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11/18/23

Reese Kaplan -- Mets Need to Fulfill a Dirty Dozen Roster Spots


For those of you either old enough to remember or with a good appreciation for older movies you might want to focus on the 1967 film by prestigious director Robert Aldrich called, "The Dirty Dozen."  It's a terrific story about a secret mission to convert some of the military's worst prisoners into a highly skilled fighting team destined to take down a Nazi location without anyone being aware of their mission nor their objective.  It contained more than 9 headliners assigned to the acting roles and was very well received by audiences and critics alike.

This trip down memory lane came to mind with the November 17th actions taken by the New York Mets to expand their set of roster openings to their own dirty dozen of warm bodies needed to transform the team from under .500 to one fighting for the right to play October baseball.  As this past season demonstrated to everyone, you don't have to be the best of the best to make it to the World Series.  You need good players, effective management and luck occurring at the right time when you need it.  


Gone from the New York Mets are failed DH Daniel Vogelbach, light hitting and oft-injured infielder Luis Guillorme, as well as a collection of rehabilitating or simply ineffective relief pitchers that included Jeff Brigham, Sam Coonrod and Trevor Gott.  Choosing not to tender contracts to five players makes David Stearns' job that much tougher in terms of preparing the right mix of players for the upcoming 2024 season.  It does open up avenues of free agent acquisitions as well as multiple incoming players for fewer exiting in trades.  

Now some folks are sure to point out that the non-tendered players on this list are not necessarily gone for good as it may turn out that there aren't a bundle of GMs on other clubs trying hard to fill their rosters with players who did not succeed in their most recent stints in the majors.  If, for example, Trevor Gott does not find an acceptable new deal elsewhere, the Mets could offer him a minor league contract for less money than he would have gotten and he would be off the 40-man roster to enable the front office to fill it with players who have more potential for positive productivity.  


Accompanying these departures was a reunion with last year's big surprise, DJ Stewart.  He could have been non-tendered as a result of his ice cold end to the blistering hot middle of the season, but given the Mets have only one full time healthy outfielder in Brandon Nimmo, it was prudent to keep Stewart around with an eye towards the 4th outfielder role in the even Starling Marte needs time off or has a recurrence of injury.  As it is, no one knows exactly who is going to be the third outfielder -- Jeff McNeil, a converted Baby Mets infielder or someone brand new from outside the organization.  This move was for less money than projected for Stewart in media analysis, so it seemed to be a smart choice.

Baseball's offseason is very much open for business.  It may mean big name choices being added to the roster or reclamations about the recently taken and dumped Penn Murfree.  We shall see soon enough.

16 comments:

  1. The Murfee story just took another twist: After we picked him from the Mariners via waivers, Stearns put him on our waivers and he was claimed by the Braves.

    Within a few days, the Braves non-tendered him, and he's a FA, available for signing if Stearns still wants him And since he won't pitch all year, he'd go n the 60-day IL and won't take up a sport on the 40-man.

    All this movement in just 2 or 3 weeks, for a guy who won't throw a ball anywhere until '25.

    Go figure.

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  2. This will be a VERY DIFFERENT off season. Mauricio should be shagging flies this off season.

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  3. Agree with what the Mets did yesterday.

    Happy they retained DJ for a year that lacks outfield depth.

    To me, all this additional room on the 40 means that Stearns is gearing up for the year...

    2025

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    Replies
    1. Mack, if he really is gearing up for 2025, then:
      Do you keep Alonso now?
      Do you trade for Soto?
      Can you start the process now by getting Yamamoto and trading for Soto?

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  4. I wonder if Stearns is trying to reset the cap…

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    Replies
    1. By cutting 5 scrubs that would make about $10 combined? No I don't think so.

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  5. Gua

    I would try to sign Pete up to the all-star break. Past that, I would sell him for 1/2 pieces

    I would NEVER trade for another player for big bucks that has only one year left on his contract

    I would do everything I could do to sign Yamamoto but I expect him to go west coast.

    I would, in total, sign 2 starters, 2 relievers, and another 1 year contract outfielder

    And I would start everyone I wanted to start in 2025 this year in Syracuse

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  6. Have to feel for Guillorme. He’s one of our own and there was no reason to let him go so easily..

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    Replies
    1. Guillorme is easily replaceable

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  7. I think they’re hoping that Mauricio takes the 3B job and runs with it, while Baty gets a shorter leash to prove he belongs somewhere, and hoping too that one of Acuña or Jett is knocking on the door to take over 2B by September, with Gilbert (and possibly Jett) looking ready to take OF slots. I’d expect them to sign one vet IF on a short (2yr?) deal for backup/utility/DH/clubhouse value, think Justin Turner, and one vet OF who can plausibly play CF (or a defense/speed guy who can plausibly hit) for the same length/purpose.

    Sorry to see Guillorme go, but pretty sure he’ll catch on somewhere. Even if he doesn’t, I don’t expect him to take a minor league deal from us with so many kids that the org needs to evaluate in front of him.

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  8. "Have to feel for Guillorme. He’s one of our own and there was no reason to let him go so easily.."

    I lovesd Luis but he was out of shape and got injured on a routine play...then went to SYR, where he was like 0-30 and we brought him back up anyway. With all of our IF prospects in the wings, he time was up. We need more offense from our bench & more ABs for the baby Mets.

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    Replies
    1. Where did you hear that his ankle injury was a result of being "out of shape"?

      I wouldn't be surprised if he re-signs a minor league deal with ST invite and wins his job back or plays at Syracuse until we have an opening

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  9. I thought it was a calf injury...maybe I was wrong, but I saw the play. There have been photos posted (where?) that showed him with a beer belly, and you could see he was "out of shape."

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  10. Welcome back Stu! Down to 11! Thanks Reese. Get that hot stove fired up!

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