3/14/13

Sandy Facing Major 40 Man Roster Challenges


New York Mets 40-Man Roster

New York Mets 40-man Roster
#PitchersB/THtWtDOB
46Greg BurkeR-R6'4"215Sep 21, 1982
73Robert CarsonL-L6'4"240Jan 23, 1989
66Josh EdginL-L6'1"225Dec 17, 1986
27Jeurys FamiliaR-R6'4"230Oct 10, 1989
48Frank FranciscoR-R6'2"250Sep 11, 1979
35Dillon GeeR-R6'1"205Apr 28, 1986
71Gonzalez Germen *R-R6'1"175Sep 23, 1987
60Darin Gorski *L-L6'4"210Oct 6, 1987
33Matt HarveyR-R6'4"225Mar 27, 1989
53Jeremy HefnerR-R6'4"215Mar 11, 1986
34Brandon LyonR-R6'1"200Aug 10, 1979
38Shaun MarcumR-R6'0"195Dec 14, 1981
36Collin McHugh *R-R6'2"195Jun 19, 1987
32Jenrry MejiaR-R6'0"205Oct 11, 1989
49Jon NieseL-L6'4"215Oct 27, 1986
39Bobby ParnellR-R6'4"200Sep 8, 1984
62Elvin Ramirez *R-R6'3"210Oct 10, 1987
67Hansel Robles *R-R5'11"185Aug 13, 1990
57Johan SantanaL-L6'0"210Mar 13, 1979
65Zack Wheeler *L-R6'4"185May 30, 1990
#CatchersB/THtWtDOB
44John BuckR-R6'2"230Jul 7, 1980
15Travis d'ArnaudR-R6'2"195Feb 10, 1989
20Anthony ReckerR-R6'2"240Aug 29, 1983
#InfieldersB/THtWtDOB
29Ike DavisL-L6'4"230Mar 22, 1987
61Wilmer FloresR-R6'3"190Aug 6, 1991
64Reese Havens *L-R6'1"195Oct 20, 1986
12Brandon HicksR-R6'2"200Sep 14, 1985
19Zach LutzR-R6'1"220Jun 3, 1986
28Daniel MurphyL-R6'2"205Apr 1, 1985
11Ruben TejadaR-R5'11"185Oct 27, 1989
70Wilfredo Tovar *R-R5'10"160Aug 11, 1991
2Justin TurnerR-R6'0"210Nov 23, 1984
5David WrightR-R6'0"210Dec 20, 1982
#OutfieldersB/THtWtDOB
23Mike BaxterL-R6'0"195Dec 7, 1984
4Collin CowgillR-L5'9"185May 22, 1986
21Lucas DudaL-R6'4"255Feb 3, 1986
63Juan Lagares *R-R6'1"175Mar 17, 1989
9Kirk NieuwenhuisL-R6'3"215Aug 7, 1987
58Cesar Puello *R-R6'2"195Apr 1, 1991
1Jordany ValdespinL-R6'0"190Dec 23, 1987


The above is the current 40 man roster straight from the team website the Mets and Sandy Alderson are working with.

Highlighted in yellow are Mets prospects who are not expected to make the big league club. As you can see they account for 15 of the available 40 man slots. In other words every single available slot for non 25 man roster players is already taken by a prospect.

Next is the list of Non 40 Man ST invites. Highlighted in green are your front runners to make the team out of camp.

New York Mets Non-Roster Invitees

New York Mets Active Roster
#PitchersB/THtWtDOB
50Scott AtchisonR-R6'2"200Mar 29, 1976
40Tim ByrdakL-L5'11"190Oct 31, 1973
55Pedro FelicianoL-L5'10"195Aug 25, 1976
30LaTroy HawkinsR-R6'5"220Dec 21, 1972
47Aaron LaffeyL-L6'0"200Apr 15, 1985
75Cory MazzoniR-R6'1"190Oct 19, 1989
74Rafael MonteroR-R6'0"170Oct 17, 1990
56Scott RiceL-L6'6"225Sep 21, 1981
52Carlos TorresR-R6'1"185Oct 22, 1982
#CatchersB/THtWtDOB
72Juan CentenoL-R5'10"170Nov 16, 1989
22Landon PowellS-R6'3"265Mar 19, 1982
#InfieldersB/THtWtDOB
16Brian BixlerR-R6'1"195Oct 22, 1982
3Omar QuintanillaL-R5'9"185Oct 24, 1981
76Josh SatinR-R6'2"200Dec 23, 1984
#OutfieldersB/THtWtDOB
77Andrew BrownR-R6'0"185Sep 10, 1984
6Marlon ByrdR-R6'0"215Aug 30, 1977
68Matthew den DekkerL-L6'1"205Aug 10, 1987
80Jamie HoffmannR-R6'3"235Aug 20, 1984


In order for these 5 players to be added to the Opening Day roster they must first be added to the 40 man. This means Designating 5 guys for assignment and exposing them to waivers where any of the other 29 teams can place a claim on them and add them to their roster for nothing in return. This situation is going to be dicey for Sandy Alderson since prospects own all of the non roster slots. So how can it be done with the least amount of risk?

