Club hoping DH rule implemented again for ’21

In a memo last week, a source said, Major League Baseball reminded its clubs: The rule changes implemented over the summer in preparation for the sport’s pandemic-shorted season were guaranteed only for 2020, have since expired and won’ t necessarily be part of next season.

That means, as of now, the National League does not have the designated hitter. It is among the aspects of the 2021 season that are being negotiated by the league and the players’ union, a la last May/ June but hopefully with less public feuding. But the working assumption, subject to change, is that the DH won’t exist in the NL and that pitchers will have to hit in those ballparks in 2021.

For the Mets, whose roster is particularly suited to include a hitter who doesn’t have to play the field, that would be bad news. As much as they benefited from the sudden existence of the NL DH in 2020, the lack of that rule in 2021 would be suboptimal, undercutting some of their top-notch offensive production from last season.

With a DH, the Mets could play both of their first basemen, Pete Alonso and Dominic Smith, whose hitting abilities demand everyday playing time. Alonso led the Mets with 17 starts (out of 60 games) at DH in 2020 after he was pushed into that spot by Smith earning regular at-bats and playing better defense.

Without a DH, the Mets still could play both of their first basemen, but at a defensive cost at three positions.