It seems like the New York Mets DFA or trade at least one somewhat notable player every year. Last year, it was Antonio Bastardo, who was a total bust of a free-agent signing. Recent past examples of this include Shaun Marcum, Chris Young and even the great Brandon Lyon come to mind as guys who had big-league deals that the Mets dumped due to poor performance in the Alderson era. Other guys who were on minor league deals, like Jose Valverde, also got the boot. Remember him?
With this being the case, there are probably some guys on this year’s team who will find themselves on the chopping block if they do not perform at adequate levels. Here are four players who could possibly find themselves with a new team:
Jay Bruce – The Mets, obviously, tried dumping Bruce this offseason. They couldn’t find any suitors for him in a trade, so that means they will likely be forced to start him over Michael Conforto in the outfield– or maybe even at first base. He will be a free agent after this season, and he’s playing on a fairly modest $13 million salary for 2017.
If Bruce plays according to his post-trade numbers last season, the Mets shouldn’t hesitate to send him packing– especially if Conforto plays well in Triple-A. Someone will probably take a gamble on Bruce in a trade, given his track record. Even if nobody does, releasing him won’t cost that much money.
But hopefully for the Mets, it’s not going to come to that for Bruce. He’s had at least 20 home runs in eight of his nine big-league seasons, so the post-trade performance may have just been a fluke.
Josh Edgin – Edgin’s 1.32 ERA in 2014 feels like such a long time ago– because it was. After he missed all of 2015 and posted a 5.23 ERA in limited action last year, he hasn’t looked especially sharp in Spring Training this year. He’s got a 6.75 ERA in four innings, which is obviously a very small sample size, but when you haven’t pitched effectively in three years it could be indicative of a bigger problem. Edgin is also out of minor league options, so if he keeps pitching like he has as of late he might be out of a job.
Rafael Montero – The Mets honestly should have dumped Montero last season. He has a 5.15 career ERA in 73.1 career big-league innings, and had a 7.20 ERA in Triple-A starts last season. He can’t even get Triple-A batters out. And although he’s allowed just one run in seven innings this spring, he’s running out of time to prove himself. He should be the first 40-man roster casualty should the Mets need to make a change.
David Wright… Kind of- Wright obviously isn’t going anywhere, thanks to his contract. He’s owed $67 million over the next four seasons, so the only way out of having Wright on your team is if he retires. But if he starts to struggle out of the gate– or if he can’t play– the Mets shouldn’t ignore the fact that they have several other options at third. Jose Reyes could play there. Neil Walker could play there in an emergency, if they move Cabrera to second and call up Rosario. So there are options if the Mets want to move Wright to the bench– or to first base.
