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WEST PALM BEACH — Part of the discussion about whether Luisangel Acuña should make the Opening Day roster — at least outside Mets walls — has been that he provides a backup shortstop. 

Which should be as relevant as whether he were a good singer. 

Francisco Lindor might not be Cal Ripken Jr., but he is in the Venn diagram — an ultra-durable player who takes pride in it and never wants to miss even an inning. If he were hurt in a game, the Mets could survive the remainder with, say, Brett Baty and then call up someone the next day. So, if Acuña is going to be part of the Opening Day roster, it will not be due to his shortstop skills. 

This accentuates that with Lindor in place, the signing of Juan Soto and the re-signing of Pete Alonso, the Mets’ three most expensive players for 2025 earn their pay by punching the clock. Over the past three seasons, the Mets have the players who rank third (Alonso, 476), fifth (Lindor, 473) and sixth (Soto, 472) in games played. The fourth-most expensive Met this year is Brandon Nimmo, whose 454 games is 22nd from 2022-24.