MLB.com has a fairly robust transactions log back thru the 2009 season. It has some for 2008, but nowhere near as lengthy or detailed. So, from the 2009-2023 seasons, excluding the Covid year of 2020, how many players do you think the Mets put on the 60-day injured list prior to the start of the season? I would have guessed with all of the club’s injuries, it would be around 1.5 per year. So, for 14 seasons, my guess would have been around 20 players.
That guess would have been significantly over the actual amount.
Turns out that in those 14 years, the Mets used the 60-day IL before the start of the season just eight times. There were several cases where the Mets placed someone on the shorter DL/IL list, only to put that player on the 60-day IL after the season started.
This is interesting now because the Mets have two candidates for the 60-day IL in Ronny Mauricio and David Peterson. It’s also something to consider as the Mets’ 40-man roster is currently full and they have to open a spot for the official signing of Shintaro Fujinami. Teams are allowed to place a player on the 60-day IL once pitchers and catchers report, which for the Mets will be on Feb. 12, just four days from now.
So, how likely is it that the Mets will make a 60-day IL move at the start, rather than the end of Spring Training? Here’s how they used the 60-day IL most recently. Spring Training starts in February, while the regular season starts in either March or April. So, a February date is at the start of things, while a March or April date is right before the start of the year. Here’s when our eight players were put on the 60-day list:
3/23 – Edwin Diaz
4/22 – John Curtiss
3/22 – Joey Lucchesi
4/21 – Jose Martinez
2/21 – Noah Syndergaard
3/18 – Rafael Montero
2/18 – T.J. Rivera
3/14 – Matt Harvey
That’s two of eight times, the 60-day list was used at the start of Spring Training. And while my initial thought was that there would be more 60-day moves overall, my opinion was that there would be a greater percentage made at the end of Spring Training.
It’s not a large enough sample size to make any conclusions. We’d probably need to see how all 30 teams did over a 5-10 year span to get a reasonable sample size. But today we’ll have to be satisfied with a one-in-four shot that the Mets will use the 60-day IL to free up a spot for Fujinami.
I put this rule several steps below the Dodgers gaming the system with their stupid deferred contracts, with nothing in between.
How’s this for fair play?
-Any contract may not have more than 15% deferred. Any deferred revenue must be matched dollar for the dollar as a fee paid to MLB.
-No player may be placed on the 60 day IL prior to two weeks after opening day. Use your 15 day IL to create room on your 26 man roster, and when that expires, transfer them to the 60 day. We all know this is BS.
I get why you and others are bothered by these things. But for me, it’s just not a big deal.