Reese Kaplan -- The 2022 Mets Roster Appears to be Taking Shape

One of the side effects of the abbreviated Spring Training for the 2022 season is that we miss out on the game day performances of players hoping to make the squad as expulsion to the minor league camp (or from the team entirely) are happening very, very early.

This week the Mets have already dispatched several notable players from the major league camp, including well known names like Ronny Mauricio, Mark Vientos, Khalil Lee and Nick Plummer.  The first two were pretty much expected as they have not yet ascended far enough up the ladder to the show, but Lee and Plummer theoretically were vying for the 4th/5th outfielder slots on the Mets.  

It was surprising to see them pushed aside so quickly, but it's somewhat understandable given the brief timetable that the club needs to see the work done by the folks who are pretty much guaranteed a trip up to Queens.  

Some of the others cut like Patrick Mazeika, Thomas Szapucki and Jordan Yamamoto were not expected to be a part of the opening day roster.  They are recovering from injury or simply in need of more innings of preparatory work.  

Jose Butto has a pretty impressive minor league record, but he's only had a part-season at AA, so he needs to show he can handle AAA hitters effectively before becoming a part of the big league rotation or bullpen.  Travis Blankenhorn was another early cut but there doesn't appear to be a way for him to shoehorn himself onto the roster unless the Mets are planning to break up the logjam of bench players.  

The one name not yet pushed aside is third baseman/outfielder Brett Baty.  The 22 year old is likely to begin his 2022 season in Binghamton before a promotion up to Syracuse.  In roughly the equivalent of one full year of baseball aggregating his minor league stops, Baty is hitting .271 with 19 HRs and 89 RBIs.  

Those numbers are indeed impressive, but the one thing that jumps out from his stat sheet is an unenviable 163 strikeouts.  

That number is high for a pure power hitter and very high for a player more categorized as a contact guy.  

While other clubs are fortifying their rosters via free agent signings and trades, the Mets have been very quiet in this regard since the major league signing of Adam Ottavino and the minor league signing of Chasen Shreve.  

The trade for Chris Bassitt is a good one, but Mets fans were agog with enthusiasm when they saw the early action securing Max Scherzer, Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha.  However, since that pre-lockout flurry the club has been pretty quiet and have even announced that they are uninterested in adding any more offense.  The conclusion reached by most reading that statement is that other pitchers are a possibility, but there are no solid rumors to evaluate. 

Right now there's still nowhere for J.D. Davis and Dominic Smith to play, as Robinson Cano has been handed the DH role on a PED-free silver platter.  Jeff McNeil is apparently the disgruntled second base partner for Francisco Lindor and the only prospective roster changes will occur if Starling Marte, Carlos Carrasco or Taijuan Walker need some IL time to recover before hitting the field in cold April weather.  

Until those decisions are made, the club is pretty much set at every roster position.  Arguments continue to be made about improving the bullpen, but nothing has been said that they will take steps in that direction.  Right now it appears that the addition of Bassitt makes Carrasco and Walker numbers 4 and 5 in whichever sequence you like.  That means prospective starters like Tylor Megill, David Peterson and Trevor Williams may be instead vying for bullpen opportunities up north.