For generations the leadoff hitter was easy for a manger to identify: A fast guy. A slap hitter. Someone who could be the "spark plug." Then you stick another guy as the table setter in the second spot. Probably your best hitter third. And your power guy at the four spot. And in some ways this wasn't terrible advice to follow. The problem was that those skills needed to be driven by something else: the ability to get on base.
They've already added some of the pieces with which they'll try to do that, bringing in Marcus Semien as the return for Nimmo and following that up by signing Jorge Polanco, but there's clearly more work to do. It's with that backdrop that reporting yesterday indicated the Mets could look to trade infielder Mark Vientos this winter, perhaps while eyeing the addition of a big bat to the lineup.
