One of the movements of the New York Mets in free agency was the hiring of Jesse Winker for one year and $7.5 million dollars. After playing 44 regular season games in 2024 with the Queens franchise and being a key player in the playoffs.
Winker recently had a small press conference via Zoom in which he talked about what’s coming up in the season with the Mets. And he affirmed his commitment to the New York organization by 2025.
“After the year ended, I made it pretty clear that I wanted to stay.”Winker explained. “At the beginning of the offseason, the free agency process… I feel like there are different phases, right? And I would say that after Christmas it started to gain momentum and the conversations started to get more serious,” the player commented on his signing process with the Mets since free agency.
As for Winker’s role with the Mets this season, it is still not entirely clear. Well, with the arrival of Juan Soto for right field and the permanence of Brandon Nimmo for left field, Winker’s playing time could be reduced in 2025.
However, the left-hander has made it clear that he is willing to help the team in any role that his manager Carlos Mendoza asks of him. “I definitely feel comfortable. “As I said, I will be ready for whatever they ask of me.”he emphasized.
Even Winker is open to covering first base for the Mets in the absence of this position. Well, Pete Alonso, starting first baseman in recent seasons, remains a free agent without reaching an agreement with the organization.
“I definitely felt more comfortable at first base two years ago. Until then I hadn’t really played there, but it was definitely a position where I felt like ‘man, maybe I should have been playing this a long time ago.’ At least have it as a tool in your bag. So yeah, I definitely feel comfortable there.”Jesse explained.
Winker has never played a regular season game at first base.but saw some time there during a minor league rehab assignment in 2023 while with the Milwaukee Brewers.
The player himself He stated that last season there were some discussions with the team staff about him playing first base.. And recently Andy Martino reported that if the Mets did not reach an agreement with Pete Alonso they would look for an internal solution for the first baseman.
This could be move Mark Vientos from third to first base and rotate with Ronny Mauricio, Brett Baty and Luisangel at third base. Although a Winker at first could open a better range of options for the team.
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