Reese Kaplan -- Time to Make Some Roster Decisions

The question of 40-man roster construction and the upcoming Rule V draft bears another look as there have been revisions to the list of eligible players.  For the Mets there are some tough and some not-so-tough decisions that need to be made regarding who belongs there and who no longer merits one of these precious spots.

First, let’s look at the current 40-man roster:

No Brainers (20)

Pete Alonso

Robinson Cano

Yoenis Cespedes

Michael Conforto

J.D. Davis

Jacob deGrom

Edwin Diaz

Jeurys Familia

Jed Lowrie

Seth Lugo

Steven Matz

Jeff McNeil

Tomas Nido

Brandon Nimmo

Wilson Ramos

Amed Rosario

Dominic Smith

Marcus Stroman

Noah Syndergaard

Justin Wilson

Probable (7)

Chris Flexen

Robert Gsellman

Luis Guillorme

Sam Haggerty

Franklyn Kilome

Corey Oswalt

Paul Sewald

Cuttable (10)

Tyler Bashlor

Rajai Davis

Drew Gagnon

Donnie Hart

Walker Lockett

Chris Mazza

Stephen Nogosek

Joe Panik (only plays 2B, and bats left handed like the versatile Luis Guillorme)

Rene Rivera

Daniel Zamora

Free Agents (4)

Luis Avilan

Brad Brach

Todd Frazier

Juan Lagares

Now we get to the next part of the equation – the folks who are Rule V eligible.  (Kudos to our own John for making us aware of updates to the eligibility list).  Now remember, anyone selected off your roster must remain on the new team’s 25-man major league roster for the entire season or be offered back to the Mets.  Consequently, when you have people who are, for example, in A+ ball and Rule V eligible, you may not choose to spend a roster spot on them as it’s unlikely someone will make the jump from that level to a full year of major league baseball. 

There are a number of players who I think the Mets might want to consider protecting.  Matt Blackham has done pretty much all you could ask with a 2.38 career ERA yet hasn’t even sniffed the majors.  Is he not a more likely prospect for success than, for example, Drew Gagnon, miscast as a reliever after spending most of his career as a starter?

Harol Gonzalez is the kind of starting pitching who doesn’t blow you away but has enough peripherals that he should nudge the Chris Mazza types off the board for the coming year.

Corey Taylor is a setup guy who has much better numbers than I’d have suspected without first checking them online.  For his career (between health issues) he’s 16-13 with a 2.76 ERA.  The same rationale applies here, but feel free to substitute Donnie Hart or another person currently occupying a space on the 40-man.

Down at the AA level you have more interesting people.  Joe Zanghi, RP, has a 2.55 ERA.  Patrick Mazeika is showing signs of becoming an offensive threat.  Catchers who can hit are a rarity.  Yeizo Campos pitched out of the pen at three levels with a 2.79 ERA and has a 3.15 for his minor league career.  Thomas Szapucki is the closest the team has to a legitimate starting pitching prospect.  Everyone knows about Andrew Gimenez already.  The last gasp of the great sell-off of 2017, Ryder Ryan, still may have promise. 

So if we count, that’s potentially 9 players to protect.  Tom has made the case to disregard Blake Taylor's early mediocrity as a starter and focus on his stellar conversion to relief.  Remember he's left handed, so that counts, too.  Call it a total of 10 to protect.  

By my count we’re looking at 20 No-Brainers, 7 on the Probable List, and 10 on the Rule V Protection List.  That’s 37, leaving room for up to three free agent additions before any trades are made. 

Your thoughts?