Auditioning DH's in Port St. Lucie

 
The Mets added to their array of big league veterans trying to hand on as DH's with Monday's signing of Luke Voit.  Baseball's home run champ in the 60-game season of 2020 has yet to return to the level of productivity he enjoyed as a Yankee.  Last summer, he split time between the Brewers, their Nashville farm club and the Mets Triple-A team in Syracuse -- where I snapped this pre-game image.  His minor league numbers weren't bad -- 15 homers in 45 games and an OPS of 1.035.  Voit now goes into the Mets audition pool alongside another hefty onetime 1st baseman, Ji-Man Choi.  Seen here in 2021, the Korea native posted his best US numbers with the Rays -- but endured a failed 2023 campaign split between the Pirates and Padres, where he batted a combined .167.  

I'm hoping to get a look at both these vets -- who are in camp on minor league contracts -- next week, when I arrive in Florida.

Voit and Choi will be battling Mark Vientos for the Mets DH job.  The Connecticut-born, Florida raised slugger crushed AAA pitching early in '23 at Syracuse.  And while he showed OK power after his promotion to the Mets, his nine homers in 65 games were offset by 71 strikeouts in 218 at bats and a puny .253 on-base percentage.  
All three players are hoping to replace -- and improve upon -- the output of last year's Mets DH, Daniel Vogelbach, who was not offered a contract and has since moved on to Seattle.



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