When the Mets added prospects 3B Mark Vientos, SS Ronny Mauricio, RHP Jose Butto, and RHP Adam Oller to the 40-man roster last week to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft, they brought the 40-man roster total up to 37 players.
The Mets’ 40-man roster number is important to monitor because they’re a team that is obviously looking to be active in free agency this offseason, and they will likely need to eventually make moves to gain more spots.
Pitchers (21)
- Jose Butto, right-handed starter
- Carlos Carrasco, right-handed starter
- Miguel Castro, right-handed reliever
- Jacob deGrom, right-handed starter
- Yennsy Diaz, right-handed reliever
- Edwin Diaz, right-handed reliever
- Robert Gsellman, right-handed reliever
- Joey Lucchesi. left-handed starter
- Seth Lugo, right-handed reliever
- Trevor May, right-handed reliever
- Trevor Megill, right-handed reliever
- Stephen Nogosek, right-handed reliever
- Adam Oller, right-handed starter
- David Peterson, left-handed starter
- Jake Reed, right-handed reliever
- Sean Reid-Foley, right-handed reliever
- Drew Smith, right-handed reliever
- Thomas Szapucki, left-handed starter
- Taijuan Walker, right-handed starter
- Trevor Williams, right-handed swingman
- Jordan Yamamoto, right-handed swingman
As you can see, the Mets’ depth is not strong on the pitching side currently and even weaker when you’re looking at only three left-handed pitchers on the 40. All three of the lefties –Peterson, Lucceshi, and Szapucki– are coming off surgery.
Lucchesi and Gsellman are non-tender possibilities.
Catchers (3)
One of the most notable omissions from the Mets’ Rule 5 adds was catcher Hayden Senger. This is probably the group New York goes into the regular season with.
Infielders (9)
- Pete Alonso, 1B
- Travis Blankenhorn, 2B/3B/COF
- Robinson Cano, 2B (For some reason, he isn’t listed on Mets 40 on the website, but he’s there)
- J.D. Davis, 3B/COF
- Luis Guillorme, SS/3B/2B
- Francisco Lindor, SS
- Ronny Mauricio, SS
- Jeff McNeil, everywhere
- Mark Vientos, 1B/3B/LF
Blankenhorn would certainly be one of the vulnerable players when the Mets need to open up a 40-man roster spot.
Outfielders (4)
- Khalil Lee, RF/CF
- Dominic Smith, LF/1B
- Mark Payton, LF/CF/RF
- Brandon Nimmo, LF/CF/RF
Yikes. The Mets are certainly in need of players they can comfortably stick in the outfield. Payton is likely one of the first players on the chopping block when the Mets need a roster spot.
As mentioned before, the Mets’ roster is at 37, and they do plan on signing multiple free agents to major league deals. But as you can see, there’s a handful of players they can probably sneak through waivers without issue.
In terms of the talent on the 40-man, it’s easy to see the Mets lack both high-end talent and major league caliber depth.