The best things I heard at MLB Winter Meetings from Mets, White Sox and Brewers

New York Mets quote of the day from new manager Carlos Mendoza

If there's an area where the Mets could improve this offseason and in 2024, it's third base. Last season, the Mets finished dead last among MLB's 30 teams in bWAR at the position, posting a cumulative minus-3.1. Brett Baty's 365 plate appearances at the position led eight different players who took swings while playing the position last year, and that included Eduardo Escobar, who was jettisoned to the Los Angeles Angels in June after an up-and-down 176 games in a Mets uniform.

That frustration at the hot corner came under former manager Buck Showalter. Will things improve for the Mets at third base under Mendoza's watchful eye and more experience from young players like Baty? On Monday, he seemed optimistic for better results in 2024 with the players in-house in Queens.

"Look, the talent is there," Mendoza said. "We have Brett, who's a really good-looking player and I spoke to him the other day, he's excited. We've got (Ronny) Mauricio. We added (Joey) Wendle, so there's depth there. We're a few weeks away until we have to report. We'll make that final decision toward the end of spring training, and hopefully we're in a position where we're going to have to make some difficult decisions because they're going to make it hard for us. But we're pretty excited with what we have."