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11/22/23

Reese Kaplan -- Who's Still Around After All the Roster Trimming?


After last week's continuation of the roster dismantlement it would appear time to sit back and take a look at what the team currently looks like and what areas need to be addressed during the remainder of the off season.  

It's well known now that the Mets 40-man roster is down to 28 members which is the greatest number of openings of any team in the major league.  Some of the roster paring was rewarded with surprise and elation.  We're looking at you, Daniel Vogelbach.  The man has now been released three times (and twice by David Stearns).  

His agent had to advise him that between his lackluster performance and the whole Eppler/Showalter brouhaha that his future in New York had come to an end.  Mets fans are still pinching themselves that the move which should have taken place actually did.

The reaction to Luis Guillorme's end of the road with the Mets wasn't quite so universal.  Most felt that between his multitude of injuries, his obvious lack of conditioning and his weak bat becoming even worse, he was certainly not the automatic termination that Vogelbach was.  However, Guillorme's greatest attribute has always been his stellar defense, but between the injuries and the scattered number of innings at various positions he was not providing that either.  

The lack of foot speed was always a bit puzzling and the heft he was now carrying would have made that condition still worse.  Stearns' decision to cut Guillorme loose had as much to do with these attributes as it did opening him a door to find a new deal elsewhere with as much time as possible given his service over the years to the franchise.  With a glut of new infielders demanding time and space on the roster someone had to be the sacrificial lamb.


The pitchers are no one that anyone will stay up nights sorely missing.  Stearns corrected the poor Trevor Gott trade that Billy Eppler made and sent a few others packing who were not on the radar to help the beleaguered bullpen.  They summed up a total of five guys who will be circulating their resumes, baseball cards and scouting reports to 29 other big league teams, foreign teams and independent leagues as well.

So with the dust now settling, let's take a look at who has a firm place on the roster:

  • Pete Alonso
  • Jeff McNeil
  • Francisco Lindor
  • Ronny Mauricio
  • Francisco Alvarez
  • Brandon Nimmo
  • Starling Marte (if healthy)
  • DJ Stewart

On the pitching side of the ledger it's a remarkably shorter list:

  • Kodai Senga
  • Jose Quintana
  • Edwin Diaz
  • Brooks Raley

So if push comes to shove, you're looking at only 12 semi-guaranteed spots for the 2024 season before any upcoming trades take place.  

Following them are a list of probable players who may or may not have a spot for the upcoming season:

  • Brett Baty
  • Mark Vientos
  • Omar Narvaez
  • Zack Short

On the offensive side, you might see Baty banished to AAA after a poor 2023.  Vientos is theoretically right now the DH with Vogelbach out the door, but his hitting in September didn't fully make up for his mediocre 2023 debut.  

Zach Short is perhaps the new Guillorme, also without hitting skills nor running ability, but he includes some double digit home run power.  Narvaez is a hard sell to other teams given his injury and performance problems in 2023 which make his salary untenable, but a buy-down or a trade for an equally overpriced player on another team.

For pitchers it's much more unpredictable, but it would appear that some of the following still have life left in them:

  • Jose Butto
  • Tylor Megill
  • Joey Lucchesi
  • Drew Smith
  • Grant Hartwig
  • Reed Garrett
  • Josh Walker
  • Phil Bickford
  • Sean Reid-Foley

Obviously the Mets need some starting pitchers in reserve and it's possible one of the trio could come north with a bullpen/6th starter role, but it wouldn't shock anyone to see them all in Syracuse.  The bullpen needs major work and with the possible exception of Smith, none of the others seem to improve what didn't work last year.


On the next go-around we'll look at who is available in free agency since making trades is pure speculation about who is possible and who it would take to land him.  Free agents are simply a matter of paying dollars.

15 comments:

  1. The turkeys have been shipped out. Time to reload. No butterballs allowed in any reload signings.

    Happy Thanksgiving.

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  2. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Reese, you’re selli mg Zack short on speed. He has very good speed.

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  3. Gus, you, too. We are open for Thanksgiving with a few articles tomorrow.

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  4. Luis’ weight slowed him down and upped his injuries. He stole 18 one year in the minors, just 4 in the majors. Seems he’s lost a step. BUT…

    Baseball Reference projects a 2024 renaissance for Luis…

    294 plate appearances, .259/.337/.371. Very optimistic #s.

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  5. Let's not assume that all of the non-tendered players are "gone". While it's likely that they are, they can be offered minor league deals with a chance to earn ML ones in the Spring or during the season.

    I wouldn't be surprised to see Luis G taking such a deal, but that's not predictable.

    I had hoped Stearns would have made an acquisition by now to give us something to be thankful for tomorrow, but it probably is out.

    Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

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  6. I talked with Luis's Dad this week and I wouldn't look for a return to the Mets here.

    I told him that all of us here will miss his son and he wanted to thank our positive coverage of Junior

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  7. Was going out for Japanese tomorrow but Mrs. Mack woke up with a guilt trip. She now has me getting dressed to go to the store to buy a turkey breast, potatoes, and stuffing

    Happy Football Day

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  8. Shop til you…plop in front of a football game on Turkey Day

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  9. People who live in Ankara eat Turkey dinners every day.

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  10. Mack, for those Ankara residents who don't want turkey, they're serving Istan-bull

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  11. I’m assuming that Mauricio, Baty, and Vientos all come north this season. None of them have anything to prove in AAA, and I’m assuming that Stearns would like to have a strong sense of their ML potential as quickly as possible. I also feel confident that Narváez sticks. Not only is his contract hefty and his value as low as ever, but being a Venezuelan veteran catcher with a new Venezuelan manager and a 22 yr-old phenom Venezuelan catcher to mentor, I’d be shocked if they don’t keep him around to start the season hoping for a bounce back (he’s just simply better than he showed last season.)

    That leaves just two spots in the 26 for position players. I’d assume that this will be one IF and one OF, both on short term deals. The IF doesn’t necessarily need to play SS (Mauricio is your emergency SS). I like Turner for this spot. The OF, on the other hand definitely needs to be able to play CF.

    This is a year for gauging Baty/Vientos/Mauricio and also Williams/Acuña/Gilbert, and not blocking their potential paths with long term deals. Barring a surprise trade off of the MLB roster, I wouldn’t expect any other new position players to show up this offseason. The pitching staff is another matter entirely.

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    Replies
    1. The Mets signed the top international catcher last year

      This year they are projected to once again sign the top catcher in the International class

      Both these kids come from Venezuela

      It wouldn't surprise me if Omar eventually morphs into the International catcher coach

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  12. Mack, good, you can never have too many catchers.

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  13. Mack,
    Yovanny Rodriguez, catcher, is rated to be within the top 10 International prospects and the top catcher in the 2024 signing period.

    ReplyDelete