On Friday night, the New York Mets made a series of moves to get their 40-man roster in order ahead of free agency, which began at 5:00 p.m. ET.

The Mets 40-man roster is now at 38 players.

Rafael Montero, who is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery, was outrighted off the 40-man roster, as were Phillip Evans and Jamie Callahan. Montero and Evans elected free agency, and Callahan became a minor league free agent.

Montero, 28, showed brief flashes of brilliance over parts of four seasons with the Mets (2014-2017), but never showed the consistency the organization had hoped he would provide. Over 58 appearances (30 starts), Montero had a 5.38 ERA with 8.6 strikeouts and 5.1 walks per nine innings, respectively.

Evans, 26, hit .260/.323/.372 in 671 MiLB games, all within the Mets’ organization. After being called up in 2017, the California native slashed .303/.395/.364 in 38 plate appearances.

He began the 2018 season with the Mets but only spent 15 games with the team and 62 with Triple-A Las Vegas before coming back up breaking his left leg courtesy of an Adam Eaton slide at second base. He finished the MLB season with a .143/.217/.143 slash line and hit .256/.327/.493 in 245 plate appearances with the 51’s.

Callahan, 24, came to the Mets in the trade that sent Addison Reed to the Red Sox in 2017. He made nine relief appearances with the Mets in 2017, pitching to a 4.05 ERA, but only made seven appearances in 2018, all for Triple-A Las Vegas, before hitting the disabled list on April 22 (shoulder). He underwent shoulder surgery in June and missed the rest of the year.

The team outrighted 24-year-old left-hander P.J. Conlon to Triple-A Syracuse. Conlon earned himself his first trip to The Show in 2018 but finished the season with an 8.22 earned-run average at the major league level (7.2 innings over two starts and one relief appearance). He pitched to a 6.55 ERA over 23 games (21 starts) with Triple-A Las Vegas last season.

Jack Reinheimer, 26, who had a cup of coffee with the Mets this season after coming over in a trade with Arizona midseason (.167/.286/.167 in 35 plate appearances), was claimed off waivers by the Cubs.

Yoenis Cespedes (heels), T.J. Rivera (elbow), Travis d’Arnaud (elbow), Juan Lagares (toe), Eric Hanhold (oblique), and Bobby Wahl (hamstring) were all reinstated from the 60-day disabled list.

We’ll keep you posted as more roster news breaks.