Time for my second annual postseason roster analysis. (At least I think it's my second annual, I vaguely recall doing this last year.) A look at the de facto 49 man roster going into the offseason. That's the actual 40 man, plus 8 on 60 day IL, plus 1 Cano. This is long but worth it. At least I think so.
I) UNDER CONTRACT (7) - with their guaranteed 2022 salary
Robinson Cano - $20.25M (net of Seattle rebate)
Carlos Carrasco - $12M
Jacob deGrom - $36M
Franciscon Lindor - $34.1M
Trevor May - $7.75M
James McCann - $8.15M
Taijuan Walker - $8M
That adds up to over $126 million, which would have put the Mets squarely in the midpack of MLB salaries this year. And that's just for seven guys. Even for a Steve Cohen, that's gotta crimp your style somewhat.
Two big questions here:
1) DeGrom. He can opt out at the end of 2022. Does it make sense to discuss extension given his health questions? I think not.
2) What to do with Cano? I say let him show up to spring training and figure it out from there.
II) FREE AGENTS (12)
Javier Baez
Dellin Betances
Michael Conforto
Jeurys Familia
Brad Hand
Heath Hembree
Rich Hill
Aaron Loup
Kevin Pillar (mutual option)
Marcus Stroman
Noah Syndergaard
Jonathan Villar
The immediate questions are whether to exercise the option on Pillar (NO) and make qualifying offers to Conforto and Syndergaard (YES to both). Beyond that, we're into some serious roster construction issues to be made by the new POBO and his team. Fortunately, I think they will have time to do this, as I doubt that anybody is going to throw around major money until a new CBA is in place. I expect that this will be a very late-developing offseason.
Would not be shocked if the only two returnees on this list are Loup and Syndergaard.
III) ARBITRATION ELIGIBLE (16) - broken out by free agent year
2023
Miguel Castro
Edwin Diaz
Robert Gsellman
Seth Lugo
Jose Martinez
Brandon Nimmo
Jose Peraza
Trevor Williams
2024
J.D. Davis
Dominic Smith
2025
Pete Alonso
Luis Guillorme
Joey Lucchesi
Jeff McNeil
Tomas Nido
Drew Smith
Alonso is gonna get paid. A few guys are gonna get traded. A few other guys are gonna get non-tendered. No one is gonna get extended. I think the new leadership team will come in with a "show me" attitude before they start spending Uncle Steve's hard earned dollars long term.
IV) UNDER TEAM CONTROL (14)
Travis Blankenhorn
Yennsy Diaz
Khalil Lee
Patrick Mazeika
Tylor Megill
Stephen Nogosek
Corey Oswalt
Mark Payton
David Peterson
Jake Reed
Sean Reid-Foley
Robert Stock
Thomas Szapucki
Jordan Yamamoto
The remarkable thing about this list is how totally un-remarkable it is. And that is the most damning piece of evidence against this team's recent management.
EVERY good team NEEDS a nucleus of young, controllable players that you don't have to pay for a while. This allows you to pay others. Who do the Mets have? Who on this list can we honestly say is a key part of the Mets present or future? Tylor Megill - maybe? David Peterson - maybe? Khalil Lee - maybe? That's about it. Sad.
So there you have it. Those are the 49 players that the new management team has to work with as it enters the offseason. Yes, there are promising young players coming up through the pipeline. A few of them (Mark Vientos for one) will need to be added to the 40 man this year. But none of them are expected to be 2022 contributors, at least not until mid to late season.
The new management team has decisions to make, and a lot of work to do.