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Gonzalez (back), who agreed to a one-year contract with the Mets over the weekend, could open the season as the team's primary first baseman, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports.
The 35-year-old Gonzalez was limited to just 71 games with the Dodgers last season due to recurring back problems, so he'll first need to prove that he's healthy in spring training before being thrust into any competition with Dominic Smith for a starting role. However, with Smith proving largely unimpressive during his six-week stint as the Mets' first baseman last season, it would behoove the organization to send him back to Triple-A Las Vegas for further refinement in the event Gonzalez's health holds up coming out of spring training. Though he lacks much pop at this stage of his career and could cede occasional starts at first base to Jay Bruce even if Smith opens the campaign in the minors, Gonzalez's solid contact and on-base skills may be enough to make him a decent short-term commodity in NL-only or deeper mixed formats.
