Reese Kaplan -- Who Is On Your Mets October Baseball Roster?

With the season down to it’s final stretch let’s pretend that the Mets actually make it into a wildcard berth and will continue play in October.  With that hypothetical in place, who makes the post season roster?  Some of it has to do with the roster rules set in place by Major League Baseball:

• For the 2025 season, any player who was on the 40-man roster or 60-day injured list as of noon ET on Sept. 1 is eligible for the postseason.
• Those on the restricted list at that point are also eligible if they haven't been suspended for performance-enhancing drugs during that season. (All players who have served a suspension for PEDs in a given season are ineligible for postseason play that year.)
• A player who doesn't meet said criteria for postseason eligibility can still be added to a team's roster in the postseason via petition to the Commissioner's Office if the player was in the organization on Aug. 31 and is replacing someone who is on the injured list and has served the minimum amount of time required for activation. (For example, a player on the 10-day injured list who has been on it for at least 10 days, or a player who has been on the 60-day injured list for at least 60 days.) Players who are acquired in September or after are ineligible.

That delineation of what can and cannot be done holds some familiarity including previous episodes of clubs faking injuries to alter who they have available to play in October.  Where it makes the most impact for the Mets is in the last minute addition of players who you might have thought otherwise might not be available to play.

A case in point would be Brandon Sproat as he didn’t become a member of the big team until after the August 31st deadline unlike his fellow pitchers Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong.  Given his 2 game major league ERA of just 2.25 with 10 strikeouts in 12+ innings pitched you might have thought it would be terrible if they missed out on having him as a postseason roster option.

Then we come to the bullpen.  Obviously with the newest IL assignment to Reed Garrett and the paternity leave for Sean Manaea the Mets have some familiar short term faces on the roster again.  It is possible several of them will not be part of the postseason 26 man roster.

Finally we have the issue of Kodai Senga and where he will belong.  On his first start in the minors he resembled the dominant pitcher he had been when he was a highly impressive rookie during his first American season back in 2023.  Then his follow up start was more reminiscent of the pitcher who earned a demotion from Queens.  Do you value his veteran presence and his long track record of success more than you gamble he will be an unreliable arm to have available when every inning matters most?

The outfield is another weird situation with Tyrone Taylor due back shortly, Cedric Mullins and his sub-Mendoza bat already here accompanied by Jose Siri and his equally ineffective stick.  Obviously any of the three provide stand out defense over options like Jeff McNeil out there, but can the club afford to allow 3+ ABs of almost sure outs to start games?

The starting rotation is frankly a mess.  Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat all seem like they should be there but entrusting the most important games of the 2025 season to three late season rookie additions goes against conventional baseball wisdom.  Then again, the more well known starters like David Peterson, Sean Manaea (before his shift to the bullpen) and Clay Holmes don’t exactly fill the gut with confidence.  Throw in the Kodai Senga variable and it becomes even more difficult to figure out. 

Personally I’m in the ride-the-hot-hand mindset so that the three rookies are all a part of the postseason rotation.  Clay Holmes might be a better addition to replace an excised Ryan Helsley or Ryne Stanek in the bullpen and having Sean Manaea out there gives the team another multi inning arms who could be summoned to handle 3+ innings when necessary.

This assessment, however, only provides space for three starters.  Peterson has been spiraling downhill for a long period of time.  At this point Senga needs one more AAA start and Peterson will get one more for the big club.  At that point you decide who is in the 4-man rotation for October baseball and who will not be there.

After that there are some housekeeping issues involving some fringe players like Luisangel Acuna and Ronny Mauricio who have lost playing time to Jeff McNeil, Brett Baty and Mark Vientos.  For a short series are they the best options if pinch running or late inning defensive replacement their ultimate value rather than as starting offensive players?

What is your October Mets roster?