The Mets will enter the 60-game 2020 MLB season with an offense that looks like the best one they've had in the last decade, and potentially the best one they've trotted out since 2006 -- when they had four legitimate MVP candidates in the lineup.
Something notable happened on Saturday and Sunday during exhibition games against the Yankees, though. Robinson Cano was in the No. 3 spot in the Mets' lineup.
Cano, who hit .256/.307/.428 in 107 games last season as he battled through injury and ineffectiveness, might have been hitting higher up in the lineup over the weekend in order to get more at-bats under his belt as he works himself into game shape following a week-long absence from Summer Camp due to a personal issue.
But if the Mets' primary goal was to get Cano the most at-bats, they could've led him off both games.
On Sunday night with Cano in the No. 3 spot, Brandon Nimmo -- arguably the Mets' best leadoff option -- hit No. 8.
Just like no one should care that the Mets got shellacked by the Yankees in two games that don't count, no one should get bent out of shape that Cano hit third in two games that don't count. But if Cano is penciled into the Opening Day lineup at No. 3, there is a serious problem -- and it would be one of the Mets' own making.
To put it in the simplest terms, Cano does not belong high up in the lineup until his bat forces the issue. And Nimmo -- who had a .379 OBP in 2017, a .404 OBP in 2018, and slashed .261/.430/.565 last September after playing through injury earlier in the season -- needs to be at the top of the lineup.
For the Mets to want Cano to turn things around after a dismal Mets debut in 2019 is completely understandable. He arrived in a trade with Edwin Diaz that saw New York foolishly deal Jarred Kelenic to the Seattle Mariners, and has four more years left on a contract that runs through 2023. It is way too soon to write Cano off, and his bat will hopefully do the talking starting in a few days.
But to shoehorn Cano into the No. 3 spot in the lineup from the outset when many better options exist (and when doing so could be a detriment to the players being moved down), would be an enormous mistake.
If the Mets -- whose on-field operation is run collaboratively with GM Brodie Van Wagenen and manager Luis Rojas in regular communication -- are presently planning to have Cano hit third to begin the regular season, it's likely something that has been in the works for some time and not being done on a whim. But it would be an unnecessary risk at best and a grave mistake at worst.
In a 60-game season where every game means so much more than usual, how long will the Mets stick with a struggling player (Cano or someone else)? And how bad will those struggles need to be for a change to be made?
The potential lineup for the Mets seems quite simple to figure out. As noted, it doesn't include Cano near the top.
The Mets, with Nimmo and Jeff McNeil, have two on-base machines who also have strong hit tools. Pick one of them to lead off. The other can hit second, followed by Pete Alonso and then Michael Conforto.
After the top four batters in the lineup, the Mets can figure it out from there. But if Yoenis Cespedes is healthy and producing, he figures to hit fifth and potentially move up at some point. J.D. Davis, who slashed .307/.369/.527 last season, also belongs somewhere in the top six spots. Then you have Wilson Ramos, Amed Rosario, and Cano.
You can twist yourself in knots sometimes worrying about lineup construction. And for a team like the 2020 Mets that has so much offensive talent, things could simply work out regardless of who's slotted where.
But the Cano situation -- if there is a Cano situation at present -- just seems different.
Could Cano again become the player he was in 2018 and in years prior? Sure. But to bank on that and potentially build a lineup around that expectation would seem like a big miss, especially when you consider all of the factors discussed above.
The Mets, in arguably the toughest division in baseball and trying to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, need to be put in the best possible position to succeed during this 60-game sprint. That means letting Cano earn his way up in the lineup -- regardless of his status, regardless of the circumstances that brought him to Queens, and regardless of what the hope might be for his future.