Comparing the Mets’ 40-man roster today to the one from a year ago

One thing that’s a little too easy to gloss over is a team’s 40-man roster. Part of the reason is that it’s constantly changing. The other part is that a lot of the names on there just aren’t very exciting. But the 40-man gives you the big picture, specifically how the depth of the organization shakes out. Right now, the Mets don’t have a ton of depth, which required David Stearns to sign a bunch of unexciting names.

It’s not significantly different from last year, when Billy Eppler’s option-reliever strategy was in full bloom. The Mets draft a bunch of pitchers year after year after year. Yet, they still have problems filling the pen at the MLB level, much less having a robust 40-man roster. This is not a plea to draft more relief pitchers. Instead, it’s a long-standing hope that some of the SP that the club drafts who don’t make it as starters find a new life in the pen.

That may be a naïve hope of mine. Regardless, let’s look at recent 40-man rosters. The first one is from January 1, 2023:

Jeff Brigham
Jose Butto
Carlos Carrasco
John Curtiss
Edwin Diaz
Zach Green
Elieser Hernandez
Joey Lucchesi
Tylor Megill
Bryce Montes de Oca
Stephen Nogosek
Adam Ottavino
David Peterson
Jose Quintana
Brooks Raley
Stephen Ridings
David Robertson
Tayler Saucedo
Max Scherzer
Kodai Senga
Drew Smith
Justin Verlander
Francisco Alvarez
Omar Narvaez
Tomas Nido
Pete Alonso
Brett Baty
Eduardo Escobar
Luis Guillorme
Francisco Lindor
Ronny Mauricio
Jeff McNeil
Danny Mendick
Mark Vientos
Mark Canha
Khalil Lee
Starling Marte
Brandon Nimmo
Darin Ruf
Daniel Vogelbach

The first thing that jumps out is that’s a full 40 names. Quick draw Eppler didn’t waste any time filling up the roster. But even though the 40-man was full, there were still changes before the season opened. The big one was Diaz, who moved to the 60-day IL. But also gone by Opening Day was Green, Saucedo, Lee and Ruf. In their place was Sam Coonrod, Tommy Hunter, Dennis Santana, Tommy Pham and Tim Locastro.

The biggest move after the New Year but before the start of the season was signing Pham, who was brought on to be the fourth outfielder. Lee’s personal problems necessitated another move, but he really shouldn’t have been on the 40-man after doing nothing in the majors in either 2021 or 2022. The others were “upgrades” with the option relievers.

Now here’s the current 40-man:

Austin Adams
Phil Bickford
Jose Butto
Edwin Diaz
Reed Garrett
Grant Hartwig
Adrian Houser
Jorge Lopez
Joey Lucchesi
Tylor Megill
David Peterson
Jose Quintana
Brooks Raley
Yohan Ramirez
Sean Reid-Foley
Kodai Senga
Luis Severino
Drew Smith
Michael Tonkin
Josh Walker
Francisco Alvarez
Tyler Heineman
Omar Narvaez
Luisangel Acuna
Pete Alonso
Brett Baty
Francisco Lindor
Ronny Mauricio
Jeff McNeil
Zack Short
Mark Vientos
Joey Wendle
Cooper Hummel
Starling Marte
Brandon Nimmo
Alex Ramirez
DJ Stewart
Tyrone Taylor

That’s 38 names, meaning there are at least two moves to come. And it’s likely that Mauricio moves to the 60-day IL to make room for whichever non-roster invitee impresses in Spring Training. It’s possible the club moves Peterson to the 60 if another NRI demands it. Clubs can move players to the 60-day IL once pitchers and catchers report but mostly they wait until the end of Spring Training to execute that move.

Of the 38 players on this current list, only 19 were on it a year ago. That seems like a lot of turnover but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Certainly, it’s good that Brigham, Carrasco and Curtiss are gone. For me, it wouldn’t be hard to cut eight guys from the current 40-man. But does Stearns feel the same way? Will he be willing to cut guys he signed, like Eppler did? None of us know the answer to that but it’s something that people who want to sign a SP, 3 RP, an OF and a DH should consider.

There’s always going to be 40-man roster churn. And then all of the trades the Mets made last year necessitated even more moves. But beyond the raw number of moves, the troublesome thing is that only three out of 19 new faces on the 40-man are farm system products. And two of them are non-descript relief pitchers who were added during the season, as the Mets hoped to catch lightning in a bottle and find a relief pitcher who didn’t stink. Few will be surprised if this time next year that neither Hartwig nor Walker are on the 40-man.

Some will blame the Wilpon/Alderson/Van Wagenen Mets for not having a deeper farm system. And it’s fair to give them blame, so long as you credit them for Alonso, Alvarez, Baty (BVW), Butto, Mauricio, McNeil, Megill, Nimmo, Peterson, Ramirez, Vientos and the guys used to acquire Diaz, Lindor, Lucchesi, Reid-Foley and Smith.

Players signed at age 18 or younger need to be added to their club’s 40-Man roster within five seasons or they become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft. Players who signed at age 19 or older need to be protected within four seasons. So, soon it will be the players drafted under the Cohen administration who will need to be added to the 40-man.

That first class, with Alderson essentially running things, includes Dominic Hamel, Christian Scott and Mike Vasil. All three spent at least part of the year in Double-A. Hamel was there all season, looking nothing special at first and then dominating down the stretch. Scott did a game in Lo-A. thrived in Hi-A – where he didn’t allow a homer in six games – and hardly missed a step in advancing to Double-A. The only red flag is his age. Vasil was solid in Double-A but hit a speed bump after he was promoted to Syracuse. He might be the guy to transition to a reliever and be a contributor there.

All three will need to be added to the 40-man or be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft in December.

Earlier, my opinion was that it was 50/50 that the Mets would make three or more additions to the 40-man by the time Spring Training starts. That says more about my uncertainty about how Stearns operates than anything else. But if they do make more than two additions, you’d figure that Bickford, Garrett, Hartwig, Reid-Foley and Walker would be the most vulnerable to being removed from the 40-man. Those are the holdovers that Stearns inherited.