Marcus Semien may not have much runway left as the Mets’ starting second baseman, and Jefferson Rojas is making sure that conversation isn’t going away anytime soon.
Rojas, the Mets’ No. 1 prospect, has kept building his case since the team acquired him this summer. Now he’s carrying that momentum into winter ball with the Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican Republic, where the bat has stayed loud. Through seven games, he has two home runs and an .891 OPS.
Winter league production doesn’t decide a roster spot by itself, but it’s hard to ignore when it lines up with everything else Rojas has done. The Mets have already shown this offseason that strong play can move the timetable fast.
A.J. Ewing played only 12 Triple-A games before his call-up, and Carson Benge made the Opening Day roster after 24.
Rojas has even less Triple-A experience than either of them, with just six games at that level. But the numbers have made up for the short resume.
He put up a .929 OPS in 29 games with the Double-A Rumble Ponies, then followed that with a 1.037 OPS in 26 Triple-A at-bats. For a Mets lineup looking for middle-of-the-order help, that kind of production is impossible to brush aside.
There’s also the defensive piece. Rojas is primarily a shortstop, but he has played second base professionally, including in winter ball. In one game there, he logged seven innings at second and threw out fellow Met Christopher Morel when Morel tried to score.
Semien’s situation is murkier by the day. He’s 36, coming off a season with a -9 Outs Above Average, and David Stearns has not committed to him being the second baseman in 2027. A utility role doesn’t really fit, either, for a player who has won two Gold Gloves.
The money complicates everything. Semien is owed $46 million over the next two seasons, so a clean break is unlikely. Even if Rojas wins the job, Semien would probably still see some time at second base, maybe in a reduced platoon share.
What happens next may come down to whether Semien’s production holds steady or slides further. If it keeps trending the wrong way, the Mets could decide to move on. With Steve Cohen running the club, that kind of financial pivot is never off the table.
There’s another wrinkle, too: the looming lockout. Will Sammon of The Athletic reported in September that if a lockout happens, Rojas would be barred from playing or taking part in club activities because he would likely need to be on the 40-man roster to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft.
If that scenario plays out, it becomes difficult to see Rojas breaking camp with the team, since the lost time would work against him. In that case, and assuming second base isn’t filled another way this winter, Semien would likely be back in the opening lineup.
Still, that shouldn’t give Stearns a free pass to accept another year of the same production. It only buys Semien some time. The pressure is real, and if the opportunity opens up, Stearns will need to move quickly and give Rojas the shot.
The Mets’ youth movement is already taking shape, and it’s one of the clearest signs of where the organization is headed. By 2027, the newest face of that wave should be in position to grab second base.
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