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2/16/24

Reese Kaplan -- The Mets Roster (Outside the Pen) Is Set


Which roster spots are perhaps open as the club initiates their Port St. Lucie Spring Training?

For now, the starting lineup is pretty much set in stone.  The order in which they appear in the batting order is unknown and how long they will play or succumb to a platoon partner is also uncertain.  However, most folks would agree that these folks can look for a long term lease in Queens if they don't already own housing in the vicinity of Citifield:

1B Pete Alonso

2B Jeff McNeil

SS Francisco Lindor

3B Brett Baty

 C Francisco Alvarez

LF Brandon Nimmo

CF Harrison Bader

RF Starling Marte

DH Mark Vientos

Things can an do happen during the preseason period which could affect this projection.  Injuries occur.  Batting slumps can and do happen.  Even roster changes could still take place.  No one is still 100% convinced that the Baby Mets will get a fair shake to show what they can do given the less than steady faith shown to them in 2023.

Next we have the bench full of players to spell the starters due to rest or injury:

Joey Wendle

Tyrone Taylor

DJ Stewart

Omar Narvaez

Here it would appear that these four folks are fairly certain and would bring the total of offensive players to 13 with the 8 positions, the DH and the 4 on the bench.

When it comes to the starting rotation, the names here are similarly fairly well assured, if not completely carved in stone:

Kodai Senga

Jose Quintana

Luis Severino

Sean Manaea

Adrian Houser

The eyes will surely be upon Senga witnessing his sophomore season in the USA and the new pitch he's allegedly got working.  Jose Quintana's injury risk will have folks watching him closely for any indications he's less than 100%.  Between injuries and throwing like a batting practice pitcher this past season you would likey agree that no one is completely sold on the upside of Luis Severino.  Sean Manaea and Adrian Houser are a bit more of the confirmation variety where there is less doubt about their future as part of the top five starting pitchers.

The bullpen, however, is not as ironclad when it comes to who will be there to support the guys who start the games.  Some are fairly certain but then it gets a bit murkier:

Edwin Diaz

Adam Ottavino

Brooks Raley

Jake Diekman


Here is where the great Spring Training battle truly begins.  There are several other pitchers on the roster who have shown periods of success in the sometimes distant past which the team hopes to recapture with input from Jeremy Hefner and the new pitching lab analytics.  On paper not many of them seem to jump out at you as having the team made at this mid February juncture:

Phil Bickford

Jose Butto

Shintaro Fujinami

Reed Garrett

Grant Hartwig

Max Kranick

Jorge Lopez

Joey Lucchesi

Tylor Megill

Yohan Ramirez

Sean Reid-Foley

Drew Smith

Michael Tonkin

Josh Walker

Here you have potentially four more names to select from the group of 14 vying for a flight to LaGuardia.  Some are familiar like fill-in starters Butto, Lucchesi and Megill.  As much as folks have faith in the top five in the rotation we can asssume there's still a need to keep some arms available due to inevitable injuries that happen.  Being stretched out means starting every 5th day, so the likelihood of one of this group making the bullpen is probably below 50-50.

Then you have the remaining 11 candidates for 4 openings.  While folks have seen Bickford, Garrett, Hartwig, Reid-Foley, Smith and Walker in the past, none are filling anyone with warm and fuzzy feelings as sure things for those 4th through 6th inning appearances that befall starters who get knocked out early.  

Finally, there are the newcomers who included the fireballing but wildly erratic Fujinami, castoff Max Kranick, former closer Jorge Lopez, Yohan Ramirez, and Michael Tonkin.  The new POBO David Stearns may give this group more leeway than the more familiar names as he brought them in whereas he inherited the previous group of relievers.  Consequently there is less value placed in familiarity nor previous Mets experience than you might have figured to strike a chord had Stearns chosen any of the previous half dozen candidates who have played in Citifield already.

For now it would appear that the bullpen would be the greatest probability of position battles compared to the offense and the starting rotation. 

