafted in the 2020 MLB Amateur Draft, but latched on with the Mets shortly after. In his three seasons with the Mets, Suozzi has gone from a non-prospect, to being on the cusp of the major leagues.

In 2023, Suozzi spent a third of his time in Brooklyn, Binghamton and Syracuse, posting a .270/.362/.382 slash-line with seven homers. Suozzi splits time between the corner outfields and first base, while also getting reps at DH. Ultimately, Suozzi profiles as a defender who can man the corners while also handling his own at first base. Suozzi’s rise from UDFA to Triple-A is well documented in the Mets’ system and has recently become one of the better success stories for the Mets’ player development system.