Fun with the Mets roster

Beyond the talent and holes, it’s always fun to take a deeper look at the Mets roster. After all, it’s loaded with trivia tidbits.

The youngest player? Amed Rosario, 22, born November 20, 1995. The oldest? Adrian Gonzalez, 35, born May 8, 1982.

Speaking of age, how many Mets on the 40-man roster were even born yet when the team last won a World Series in October, 1986? The answer is 10. Adrian Gonzalez was four, Jerry Blevins, David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Jason Vargas were all three, and the rest – Asdrubal Cabrera, Yoenis Cespedes, Todd Frazier, Anthony Swarzak and AJ Ramos – were all still in diapers.

Speaking of AJ Ramos, his birth name is Alejandro Ramos, Jr. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t use periods with his initials. T.J. Rivera does, on the other hand, and that stands for Thomas Javier, if you’re interested.

Rivera is one of four Mets from the greater New York City area. He was raised in the Bronx, while Steven Matz hails from Stony Brook on Long Island, Todd Frazier from Toms River, New Jersey, and Matt Harvey from New London, Connecticut. But the place that the most Mets call home is actually the Dominican Republic. Eight Mets were born there – Jeurys Familia, Juan Lagares, Rafael Montero, Marcos Molina, Reyes, Hansel Robles, Rosario and Gerson Bautista. Others born outside the mainland U.S. include Cabrera and Wilmer Flores (Venezuela), Tomas Nido (Puerto Rico) and Cespedes (Cuba). Of the United States, California is best represented with six Mets on the roster, followed by Georgia (four), Florida (three), Texas (three), New York (two) and Louisiana (two).

So, how did this melting pot of professional athletes all land in Queens? Twenty seven players were either selected in the amateur draft or signed as international players by the Mets, eight arrived via trade and seven via free agency. But that adds up to 42, you say? Well, some players like Jay Bruce and Reyes fall into two categories. Reyes of course was drafted by the Mets and later came back as a waiver signing. Bruce initially came to the team via mid-season trade, but then we traded him away, only to resign him as a free agent. Cool story, bro.

Now for some really shallow trivia. The tallest Met? It’s a tie between Noah Syndergaard and Jerry Blevins. Both are listed at 6′ 6″. The shortest? Luis Guillorme at 5′ 9″. He’s one of just four Mets listed under 6′. That diminutive list also includes Cespedes and Ramos (both 5′ 10″) and Robles (5′ 11″). There’s an even bigger variety when it comes to the scales. The young flamethrower Gerson Bautista weighs in at just 170 pounds despite being over 6’2″. Where does that string bean find the power? Meanwhile fellow pitchers Chris Flexen and Corey Oswalt each tip the scales at 250 pounds.

That this is such a colorful team will just make them even easier to root for this season. Got any good tidbits to add? Share them in the comments.