Reese Kaplan -- How to Change Roster When You're in 1st Place?

Often when a baseball season has begun there are few roster moves made to shake things up very much unless a team is performing very poorly.  Changes in personnel could mean some folks on the current 26 man squad are simply not getting it done or it could be that injuries to regulars have healed and it’s time to push aside the substitute personnel.  The third alternative is someone simply dominating at the minor league level who needs to see if he can perform similarly against the best players in the game already in the majors.

The Mets, however, are in a different situation entirely.  They’re currently in first place in the National League East.  Their pitching has been pretty phenomenal though the offensive output they’ve gotten has been middle of the pack at best.  However, they now have several personnel changes afoot and it will be interesting to see how they approach them.

Starting with the easiest choice, Francisco Alvarez has already caught in back-to-back games in the minors and appears ready to return to his role with the big club.  You really do have to take your hat off to salute the jobs done by backups Luis Torrens and Hayden Senger.  This choice is rather easy as identified here last week.  Senger returns to Syracuse to help meld future pitchers in their final stop in the minors. 

In the outfield the decision making becomes a bit more challenging.  For now Jose Azocar has been summoned to take the place of broken fibia suffering Jose Siri.  That change was made out of functional necessity.  However, he’s likely not long for this status.

Behind him you have a couple of infielders who also dabbled a bit in the outfield.  Jeff McNeil is also close to his return date after having begun the 2025 season on the IL.  While primarily a second baseman by trade, the past few years he’s spent considerable time in the corner outfield spots and recently even played a game in center field during rehab. 

Currently on the parent club Luisangel Acuna has revved up his offensive game lately to the point where everyone is not quite so ready to push him into an Uber to take him to Syracuse.  He has logged 250 innings of center field play in the minors and has shown himself adept at playing shortstop as well as second base. 

The question for the Mets is whether or not they are content to keep these spare infielders-turned-outfielders on the 26-man squad and demote Azocar.  They also have Brandon Nimmo available to play center field in a pinch as well as Starling Marte.  Both are recovering from their own injuries and the stress of every day play in the field may not be the wisest move but in a pinch they are additional depth. 

The bullpen is the most interesting battle of all.  Last year’s surprising standout, Dedniel Nunez, is ready to move back to his role with Carlos Mendoza, Jeremy Hefner and company.  That development is good news though they may forestall the transaction a bit as Nunez has been walking way more than he should as he demonstrates his readiness to return.  The better question is who goes to make room for him?

Pitchers with minor league options remaining include Reed Garrett, Huascar Brazoban and Max Kranick.  Garrett is thus far pitching to a perfect 0.00 ERA and the pair of Brazoban and Kranick are tallying up an impressive 1.35 each.  It would seem that none of these three would make sense to remove from the major league bullpen.

Behind them is a familiar name from 2024 who kind of made the 2025 squad due to concerns about the health of A.J. Minter and the late injury to pitcher Paul Blackburn.  Danny Young is a lefty which stands in his favor.  His 2025 ERA of 3.00 is not bad at all, but his stuff has never led him to establishing himself as a long term fixture in the majors.  Now 30 years old, the 6’3” southpaw has appeared in 60 big league games from 2022 through 2025, the majority of which was the 42 he played in 2024.  His record is 4-1 and his ERA for his career is 3.86.  It’s certainly not bad, but to cut him loose would expose him to waivers. 

The veterans of the pen — Edwin Diaz, Jose Butto and A.J. Minter — have not done quite as well as these other arms but it’s highly unlikely any are considered for a change given their career metrics. 

What makes things even more precarious is when the Nunez return is coupled with the similar decision regarding Paul Blackburn.  The former Oakland Athletic underwhelmed in his 2024 stint with the Mets, but too be fair he has since had to recover from some injuries.  Still, nothing in his resume hints he would be any better than the folks currently holding down spots on the 26-man roster. 

To make matters even dicier, at some point starting pitchers Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas are due back from their recoveries as well and the substitutes Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning have not exactly been stinking up the joint in their absence. 

David Stearns surely has some interesting decisions to make between now and the end of June.