Reese Kaplan -- The Race to Be a Benchwarmer

While there are a few battles to be fought in Spring Training, unlike many other years most of the roster spots are already fairly well defined.  Some are carved in stone, some are merely written in ink.  However, I think most would agree that the starting 8 looks something like this:

1B           Todd Frazier

2B           Robinson Cano

SS           Amed Rosario

3B           Jed Lowrie

C             Wilson Ramos

LF            Michael Conforto

CF           Jeff McNeil

RF           Brandon Nimmo

You can quibble about where the outfielders align, but barring unforeseen injuries, slumps or McNeil needing a GPS to track fly balls, that’s pretty much what you’re going to get.

Then you have to consider the players who will hold reserve roles for the Mets.  That’s not quite as clear.  Right now the contenders are:

Juan Lagares

Keon Broxton

J.D. Davis

Travis d’Arnaud

T.J. Rivera

Dominic Smith

Luis Guillorme

Tomas Nido

Then you have the non-roster bunch, including:

Arismendy Alcantara

Gregor Blanco

Gavin Cecchini

Rajai Davis

Danny Espinosa

Dilson Herrera

Rymer Liriano

Devin Mesoraco

Two of the prospective benchwarmers on the 40-man roster are in injury recovery limbo – Travis d’Arnaud and T.J. Rivera.  No one is sure if they will be ready to start the season on schedule or not  In d’Arnaud’s case, it’s easy to push either Tomas Nido or Devin Mesoraco into the backup catcher role.  Nido’s slight edge is that he’s on the 40-man roster already and Mesoraco’s edge is that even at .222/10/30 he is a monster offensively compared to Nido (plus the pitchers enjoy having him behind the dish). 

The two defensive stud outfielders, Juan Lagares and Keon Broxton, are pretty much guaranteed a role so long as they are healthy.  Broxton is out of options so it’s unlikely he would be demoted to AAA and risk losing him after trading for him. 

Todd Frazier is likely the starter at 1B with J.D. Davis, Robinson Cano and even Travis d’Arnaud capable of manning the spot in a pinch.  That makes me think that Dominic Smith is fighting an uphill battle since even Frazier is likely relegated to the bench once they promote Peter Alonso. 

With Jeff McNeil and Jed Lowrie capable of playing 2B should Cano need a day off, they’re covered there.  McNeil can also back up Lowrie at 3B (as can J.D. Davis).

Shortstop is something of a worry since Lowrie has not played there in quite some time but he’s the only one currently on the team who could slot in should Rosario need a day off.  Luis Guillorme is on the 40-man roster, has made surprisingly consistent contact throughout his minor league career and flashed some excellent defensive skills, but he’s not done so in the majors and appears to have fallen out of favor.  Signing Danny Espinosa was something of a head scratcher, but he is a decent shortstop and could potentially leapfrog Guillorme assuming they kick someone off the 40-man roster. 

Going with the assumptions that neither d’Arnaud nor Rivera are ready to start the season, my bench would include:

Broxton

Lagares

Guillorme

J.D. Davis

Mesoraco

My thinking is that Nido needs to get into a groove playing every day.  He could do that at AAA.  Guillorme is less expensive than Espinosa and is already on the 40-man roster which will need to have the walking wounded like Yoenis Cespedes and Franklyn Kilome remove to make room for Mesoraco.  J.D. Davis does have options left, but considering he can play both corner infield positions, corner outfield positions and pitch, his versatility works in his favor (plus BVW needs to justify giving up three players to get him).  Should they surprisingly opt for an 6-man instead of 7-man bullpen, then Dominic Smith gets one last gasp of major league life. 

Your thoughts?