Reese Kaplan -- Looking Ahead at the 2020 Roster

One of the things I’ve learned in my career in IT project management is that you must play everything like a chess game, planning several moves ahead instead of merely reacting to situations as they arise.  As the Mets started their improbable rise in the standings, many people were assuming there would be a major post-Alderson housecleaning taking place so that Brodie Van Wagenen could have a built-in scapegoat for why things went off the rails.

Now that fortunes have turned, there are still a number of personnel situations that should be analyzed for what hopefully is the beginning of a run of a few productive seasons at Citifield.  Let’s take a look at the roster for 2020:

Pete Alonso

Robinson Cano

Amed Rosario

(third base)

(left field)

(centerfield)

Michael Conforto

(catcher)

Jacob deGrom

Noah Syndergaard

Marcus Stroman

Steven Matz

(5^th starter)

Edwin Diaz

Jeurys Familia

Justin Wilson

Seth Lugo

Robert Gsellman

(setup guy)

(swing man)

Now some of you are already shaking your heads saying, “Well, what about Jeff McNeil?  What about J.D. Davis?  What about Yoenis Cespedes?”

Good questions, all.

Can we all agree that the right side of the infield is set?  I think so.  Cano may not have been what they had hoped, but at his salary he’s going to play.  Pete Alonso is a given.

For those of you with visions of Amed Rosario in centerfield, remember that there’s no one in AAA really ready to take over the reigns at shortstop.  While many have gushed over his offensive game, has anyone noticed that for about two months he’s showing signs of the plus defensive skills scouts raved about in the minors?  He’s there for sure.

Now we get to the first big question mark.  Does McNeil play 3B?  How about J.D. Davis?  Then there’s Jed Lowrie.  About the only thing we can be sure about is that Todd Frazier will not be the starter in 2020.

The outfield is just as muddy as third base.  Michael Conforto for sure is one of the people out there.  How healthy is Brandon Nimmo?  How healthy is Yoenis Cespedes?  Is J.D. Davis less of a liability in LF than he is at 3B?  Does the club need to go get a real centerfielder in the mold of a Lorenzo Cain who can contribute both offensively and defensively?

The next big question mark is catcher.  It became clear during 2019 that the pitchers greatly preferred throwing to the more defensively adept Tomas Nido than the offensive oriented Wilson Ramos.  You’ve got the big guy for one more year.  Is he better served in the AL where he could DH when not catching?  That’s a pretty good chip to peddle, but it also creates a void as Nido has shown nada as a hitter. 

The starting rotation is set in four positions but Zack Wheeler is a free agent.  Unless the club uncharacteristically and intelligently uses its exclusive negotiating window to sign him to a contract extension, you may have to plan on filling that hole as well. 

The bullpen, for all of the kerosene they brought to the fires in 2019, looks surprisingly crowded.  Five of the seven slots appear sewn up already.  Folks like Luis Avilan are somewhat fungible in that they are nice to haves but not necessities.  Drew Smith may or may not be ready to throw is post-TJS hat into the ring, too.

Then there’s the bench (or lack thereof).  Dominic Smith is still a man without a position.  If J.D. Davis winds up a starter somewhere, then there are a lot of holes to fill without a lot of talent waiting in the wings. 

Personally, I think Smith becomes a trade chip.  Nimmo can’t net much unless he comes back for at least the month of September.  Cespedes is pretty much untradeable.  Cano is untradeable.  Ramos could go in the right deal, but who’s going to replace him? 

Methinks it’s going to be a very busy winter.