The Mets are in the market for a designated hitter for the upcoming season...sort of. It’s not as dire a need for the team as a starting pitcher or corner outfielder, but as of now, there is no obvious choice the Mets can pencil in at the position and expect positive production.
This is more or less where the Mets were standing at this point last year, where up until a late-March signing of Martinez the club was signaling that journeyman DJ Stewart could be taking a healthy majority of the team’s DH plate appearances. But in signing Martinez, the Mets got one of a handful of bonafide, no-question DHs still left in the league—a cerebral slugger who could mash when healthy, but not much else.