Spring Training games start tomorrow! Thank you universe!
The Mets roster is most set it’s been in a while, there aren’t too many roster spots that are up for grabs. Mainly the battles break down in the following categories:
- Who is the 5th Starter?
- Who is the last person in the bullpen?
- How many bench players will the Mets carry?
- Are Lowrie and Cespedes opening the season with the club?
When thinking about the roster, I considered both Lowrie and Cespedes being healthy because I wanted to construct bench and bullpen spots with the most restrictions possible.
Who Has A Set Roster Spot (Batters)?
There are 11 players who spots are firm as a batter, heading into 2020. Wilson Ramos, Pete Alonso, Robinson Cano, J.D. Davis, Michael Confortio, Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, Amed Rosario, Tomas Nido, Dominic Smith, and Jake Marisnick.
If we think about a bench being 12-13 players, that doesn’t leave any room. If Jed Lowrie and Yoenis Cespedes are healthy – that’s a complete roster of batters, which would leave Luis Guillorme off the roster (more on that later).
Who Has A Set Roster Spot (Pitchers)?
There are 11 pitchers who have firm roster spot (not necessarily a role) on team heading into 2020. Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman, Steven Matz, Rick Porcello, Michael Wacha, Dellin Betances, Jeurys Familia, Edwin Diaz, Seth Lugo, and Justin Wilson.
This means if Lowrie and Cespedes are healthy, there are only two more spots left on the roster entirely.
Battle For The Last Two Roster Spots:
You may have noticed one name off the list of pitchers who should have been there – Brad Brach. Brad Brach is going to make this team. The question the Mets will have, especially if Cespedes and Lowrie are healthy out of camp, is Brach the only pitcher left who makes the club? Is that how they’ll carry Guillorme?
If they carry Brach and another pitcher, the most likely scenario, then in terms of pitchers who are on the 40 man roster the battle will come down to Drew Smith, Tyler Bashlor and Daniel Zamora. There is also a chance a non-roster invitee player pushes there way into this list, but the Mets don’t have a lot of room in their bullpen and these options seem better than the NRI players, at least right now.
What Most Likely Happens With The Roster:
I highly doubt both Cespedes and Lowrie are healthy at the start of the season, which lets in Luis Guillorme meaning the Mets will carry Brad Brach + one of Smith/Bashlor/Zamora.
Who’s Left Off?
This leaves some long time Mets off the roster – most notably Robert Gsellman. Gsellman will have to out-duel two of Wacha/Porcello/Matz to make it on to the 40-man and I just don’t think that happens. Gsellman will also have to be better than Oswalt/Lockett/Sewald who are now at his playing tier. I still think we see Gsellman in Queens this year, he’s only one injury away and could potentially push Smith/Bashlor/Zamora out of that last spot as well.
The Only True Spot Battle:
The only real battle this spring is for the 5th rotation spot which comes down to Porcello or Wacha. Right now I’m leaning towards Wacha just out of a gut call but it feels like a toss up without watching any spring training games.
After that we are just looking at bullpen performances. The only player in the pen who I feel is on a bubble, albeit a very stable bubble is Brach which is why I listed him separately. I can’t see the Mets front office pushing any of the other bullpen guys out based on terrible performances.
In Conclusion:
And, as it is every year, injuries are the next concern. This list was made foolishly thinking everyone is healthy. We know that won’t actually happen. We’ll check in once a week or so the next several weeks to see if any of this changes.
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