The Mets 2024 offseason has been a change of pace from what fans of the blue and orange have become accustomed to over the last two years.
While they have yet to make a super splash, new President of Baseball Operations David Stearns has methodically filled out the Mets roster, adding three new arms to the starting rotation by signing Luis Severino and Sean Manaea while trading for Adrian Houser.
Stearns has also signed bounceback candidates Harrison Bader and Jorge López to buff up the outfield and bullpen, respectively.
With that being said, the Mets’ current roster is still in progress, and a couple more things need to be done before Opening Day, but one trumps them all.
The Mets need a designated hitter
Since the universal designated hitter rule came into effect before the 2022 campaign, there is an argument to be made that no team has gotten less production from the position than the Mets.
The blue and orange have had two primary designated hitters during that time, Darin Ruf and Daniel Vogelbach, while Buck Showalter patched the position together during their absences.
Ruf slashed an abysmal .152/.216/.197 with no home runs and 7 RBIs across 28 games after being acquired at the 2022 trade deadline before being designated for assignment before the 2023 season.
Vogelbach slashed a more respectable .241/.359/.415 with 19 home runs and 73 RBIs during 159 games for the Mets across the last two seasons.
The Florida native got non-tenured after the season and became a free agent.
While Vogelbach was undoubtedly much better than Ruf, he still left much to be desired from the Flushing Faithful, often struggling for long periods and providing little to no positional versatility.
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Who should the Mets acquire to be the designated hitter?
There are two top choices that would fit perfectly for the Mets, who are currently on the open market.
The first option would be to bring home Justin Turner.
Turner played for the Mets from 2011-14 before having nine successful seasons for the Dodgers, where the California native became a consistent bat in the middle of their lineup while making multiple all-star appearances and winning the 2020 World Series.
The 39-year-old spent 2023 in Boston mainly as the designated hitter, where he had another impressive campaign, slashing .276/.345/.455 with 23 home runs and 96 RBIs across 146 games.
Turner can still play both third and first base at an adequate level, giving new manager Carlos Mendoza options.
The second option would be to sign Jorge Soler.
Soler is coming off a stellar season with the Miami Marlins, where he slashed .250/.341/.512 with 36 home runs and 75 RBIs while making his first all-star team.
Soler, like Turner, would also provide some positional versatility as he can play both corner outfield positions when not designated hitting.
Signing either would provide the Mets with quite the production upgrade and take a step toward World Series contention.