{"id":632532,"date":"2026-03-19T23:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T23:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/632532\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T23:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T23:04:17","slug":"mets-option-ronny-mauricio-mlb-trade-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/632532\/","title":{"rendered":"Mets Option Ronny Mauricio – MLB Trade Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mets announced a series of roster cuts today. Most notably, infielder Ronny Mauricio<\/a> has been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. They also optioned right-hander Joey Gerber<\/a> while non-roster pitchers Brandon Waddell<\/a> and Mike Baumann<\/a> were reassigned to minor league camp.<\/p>\n

The Mauricio move might be a clue about some other moves the Mets will make to round out their Opening Day roster. Joel Sherman of The New York Post<\/a> reports that third baseman Bo Bichette<\/a> will play shortstop tomorrow with the possibility of the Mets beginning the season without a backup shortstop on the bench.<\/p>\n

Bichette had been a shortstop for his entire career until recently. He finished the 2025 season on the injured list and missed the beginning of the Blue Jays\u2019 playoff run. The Jays activated him for the World Series even though he clearly wasn\u2019t fully healthy, then had him split his time between second base and designated hitter.<\/p>\n

Even before that knee injury, Bichette wasn\u2019t considered a strong defensive shortstop, so a move off the position felt inevitable. The Mets signed him this winter to get his bat in the lineup, even though they already had Francisco Lindor<\/a> and Marcus Semien<\/a> as their middle infield tandem. Bichette is going to be the regular third baseman but could perhaps serve as the de facto backup shortstop. Lindor is recovering from hamate surgery but is expected to be ready for the Opening Day roster.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the Mauricio demotion is a sign that the Mets are indeed comfortable with that arrangement. The domino effect of that stance is that they could be able to promote prospect Carson Benge<\/a> and also keep Mike Tauchman<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Mets seem to have three of four bench spots locked up. Backup catcher Luis Torrens<\/a> will have one. Corner infielder Mark Vientos<\/a> should have another. Tyrone Taylor<\/a> projects as the fourth outfielder. All three of those guys are out of options. Mauricio made sense as the fourth guy on the bench but he\u2019s now out.<\/p>\n

All offseason, president of baseball operations David Stearns has said that Benge would have a chance to make the team. As a safety net, they signed Tauchman to a minor league deal and MJ Melendez<\/a> on a split deal. Melendez has an option and was sent down earlier this week. Benge has done his part to earn a spot, having put up a .406\/.472\/.500 line this spring. Tauchman has been making the team\u2019s decision tough, putting up a .280\/.419\/.520 line.<\/p>\n

Tauchman can opt out of his deal on March 25th if he\u2019s not on the roster. Given his track record, he would likely trigger that clause and find a job elsewhere. If the Mets want to keep him around, then going with this shortstop plan would be a way to do that. Simultaneously, they could give Benge the regular right field job on Opening Day, keeping the possibility of the Prospect Promotion Incentive on the table.<\/p>\n

If that\u2019s the route they go, that could have impacts on others. Utility player Vidal Bruj\u00e1n<\/a> is on the roster but out of options. The Mets could give him the final bench spot now that Mauricio has been sent down but that would mean letting Tauchman slip away. It\u2019s possible Bruj\u00e1n gets nudged off the roster in the coming days.<\/p>\n

As for Mauricio, he was once a notable prospect but his progression has been slowed a bit. He missed the entire 2024 season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He was back on the field in 2025 but was in a bench role for most of the year. He got into 61 big league games and produced a tepid .226\/.293\/.369 line.<\/p>\n

Optioning him to the minors would have the benefit of getting him some regular playing time, something he hasn\u2019t had in a while. However, he has just one option season remaining. If he stays down for at least 20 days, he will be out of options in 2027.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Mets announced a series of roster cuts today. Most notably, infielder Ronny Mauricio has been optioned to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632533,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2290],"tags":[5,88,5805,6647,8532,4804,896],"class_list":{"0":"post-632532","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baseball","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-bo-bichette","10":"tag-carson-benge","11":"tag-mike-tauchman","12":"tag-mj-melendez","13":"tag-ronny-mauricio","14":"tag-vidal-brujan"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116258345416226627","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}