Reese Kaplan -- Shortened Season 26-Man Roster Prediction

With the delayed start to the 2020 baseball season a lot of people are offering up alternatives to the traditional 162 game regular season schedule.  Some are saying it should be a mini version of the full slate of games. Others are saying to play it out more-or-less as scripted for the remainder of the season.  The third alternative is to pick one of the first two and then work on an extended playoff schedule to create more interest in the unusual schedule by creating more opportunities for teams that otherwise would have been long out of the running to still have a narrow slot into October baseball.  

Today, however, we’re not here to debate the merits of which approach makes the most sense in this most unusual baseball season.  No, the task today is to decide if the season starts around the All Star break, who will comprise the Mets’ 26-man roster?  

Remember, with up to three months of lost season, it gives plenty of time for currently injured players to rehabilitate and get themselves back into playing condition.  Some names that immediately come to mind include Dellin Betances who was not yet looking Major League ready in his early Spring Training performances. The velocity was certainly not there, the movement was questionable and the energy level seemed suspect.  However, this unplanned time off may indeed get Betances back to prime time.

The next player who could use some healing months is All Star Michael Conforto.  The right oblique strain he developed during the Spring was likely going to require 6-8 weeks of time to let him get back to full strength and flexibility.  With games not likely to happen for more than that period of time, there’s every reason to believe Conforto would be back at his usual position in right field.

Where it gets interesting is the still-recovering multi millionaire, Yoenis Cespedes.  There were incentives slated to reward Yo for a surprising ascent to the Queens-bound starting team.  Having watched the sweet swinging but not running Cespedes throughout the Spring, it seemed highly unlikely that would happen, particularly because the club would have to dig deep into their pockets to pay him his April bonus incentives.  Now with a few months to try some side-to-side running which will help more in the field than running the bases, it’s entirely possible by the time the 2020 season begins Yoenis Cespedes will be once again ready to wear the orange and blue in Queens.  

Those injury situations do impact the roster composition since all three would likely have been a part of the northbound squad.  However, with this time off all three should factor into the 26-man roster and thus will put pressure on some other players who otherwise would have had a chance to prove what they could do in a major league role.  Let’s take a look at the rest of the team’s sure things:

• Pete Alonso
• Robinson Cano
• Amed Rosario
• Jeff McNeil
• Wilson Ramos
• Brandon Nimmo
• Dominic Smith
• J.D. Davis
• Jake Marisnick

Then we have the pitchers:

• Jacob deGrom
• Marcus Stroman
• Rick Porcello
• Michael Wacha
• Steven Matz
• Edwin Diaz
• Jeurys Familia
• Seth Lugo
• Robert Gsellman
• Brad Brach
• Justin Wilson

So right now you have 5 starting pitchers, 7 relievers and 11 position players.  That’s a subtotal of 23 people with room for 3 more.  

Conspicuously missing from this collection are a backup infielder, a backup catcher and at least one other reliever.  If you limit yourself to the guys on the 40-man roster, some of the choices are fairly obvious.

For the infield it would seem that Luis Guillorme has shown enough with his glove, his positional versatility and occasionally with his bat that his selection is a no-brainer now that hot rookie prospect Andres Gimenez has been farmed out.  

For the backup catcher it’s still up in the air.  Tomas Nido has not demonstrated the ability to hit at the Major League level.  Patrick Mazeika hasn’t demonstrated enough consistency with his bat nor as a catcher to put him in the hot list of prospects.  NRI but familiar face Rene Rivera would be my guess as they do still have options on the other two catching candidates.  

For the extra arm in the pen I would think that the strongish Spring by out-of-options Walker Lockett would ensure he comes north with the team working out of the pen as a long reliever and spot starter.  If he pitches like, well, Walker Lockett, then they’ll risk losing him to waivers when they attempt to farm him out later in the year. That move would push the Mets right up against the 13 man pitcher limit imposed by the new 26-man roster rule.

Of course, should they decide to try to sneak Lockett through a demotion while he’s out of options, then there is newcomer lefty Stephen Gonsalves as another possibility which would help the mix of lefty/righty in the pen and reward him for his spot on the 40-man roster.  Personally I think trader Brodie who decided he needed Walker Lockett is likely not ready to admit defeat and will give him the last pitching slot.  

Is there anyone who deserves a role if and when the 2020 season begins that I’ve neglected?