New York Mets Joel Sherman The Mets have to free themselves from their never-ending Brett Baty-Mark Vientos dance By Joel Sherman Published April 7, 2026, 9:32 p.m. ET Mets' Mark Vientos rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants. AP In the dismal days when the Wilpons were deflating the Mets payroll after the revelation of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, the team occupied itself annually with a game of “This is Rubén Tejada’s final year to prove he is an everyday shortstop.”
That final year lasted several seasons, as if amnesia and hope set in each spring. Either due to lack of resources or imagination, the Mets could not come up with a better alternative to what wasn’t working.
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The Mets are much better financed these days, and also way more thoughtful when it comes to everything, including roster construction.
Yet, here we are in what feels like Episode 87 of the sequel to Tejada — “This is the final year for Brett Baty and Mark Vientos to prove they are everyday players.”