17 comments:

  1. I think the Mets are going to need a star rookie debut and/or deadline deal monster to have any chance.

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    1. You said it best Mr Dove
      A monster is what this team lacks …

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  2. I think that the bullpen going north on opening day will be determined by guys they really want to keep that have no more options. One thing is guaranteed…no one will go on the IL with phantom injuries to facilitate juggling guys in that list of relief pitchers. First, let’s see who gets legitimately hurt between now and opening day.

    In one sense, the offense is improved, because the defensive contribution should be far better than 2023. In 2023, if guys were slumping, you had sub par offense AND defense. That is a bad combo. We can count on better defense this year from Taylor, Bader, Baty, Alvarez, and Wendle than the 2023 versions.

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  3. I expect at least one of the Megill/ Lucchesi/ Butto trio to remain as long man/spot starter. No one on the pen list Reese posted seems suited for that.

    I think most of us would be delighted to see him follow up in Diaz' path this year.

    2 guys I'm looking at closely are Megill, with his new pitch which has drawn praise from observers, and Fujinami, who sounds a lot like the 2021 version of Diaz. You can't teach velocity, but you can teach the best use of it, and I trust Hef to do that.

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  4. The Mets can move Peterson to the 60-day and bring on a other player on the 40

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  5. Megill/ Lucchesi/ Butto All have only one option left / similar to the I’ve Tod situation (shows just how badly prior administrations managed optioning/developing young talent). If any start in minors this is it for them to make or break it. They are all older as well, so my question is this: is it better to keep some of them on the team as part time starters/long relief (go multiple innings a couple time per week) on some semi-regular basis & keep them developing on the MLb roster facing mlb hitters or to use the best of the retreads that will mostly fail in their roles. Best case, the three thrive & step into bigger starter roles or they become strong relievers & since they theoretically have more upside & higher probability of achieving that upside, they seem to be better risks than the retreads without any options). Remember Nolan Ryan was a swingman in 1969 (I know different times) & that is how many pitchers used to break into the majors.

    I just seems like the standard retread route (much like the strict 5 man rotation) approach don’t seem to work well these days.

    Given the approach to find out what we’ve got going into this year, what’s the downside of taking a different approach?

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    1. The Japanese fireballer they signed this week throws the whole pen dynamic out the window

      You can't teach 103mph.

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    2. You have to decide what your goals are first

      Building the best money can buy for 2024?

      Or build a strong future for 2025?

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    3. Mack, totally agree . What do you think their primary goal is this war? I suspect it is to try to win this year (playoffs) but set up for long term success, so find out what they have this year as primary & if it is enough to win great, if it is close enough to win & they can add without sacrificing too much at the deadline to win this year that go for it, otherwise clean house at the deadline & end of year & reboot (sign the right pieces) to be stronger on 2025). They have created optionally, which is awesome, & it’s up to the players to deliver - as it should be.

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  6. Ack, 98.6 is normal. 103 is a high fever. It should give batters chills.

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  7. RVH, the final options decisions will be driven by spring training performance, if, for instance, Megill throws 12 scoreless, 2 hit innings and fans 16, he is not going to Syracuse.

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  8. It doesn't depend only on Megill's Spring. If the current 5 in the rotstion have strong Springs, and the Mets want Megill to be stretched out and continue to work on his new pitch, he might go upstate regardless of his own Spring success.

    If any of the 5 falter, the situation changes. Fitto if Megill us seen as a late-inning RP.

    It's all in flux.

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  9. Agreed to both comments. Will be interesting to watch. We do need to get smarter managing option usage with development. One of the subtle, but important, improvements I expect from the Stearns regime.

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  10. The fact that there is so little completion for jobs on a 75 win team should worry us all.

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    1. Nah, much too simple a take: they have to bet on this team, given the fixed cost, so go for playoff contention without compromising the future. Unlike the 2022 season - would love to have PCA right now.. no more of that bullshit.

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