Amidst the excitement of the announcement that there will be Major League Baseball in 2020, the reality quickly set in for scores of minor leaguers who realized that the 60-game plan leaves them in the dark.

A select few, however, will be afforded the opportunity to reach the majors this season should injury, underperformance, or a coronavirus outbreak (fingers crossed, because that seems to be what MLB is doing) befell a team.

Instead of having an entire organization of players to utilize, all 30 teams will submit a 60-man Player Pool (due to the League by this Sunday) of eligible men.

Players already on the typical 40-man roster are automatically included (unless they are opting out of the shortened season), so that leaves a 20-man “Taxi Squad” that will be on call for promotions.

It should be noted that in order to play in a regular season game, a Taxi Squad player would need to be added to both the 40-man and active rosters, just like a minor league call-up in a normal year.

While teams are sure to take different approaches to building their Taxi Squad — the Detroit Tigers will be including four of their top pitching prospects, for example — it’s impossible to overstate the importance of depth under these conditions, particularly for contenders like the Mets.

Just the minimum 10-day injured list stint knocks a player out for over 15 percent of the season, and a bullpen or bench could be depleted in a matter of days if the ruthless virus has permeates the clubhouse walls.

Let’s break down who is likely to be considered to be among the 20 additional players the Mets will be inviting to Spring Training 2.0 next week and eventually sending to (most likely) MCU Park, the home of the soon-to-be-Double-A Brooklyn Cyclones.

Once again, these players are in addition to those already on the 40-man roster, like prospects Andres Gimenez and Thomas Szapucki.

Position Players with MLB Experience

Unlike the preceding offseason, the Mets didn’t bring in a particularly large group of veterans on minor league deals this past winter. That could come back to bite them now.

Sure to be included are Eduardo Nunez, who was in position for an opening day roster spot prior to the shutdown, Matt Adams, who hit 20 home runs a year ago, and Rene Rivera, the only catcher in the organization with MLB experience besides Wilson Ramos and Tomas Nido.

And with up to three Taxi Squad players, including one catcher, allowed to travel on the road, Rivera will likely be away from the main group as long as the Mets are not home.

It’s even possible that all three of Adams, Nunez, and Rivera could start the season on the major league active roster, which will allow up to 30 players for the first 15 days of the season.

The remaining list of position players with any major league experience (let alone productive time) is incredibly thin.

Ryan Cordell performed well in Port St. Lucie for a hot minute but Jarrett Parker, Max Moroff, and Braxton Lee don’t exactly inspire confidence.

It’s imperative that Nido, Luis Guillorme, Jed Lowrie, Dominic Smith, and Jake Marisnick stay as healthy as possible throughout the shortened season.

After that group, the projected 26-man bench, only Gimenez and catcher Ali Sanchez remain. Neither are ready for major league roles.

Pitchers with MLB Experience

It might almost be uncomfortable to watch teams churn through arms at the outset of the season.

With a short training period after months of being limited to gyms and high school mounds, it might take until the halfway point to see starters consistently top five innings and relievers work more than a couple times a week.

Similar to the group of non-roster hitters, the Mets are sorely lacking pitching depth.

After the projected five-man rotation and 40-man backups Corey Oswalt, Stephen Gonsalves, and Walker Lockett, the only other starters who were in major league camp this spring who carry MLB experience are Erasmo Ramirez and Pedro Payano.

Payano has just four big league starts to his name, but Ramirez, though a few years removed from his last successful season, looked strong in Florida and Luis Rojas noted his versatility.

Relief pitchers are likely going to be more important than starters in this environment. Let me be the first to say that I was extremely surprised to see the League go ahead with the new three-batter minimum given where guys are at this point.

After the back-end 40-man arms like Paul Sewald and Daniel Zamora, the depth (again) is thin.

The two non-roster relievers with major league experience are Stephen Nogosek, who was dropped from the 40-man after posting a 10.80 ERA last year, and lefty Chasen Shreve.

Out of necessity, both are locks for the Taxi Squad.

Internal Position Players

This is an area where the Mets’ lack of upper minors prospects are going to make things less interesting, as they don’t have a flashy name that’s ready to make his debut (outside of Gimenez).

They are going to need catchers, if only to catch the pitchers staying ready. The three upper minors options are Austin Bossart, Patrick Mazeika, and David Rodriguez, who were all in major league camp in March.

Middle infield is particularly thin, with the options being Luis Carpio, Cody Bohanek, and free agent signing Jake Hager.

On the corners of the diamond, David Thompson is the only bat with Triple-A experience (it didn’t go great), while Will Toffey and Jeremy Vasquez played in Double-A last year.

The only internal outfield names that are likely to get consideration are the two who were in big league camp in March, Johneshwy Fargas and Tim Tebow.

Fargas, who has stolen 97 bases over the past two seasons in the San Francisco Giants organization, offers an extremely interesting tool that could be of use with new rules being instituted.

Perhaps Fargas could crack the big leagues for the first time as a strict pinch runner, particularly as the runner placed on second base to begin extra innings.

He stole six bases in 16 games this past spring.

Internal Pitchers

The names here at least get a little bit more interesting than the hitters.

Reliever Ryley Gilliam and starters David Peterson and Kevin Smith are actual prospects and would have been in Triple-A this season, though none are ready for a major league spot.

Still, it’s important that the organization’s high-priority guys stay fresh and around coaches and staff.

Elsewhere, relievers Matt Blackham and Adonis Uceta and starter Harol Gonzalez have all been around for a while. In fact, all three are scheduled to be minor league free agents after the season.

None of them have standout profiles, but they’ve each had upper minors success within the past calendar year.

The verdict

Here’s my 20, along with the 40-man players who are unlikely to make the active roster from the jump. This will comprise the group that will be “waiting in the wings.”

TS SP (4): Gonzalez, Payano, Peterson, Ramirez
40M SP (5): Gonsalves, Jordan Humphreys, Franklyn Kilome, Oswalt, Szapucki

TS RP (4): Gilliam, Nogosek, Shreve, Uceta
40M RP (2): Bashlor, Drew Smith

TS C (3): Bossart, Mazeika, Rivera
40M C (1): Sanchez

TS INF (5): Adams, Hager, Moroff, Nunez, Toffey
40M INF (1): Andres Gimenez

TS OF (4): Cordell, Fargas, Parker, Tebow