Barring any surprise deals, the Mets’ starting lineup appears set for the 2015 season. Likewise, the team’s bench seems to be fairly solidified heading into Spring Training. Before we dive into the likely candidates, let’s take a quick look back at the Mets’ bench as they opened the 2014 season.
- Anthony Recker, C
- Lucas Duda, 1B/OF
- Omar Quintanilla, INF
- Josh Satin, INF
- Andrew Brown, OF
- Juan Lagares, OF
There are some things to be aware of here. There was a lot of fluctuation with the roster in the early going last season because of injuries. For example, Chris Young landed on the disabled list early (opening the door for Lagares to start in center field) and Jon Niese‘s delayed start to the season impacted how many bench players the team initially carried.
Quintanilla, Satin, and Brown are no longer with the team. Quintanilla signed a minor league deal with the Rockies in January, Satin signed a minor league deal with the Reds in November, and Brown was claimed off of waivers by the Athletics back in October.
Duda and Lagares, deemed bench players to start 2014, are now the starting first baseman and center fielder, respectively. Although there were some still in the Ike Davis camp, those two arguably should have started 2014 in the starting lineup. Recker remains with the team and is, in fact, projected to again be the backup catcher.
There’s a decent chance we see similar roster churn this spring depending on how ready Matt Harvey is and, of course, because we should always expect injuries of some kind. Still, the early projection for the Mets’ 2015 bench is as follows:
- Recker, C
- Eric Campbell, INF/OF
- John Mayberry Jr, OF
- Ruben Tejada, INF
- Kirk Nieuwenhuis, OF
This list of names should be no surprise to Mets fans. Recker has been a solid if unspectacular backup over the last couple of seasons. His pop off of the bench is a plus as well. Tejada lost the starting shortstop job to Wilmer Flores and now finds himself as the primary second base/shortstop backup. This could actually end up being quite a strength if Flores proves he’s a legitimate starting shortstop at the major league level. Remember that it wasn’t too long ago that Tejada looked like he might be the Mets’ future at the position before he inexplicably fell on his face.
The recently signed Mayberry serves as a 4th/5th OF-type to complement the lefty-hitting Nieuwenhuis off of the bench and, perhaps more importantly, will start in the outfield against tough lefties. In that scenario Michael Cuddyer would move to first base with Duda taking a seat. Sounds good in theory, and Mayberry hits lefties well, but this is a low-risk/high-reward move typical of this front office.
Speaking of Nieuwenhuis, he’s slotted in here as the assumed winner of the “lefty competition” between him and Matt den Dekker. The main reason is simply because Nieuwenhuis is out of options and den Dekker is not. That doesn’t mean den Dekker, who this writer is personally a bigger fan of, couldn’t force his way onto the team.
Campbell made his major league debut in 2014 and played all over the diamond. He spent the majority of his playing time in both corner infield and outfield spots, though with the current roster construction he’d be most valuable as the primary 1B/3B backup. He’s up for playing any position, really. He spent a (very) short amount of time filling in at shortstop and 2B last year and even recently told Newsday that he plans on playing catcher this spring. Most important of all, he was pretty solid throughout the 2014 season.
In addition to the players that will be competing for spots in Spring Training, the team’s minor league talent is bubbling to the top of the system. Outfielders Cesar Puello and den Dekker, as well as the slick-fielding Wilfredo Tovar, are already on the 40-man roster and could potentially fill in when needed. They also have several players in the high minors that are almost ready to contribute to the big league club, including infielder Matt Reynolds and catcher Kevin Plawecki, among others.
The storylines will evolve throughout the spring, but one thing is becoming clear: the Mets’ bench has a legitimate shot at being a strength this season.
Puello is out of options and if he doesn’t make it onto roster at end of spring training, he will be exposed to waivers and some other team will claim him and give him a chance. I think to start the year, Campbell, who does have options left, will be in AAA and Puello will be on ML roster. If he fails miserably, then they might expose him to waivers to send him down.
Also, Campbell is redundant with Tejada on the roster as a backup: Tejada can play 2nd/SS, Murphy can play 1st/2nd/3rd if needed, Flores SS/2nd/3rd, and you already have 2 righties in OF with Cuddyer and Mayberry, Jr.
Excellent points, H! This team has shown that it is not averse to making roster decisions based mostly on issues of options, waivers, etc. That would seem to point to them keeping Puello on the roster for the same reasons that they’d keep Nieuwenhuis over den Dekker.
That being said, they haven’t really shown that they’re enamored with Puello based on how he was treated last season. We also have no reason to believe that he’d be able to contribute at the major league level right now. He’d probably be snatched up on waivers, but I wonder if the Mets really care. Still, I wouldn’t be shocked to see him make the team in order to keep from exposing him.
I doubt the Mets will send a similarly performing Campbell down to the minors just to give Puello a shot.
Sandy has finally put together a competitive bench with players that could fill in for short periods of time if a starter was injured. The last two spots on the roster should be a competition between MDD, Kirk, Campbell and Puello. The fact that a player is out of options should have little impact when deciding on the 24th and 25th spot on the roster. The nature of a major league roster is that those positions become interchangeable throughout the season and the player will eventually be exposed to waivers anyway. My early favorites are MDD and Kirk.
Going to be a little kooky here:
– Regarding Puello, last year at AAA it seems like Backman was testing him to see how he would do with sporadic playing time, like a bench player. While Backman’s saying that he was injured is notable, was Puello be tested for this year’s roster? I actually feel a little better about the Mayberry signing when I hear how good a pinch hitter he is and how he destroys lefties.
– Campbell learning to be a catcher is what every fringe player has proclaimed at some point and it might Actually get him sent to AAA since he has options to work on catching. Didn’t Mike Baxter say that once?
[Whenever I hear a position player in the majors make this proclamation, I think of Len Sekata. He was a little used utility infielder that the Orioles made into an emergency catcher. One extra inning game, with the Orioles playing the Brewers, Sekata had to catch and Tippy Martinez was on the mound, their closer. I don’t remember how, but the Brewers got three straight batters on first (actually, I think they were all walks and Martinez had good control, which makes this story weirder, but I can’t remember exactly). Well, the whole stadium knew these guys were going to run, but Martinez was a lefty with a great move to first. Before throwing a single pitch to to the next batter, he kept throwing and throwing and throwing to first until he picked off all three! I bet Sekata was so happy after that game.]
– I was thinking that with righties Tejada and Campbell, and outfielders Lagares and Cuddyer being righties, the Mets can carry both MDD ank Kirk in the outfield. But, then they signed Mayberry and there went that theory.
– Didn’t Campbell also appear at SS and second base? Now, that’s a utility player!
Soup got exposed in the last two months of the season last year and has lost all of his ABs at 1B to MC and Maberry, where his glove was at least acceptable. He is probably 4th on the depth chart at 3B and way down there in the OF, so his only real value is on the offensive side and that is pretty light. He has little or no power, no speed and his main contribution would be pinch hitting against LH relievers. Puello brings more speed, more power, has always rocked LH pitching and is a better defender than Grandy and MC, so even though he has not played in the majors, his overall ceiling for immediate contribution is far greater than Soup. Since Soup has options, it makes sense to give Puello one more shot before waivers and you can always go back to Soup. I don’t think Soup is ultimately a major league player because of defensive deficiencies, no power, no speed and a 30% K rate. He should spend time learning how to speak Japanese rather than learning how to catch. Satin is probably a better all around player. Puello to start the season as the 25th man