Last year we wrote up 15 previews for players given non-roster invites to Spring Training. They ran the gambit from highly-touted prospect, sneaky surprise prospect, veteran depth to Tim Tebow. At some point in the next couple of weeks we’ll go over the new non-roster invites but before we turn the page to 2019, let’s take a look at who was brought in last year. Out of the 15 non-roster invitees we profiled last year, 7 made it to the majors and 9 are still with the Mets.
Tim Tebow
At this point last year, Tim Tebow was a joke invite. However, Tebow didn’t have a terrible year last year in the minors and the way the Mets were blowing through outfielders thanks to injuries (not just at the major league level, in Vegas also), there was a non-zero chance that Tebow would have made his major league debut last year. Alas he broke his hand and ended his season. He had 298 PA’s in Binghamton and ended the season hitting .273/.336/.399. Thanks to the Mets signing a whole bunch of outfielders on minor league deals this year, we expect Tebow to be back in Binghamton and much farther back on the depth chart then he was last August.
Kevin Kaczmarksi
Kevin Kaczmarksi made his major league debut with the Mets last year, which we thought would only happen if something went terribly wrong with the Mets, and something did, they just ran out of outfielders. Kevin played in 4 games getting 5 plate appearances getting a walk and nothing else. In Vegas last year he hit .300/.372/.375 compared to his career line of .296/.377/.410. The additional signings this year of players on minor league deals puts some traffic in front of him. He’ll almost definitely start the season in Syracuse.
Matt den Dekker
If there ever was an opportunity for den Dekker it was last year. The Mets re-acquired the outfielder they traded to the Nationals after he spent a season with Detroit. When he got his shot last year, he went hit-less in 18 AB’s, collecting 2 walks thus posting an OBP of .095. He is currently a free agent.
Zach Borenstein
The Mets signed Zach Borenstein to a minor league deal in November of 2017 with an invitation to Spring Training. He played the whole season at Las Vegas, getting 572 PAs posting a .248/.357/.477 line (career line .277/.355/.498). He just signed another minor league contract, this time with the Cubs, last week.
David Thompson
A common theme for the Mets, David Thompson missed significant playing time last year due to injury. He may have had a path to a bench spot this year, but the Mets are bursting with corner infielders. Last year over 66 AB’s he hit .258/.329/.379 for Vegas. The year before he hit .263/.325/.429 in Binghamton (and .328/.371/.569 in the Fall League).
Phillip Evans
For a second straight year, Phillip Evans got some playing time with the big league squad. At the end of 2017 he hit .303/.395/.364 in 38 PA’s. In 2018 he hit .143/.217/.143 over 23 PA’s. He became a free agent at the end of the season and like Borenstein signed a deal with the Cubs.
Ty Kelly
Fan Favorite Ty Kelly found his way back to the Mets last year by way of a minor league deal and made it back to the majors. He got 12 PA’s with 1 hit and 1 run and is currently a free agent.
Peter Alonso
Peter Alonso is the first player on this list we expect to see in Queens this year. Before the Mets signed Jed Lowrie, Alonso was competing for a spot on the Opening Day Roster. He still is, but there are a lot of major league infielders ahead of him right now, so there’s reason to keep him down in the minors to get an extra year of playing time. However, he was a monster last year hitting 36 homers with a .285/.395/.579 slash line and should have been called up, but this is the Mets.
Patrick Mazeika
Mazeika hit .231/.328/.363, a significant drop from his career line of .290/.392/.424. It was also his first full year in Binghamton and I imagine catching in April in Binghamton must be incredibly tough on your body. He’s still in the Mets organization and has another non-roster invitation for 2019. Ali Sanchez is the Mets catcher prospect to watch, Mazeika has the inside track for back up catcher if the Mets have dive into their depth chart.
Jose Lobaton
Speaking of having to dive into catching depth, the Mets signed Jose Lobaton to a minor league deal in case something happened to Plawecki and d’Arnaud and of course something happened to d’Arnaud so Lobaton got some playing time in Queens. In 57 PA’s he hit .143/.246/.224. Last week he signed a deal with the Mariners
Adonis Uceta
Adonis Uceta dealt with an injury pretty early on in the season and it really messed with his playing time. He posted a 4.26 ERA over 16 games and 25.1 innings.
Corey Taylor
Corey Taylor pitched in Binghamton and Las Vegas last year, posting a combined 3.12 ERA over 66.1 innings from 45 games (3 starts). His WHIP was higher than his career numbers, 1.432 vs 1.312. Taylor has received another non-roster invite for the upcoming season. The new bullpen gives him a blocked path but a good start in Syracuse and who knows what happens.
Drew Smith
Smith was traded to the Mets from the Rays for Lucas Duda in 2017 and earned a non-roster invite last season. He did well enough in the minors to earn a spot in the Mets bullpen last year and he got some work in, appearing in 27 games pitching 28.0 innings posting a 3.54 ERA, 3.66 FIP and a 1.429 WHIP. He is a success story from the NRI crew last year.
Matt Purke
Matt Purke did not have a good season in Las Vegas posting a 7.14 ERA over 38 game sand 46.2 innings. He was signed as a free agent from the White Sox at the end of the 2017 season and he is still currently a free agent.
PJ Conlon
The man with an amazing sense of humor made his major league debut with the Mets last year, appearing in 3 games, makign two starts allowing 7 runs over 7.2 innings. Because of how the Mets handled the situation, they had to put him through waivers, so he ended up becoming a Dodger. But then the Dodgers a few days later had to put him on waivers and the Mets got him back. He has another non-roster invite for the upcoming season.