A) DFA Brandon Hicks and Add Omar Quintanilla

  • Hicks is a nice bat to have on the bench but as a back up defender for Tejada at SS he is far less than ideal. With 3 errors in 12 Spring Training games Hicks is showing how much of a butcher in the field he is. Add that to the fact that Q is hitting .263 against Hicks .130 so far this spring and this makes it an easy decision.
B) DFA Reese Havens and Add Marlon Byrd
  • Reese's time is up with the Mets. Exposing Lagares, Puello, or Kirk is just asking someone to take them so the only way to get Byrd on is to DFA an infielder or pitcher. And with Francisco and Santana possibly needing to start the season on the shelf the Mets can ill afford to remove pitchers from the 40 man. Plus Havens is batting .091 vs Marlon's .348 this spring. HAPPY TRAILS REESE!
C) DFA Robert Carson and Add Scott Rice
  • This one may bug a few people but is a move that needs to be done. The Mets have their LOOGY of the future and are now considering Gorski to be another possible left hander reliever. Add that to Leather Rocket most likely shooting through the system and Carson seems like the odd man out. While his stuff is good he just hasn't seemed able to put it together in AAA or the Bigs. Plus I believe a left handed reliever is more likely to slip through waivers then a position or starter prospect.
D) Trade Justin Turner for a PTBNL and Add Scott Atchinson
  • Look I love Justin Turner. I find value in a guy that can keep the clubhouse mood upbeat. However the simple fact is that the Mets need to make room and Turner's role as the back up IF can be filled by Lutz at 3B/1B and Q SS/2B. Sorry Justin but there's just no room.
E) Have Juerys Familia start the season the MLB bullpen and release LaTroy Hawkins.
  • I tried many many times to find a way to slip someone else through but I just can't see Alderson taking the risk with any of the other prospects. SO despite Hawkins being a favorite to start the season with the team, I can't see it being logistically possible. 
If any of you guys have any ideas please feel free to post them in the comments.

13 comments:

Mack Ade said...

This is coming up on the time of the year that at least one or more of the guys on the current 40-man roster comes down with something like 'berry-berry', giving the Mets a push for a short period of time on a slot.

Also, I expect Juan Legares and Gonzalez Germen may also be available for exposure.

Rey P said...

Soto, great piece; you put in a lot of work on the article and we are all the better because of it. I'm sure the Mets' front office has done their homework too.

Some of the players proposed as being worthy of keeping on the 40 man may be overstating the case a bit. For example, LaTroy Hawkins: his fastball is still as straight as an arrow, he is an aging 40 with 18+ years of pitching under his belt, and performed horribly in pressure situations last year (his ERA in SVO and RISP last year was over 10.00!!!). As such, I can easily see him and some others who have performed well in the spring sent down or become outright cuts during the season.

As for some of the young turks, I am skeptical enough on some of their MLB skills that I wouldn't protect them. Of course, that's only my opinion, and I'm sure some scouts would disagree. But it can't be that all of the young Mets studmuffins listed above will make it to the majors, just as a matter of odds.

Hence why I still suggest that multi-player offers for 1 or 2 vets may be the way to go here, not the one-for-one deals you proposed. As you adroitly pointed out, it just won't be enough to address the 40 man roster issues.

Rey P.

Anonymous said...

Agreed Rey,

My thing is who else is tradeable right now besides Turner?

Mack Ade said...

Parnell

Anonymous said...

Well if you trade Parnell then who is your closer Mack?

Mack Ade said...

Well, if I trade Parnell, I have an 'Olt' in the OF...

My closer until Frank Francisco comes back is Greg Burke who had 31 combined saves in 2012 and this year's winter ball

Anonymous said...

Parnell alone will not net you Mike Olt.

Plus Olt is on the 40 man roster for Texas so that still does not solve our 40 man roster crunch.

Even worse it gives us one less pitcher on the 40 man which at this point we cannot have.

Also Olt has only played 5 games his entire minor and major league career in the OF.

Mack Ade said...

Soto:

You asked me a direct question.

I gave you a direct answer.

Natale DiDonato said...

I'm ok with German, not sure about Legares and suggest Ramirez might be a better fit for DFA than Carson. Assuming Johan and Franky make it back in April, we would still need to say goodbye to two more which means all of them are at risk.

That being said, what are the odds someone will pick these guys up and release their minor leaguers.

Herb G said...

Fantastic work, Soto. I've been thinking of doing a piece on the upcoming roster crunch, but you've probably covered it more comprehensively than I might have. Kudos!

First off, I believe we will probably need 5 roster spaces. I think it's too early to write off Hawkins. Your approach of cutting him only requires 4 roster spots to be made available. That would be relatively easy for me, since I have little problem DFAing Germen, Ramirez, Carson and Hicks. If we lose 'em, so be it. If Hawkins needs to be added, however, I have a problem, since I am not yet ready to give up on Havens.

A trade would really simplify things, and frankly, I'd readily trade Havens, Lagares, Tovar, McHugh or Gorski for a couple of good young position prospects. Mack, I'm not trading Parnell or Turner or Flores or Familia (alone or in a package) unless it is for a prime outfield prospect or a superior major league outfielder. Honestly, I don't see the latter happening, but trading for a couple of prospects who would not need to be added to the 40 man roster is possible. If Sandy cannot pull that off, however, I guess it's bye bye Reese. (I'll miss his peanut butter cups.)

Not yet sure whether it will be for Rice or Feliciano, but one of them will push in. Also I'm not sure they will go with Lutz over Turner, but one of them will need to be sent down to make room for Jordany, unless Captain Kirk navigates his way to Las Vegas. The next couple of weeks will be very interesting.

Mack Ade said...

Soto and Herb:

I never said Parnell for Olt

I said Parnell for an "Olt".

You know, quotes... meaning a decent outfielder.

I'll leave this portion of the blog to you guys...

Herb G said...

Mack, I wasn't implying that you said Parnell for Olt, nor was I saying that a trade involving Parnell was totally out of the question. I was merely saying that if I considered moving Parnell it would have to be for an elite return. My preference at this time, however, would not be to trade Parnell. If there was an opportunity to obtain a superior outfielder, I'd try to do it with other players, including those from the 40 man roster.

Anonymous said...

And my point Mack is that you really can't trade Parnell right now because you leave yourself EXTREMELY weak in the bullpen.