Mets Unofficial Rule 5 Draft List - Revised 11/19/19

Now that the Mets have been officially eliminated from the post season, we can start thinking about the Mets Rule 5 draft eligible players. 

Johan Santana, Roberto Clemente, George Bell.  What do they all have in common?  They were all rule 5 draft picks. 

The Mets will have a number of players becoming Rule 5 draft eligible this winter, and while I am not saying any of them will be the next Johan Santana or Roberto Clemente, the Mets will need to make some decisions to either add them to the roster or risk losing them. 

According to SI.com here are the Rules for the annual rule 5 draft: 

— A player must have signed when they were 19 years or older and played professional baseball for four years are eligible. Players who signed at 18 and have played five years are also eligible.

— Players currently on a team's 40-man roster are "protected" and are not eligible for selection in the Rule 5 Draft.

— If a team chooses a player in the Rule 5 Draft, they will pay $100,000 to the team he was chosen from.

— The receiving team will put the player on its Major League 25-man roster for all of the following season and must be active for a minimum of 90 day.

— If the player does not remain on the Major League roster, he is placed on outright waivers. If he goes unclaimed, he is offered back to his original team for $50,000. If the original team declines, the receiving team may option him to the minor leagues.

— Teams are allowed to trade players selected in the Rule 5 Draft. However, rules regarding roster placement are applied to the player's new team.

— There are three phases to the Rule 5 Draft: Major League, Triple-A and Double-A.

Based on that I put together the list of current Mets minor leaguers that are potentially eligible for the Rule 5 draft this December 2019.  Unless they are added to the 40-man roster, they could be lost for the $100,000 draft fee.

With the likes of Todd Frazier, Juan Lagares, Joe Panik, Rene Rivera, Zack Wheeler, Rajai Davis and potentially others leaving the team at the end of the year, the Mets will have some roster spots available.

I have highlighted the ones in orange that I think should be protected.  The ones in yellow may also be considered. 

Team	Name	Pos	YrOB	Signed	Age Signed
Syracuse	Matt Blackham	P	1993	2014	21
Syracuse	Harol Gonzalez	P	1995	2014	19
Syracuse	Corey Taylor	P	1993	2015	22
Syracuse	Adonis Uceta	P	1994	2013	19
Syracuse	Ali Sanchez	C	1997	2014	17
Syracuse	Braxton Lee	CF	1993	2014	21
Binghamton	Yeizo Campos	P	1996	2016	20
Binghamton	Andrew Church	P	1994	2013	19
Binghamton	Michael Gibbons	P	1993	2015	22
Binghamton	Thomas McIlraith	P	1994	2015	21
Binghamton	Ryder Ryan	P	1995	2016	21
Binghamton	Joseph Shaw	P	1993	2015	22
Binghamton	Thomas Szapucki	P	1996	2015	19
Binghamton	Joe Zanghi	P	1994	2015	21
Binghamton	Austin Bossart	C	1993	2015	22
Binghamton	Patrick Mazeika	C	1993	2015	22
Binghamton	Luis Carpio	2B	1997	2014	17
Binghamton	Edgardo Fermin	SS	1998	2015	17
Binghamton	Andres Gimenez	SS	1998	2015	17
Binghamton	Michael Paez	3B	1994	2016	22
Binghamton	David Thompson	3B	1993	2015	22
Binghamton	Jacob Zanon	LF	1995	2016	21
St, Lucie	Briam Campusano	P	1996	2016	20
St, Lucie	Carlos Hernandez	P	1994	2014	20
St, Lucie	Colin Holderman	P	1995	2016	21
St, Lucie	Jordan Humphreys	P	1996	2015	19
St, Lucie	Austin McGeorge	P	1994	2016	22
St, Lucie	Dedniel Nunez	P	1996	2016	20
St, Lucie	Darwin Ramos	P	1995	2013	18
St, Lucie	Ezequiel Zabaleta	P	1995	2015	20
St, Lucie	Mitch Ghelfi	C	1992	2015	23
St, Lucie	Dan Rizzie	C	1993	2016	23
St, Lucie	Anderson Bohorquez	1B	1997	2015	18
St, Lucie	Hansel Moreno	SS	1996	2014	18
St, Lucie	Blake Tiberi	2B	1995	2016	21
St, Lucie	Wagner Lagrange	LF	1995	2015	20
St, Lucie	Desmond Lindsay	CF	1997	2015	18
St, Lucie	Jose Miguel Medina	RF	1996	2014	18
Columbia	Joel Huertas	P	1996	2014	18
Columbia	Alec Kisena	P	1995	2015	20
Columbia	Jose Moreno	P	1996	2014	18
Columbia	Jake Simon	P	1997	2015	18
Columbia	Juan Uriarte	C	1997	2015	18
Brooklyn	Nelson Leon	P	1995	2014	19
Brooklyn	Malky Mena	P	1996	2016	20
Brooklyn	Jose Mena	C	1996	2016	20
Brooklyn	Angel Manzanarez	SS	1997	2014	17
Brooklyn	Ranfy Adon	RF	1997	2014	17
Brooklyn	Raul Beracierta	RF	1999	2015	16
Brooklyn	Yoel Romero	LF	1998	2015	17
Kingsport	Ramon Guzman	P	1996	2016	20
Kingsport	Luis Silva	P	1996	2013	17
Kingsport	Andres Regnault	C	1998	2015	17
Kingsport	Gregory Guerrero	2B	1999	2015	16
Kingsport	Anthony Dirocie	CF	1997	2013	16
GCL Mets	Jurgen Jimenez	P	1996	2014	18

