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MJ Melendez, once upon a time, was a top prospect in the game of baseball.
The now 27 year old was a 2017 second round pick (52nd overall) by the Kansas City Royals out of high school, and ascended through the minor leagues rather quickly. Originally a catcher, Melendez reached High-A ball in 2019 before losing a year of his minor league career due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. He did not miss a beat in 2021 despite the lost year, hitting .288/.386/.625 (1.011 OPS), which validated his top prospect rankings by Baseball Prospectus (35th), Baseball America (42nd) and MLB Pipeline (51st) prior to the 2022 season.
That 2022 season saw him make his Major League debut, though involved a position change as well. With Salvador Perez ensconced behind the plate for the Royals, they opted to move Melendez to the corner outfield to put his bat in the lineup, which is how it went from 2022 to 2024. The results were, well, just alright. He hit okay enough; .217/.313/.393 (97 wRC+) in 2022, .235/.316/.398 (93 wRC+) in 2023, and .206/.273/.400 (86 wRC+) in 2024, but a whopping -16 Outs Above Average over those three seasons made him a below average starter overall.
2025 was nothing short of a disaster for Melendez. He played in just 23 Major League games, hit .083/.154/.167, and was demoted to Triple-A for the rest of the season before getting non-tendered in the early offseason, which brings us to his 2026.
Melendez signed a one year, $1.5m deal with the Mets in mid-February, which gave both him and the Mets a few options — literally and figuratively. The Mets have one bench spot rather open, and the right field position theoretically open (though, in my personal opinion, I would’ve thought Carson Benge had the fast track to the spot). Melendez will be in camp with the Mets to compete for that bench spot. However, with the signing and subsequent comments by Mike Tauchman, it sounds like the Mets signed Tauchman with the idea that he will have the first crack at the bench spot. So, where does that leave Melendez?
Melendez, despite never really taking off at the Major League level, still has a minor league option to his name. In all likelihood, the Mets signed Melendez with the idea of trying to fix some things about his game to get him back to the play that made him a top prospect five years ago, and doing so in Triple-A, with no impact on the Major League team and with as little eyeballs as humanly possible on you, would likely be the best path for both sides.
Melendez, even if he can revert back to his 2022 and 2023 play, can be a useful bench player. He can stand in both outfield spots, first base, be an emergency catcher in a more functional way than nearly every other ball club, and also contribute some power, as he hit 18, 16 and 17 home runs in his three years as a starter. Now, of course, there is work to be done there, but a revamped Mets hitting apparatus could be the key to getting Melendez back on track after a derailing 2025.