As it has been well documented here, Matt Blackham has been a solid relief pitcher in AA and AAA for the Mets over the last two years.  With the lack of relief pitchers on the Mets and in the major leagues, I think it would be wise for the Mets to add him to the 40-man roster and give him a chance to pitch in the majors next year.

Next up, Harol Gonzalez.  After a 6-4 record and 3.14 ERA this year in Binghamton, Harol was called up to pitch at AAA Syracuse.   While other Binghamton pitchers called to Syracuse struggled (for example Anthony Kay, Mickey Jannis, and Stephen Villines), Harol excelled.  In 7 starts he went 6-0 with a 2.68 ERA and was a big reason why Syracuse came back from a ten-game deficit to force a tie breaking game at the end of the year.  With Zack Wheeler potentially leaving as a free agent, another starting pitching option may be good to keep.

Two catchers are highlighted for two different reason, Ali Sanchez for his glove and Patrick Mazeika for his lefty power bat and ability to play first.  I think teams always need good glove catchers and a lefty catcher that also can play first gives a team some flexibility. Patrick can sub for Pete Alonso when he needs a break. Also, having three catchers would mean that on days Wilson Ramos rests, Wilson can be used as a pinch hitter without using the last catcher available on the bench.

I highlighted Blake Taylor because he had a real nice season for Binghamton after being called up from St. Lucie going 0-1 with a 1.85 ER in 18 games and 39 innings with 45 Ks, 12 BBs and .95 WHIP.  He even earned a late season call up to Syracuse.  It could be that the Mets choose to swap him out for Daniel Zamora or try to keep both.

After hitting .333 in 31 games for St. Lucie, Luis Carpio was called up to Binghamton where he hit .263 in 82 games.  I see him as a possible addition depending how the roster shakes out.

Finally, Hansel Moreno.  He started the year in St. Lucie but struggled at first and was sent back to Columbia.  He hit .276 in Columbia in 32 games then was promoted back to St. Lucie where he hit .216 in 77 games.  However, I put him as a maybe as he was player of the week July 7^th to the 13^th with a .476 average in 7 Games, 10 hits in 21 at bats. 

What are your thoughts?  Do any of these players merit 40-man roster protection?