The roster is already going through some changes as the 2024/2025 offseason begins in earnest.
As of Monday, November 4, at 5:00 pm EST, the offseason as we think of it began: free agents are free to sign with any team, qualifying offers (of which the Mets have three: Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, and Pete Alonso) have been extended, and decisions on options and opt-outs have been made. So, it is a perfect time to deep dive into the Mets’ 40-man roster, and see where they stand going into a very intriguing offseason in Queens.
[All 40-Man listings are taken from the official roster on MLB.com]
Catchers
- Francisco Alvarez
- Luis Torrens
Starting off with the least interesting group to discuss, the catchers. The Mets have two catchers on the 40, both of which ended the season on the major league roster. They do not have much going on in the upper minor leagues in regards to the catcher position, so I don’t think it would be that much of an upset to see them add another guy to push Alvarez, who was a highly touted prospect but only has a 99 wRC+ in 228 games. In fairness, that’s good for the position, which seems to be allergic to offensive production league wide. And it would push Luis Torrens, who had a 90 wRC+ last year but really faded down the stretch, notching just a 46 wRC+ in the second half of the year.
Infielders
- Luisangel Acuña
- Brett Baty
- Luis De Los Santos
- Francisco Lindor
- Ronny Mauricio
- Jeff McNeil
- Mark Vientos
The infielders are much less cut and dry than the catchers are, as one would imagine. Francisco Lindor and Mark Vientos are locks, and Jeff McNeil likely is as well—though there is a world where he is traded, I suppose. The rest of the group are question marks. Luisangel Acuña impressed in his short stint in the bigs last year to the tune of a .308/.325/.641 line across 40 plate appearances (166 wRC+), but struggled mightily in Triple-A (.258/.299/.355). He will compete for a utility spot, most likely. Brett Baty poses an even more confusing question, as the former top prospect struggled in both the major and minor leagues last season, and, for all intents and purposes, got lapped by Mark Vientos. It would not surprise me if he is traded in order to build up the roster, or kept to see if he can figure out where he went wrong in 2024. Ronny Mauricio has not played baseball in a year due to a torn ACL suffered in 2023 while playing for Tigres Del Licey of the Dominican Winter League, and he underwent another surgery in August. It is impossible to tell what he looks like in 2025. Luis De Los Santos has been a Met for approximately five minutes, getting claimed on waivers on Monday. He has experience playing every infield position (catcher excluded), and is 26 years old. He had a 117 wRC+ in Triple A last year and has two options remaining.
Infield, much like the rest of the roster, is a fungible group still, with plenty of room for creativity to add to the bunch. They also need to add a starting first baseman, whether that be re-signing Pete Alonso, acquiring a different first baseman, or getting a third baseman and moving Vientos to first. There are a few different routes the Mets can go down, depending on the tenor of the offseason.
Outfielders
- José Azocar
- Starling Marte
- Brandon Nimmo
- Alex Ramírez
- Tyrone Taylor
You can make the case that outfield is the thinnest group on the position player side of the diamond, and I would not fight you on it. Brandon Nimmo, according to President of Baseball Operations David Stearns, is the left fielder, and they will look to add a center fielder this offseason, so it seems Nimmo is the franchise left fielder. Tyrone Taylor will play a big role next year, either as a starter or fourth outfielder. He did so last year as well, playing in 130 games last season, earning a 98 wRC+ and playing solid defense for his trouble. Starling Marte rebounded to a 104 wRC+ last year, but the health (94 games played) and defense (-8 outs above average) will have to be monitored as he enters his age-36 season. José Azocar has 214 major league games under his belt, but never found his offensive game at the highest level, as he will go into 2025 with a 74 wRC+ for his career. This is definitely a spot where the Mets will look to aggressively upgrade—cue the Juan Soto conjecture in the comments.
Pitchers
- Paul Blackburn
- Huascar Brazobán
- José Buttó
- Dylan Covey
- Edwin Díaz
- Reed Garrett
- Grant Hartwig
- Kevin Herget
- Max Kranick
- Sean Manaea
- Phil Maton
- Tylor Megill
- Dedniel Núñez
- Eric Orze
- David Peterson
- Sean Reid-Foley
- Christian Scott
- Kodai Senga
- Alex Young
- Danny Young
- Tyler Zuber
[Note: Sean Manaea and Phil Maton are free agents, so I will not be putting them in the pitcher blurbs as incumbent players because they are not under contract. I am assuming it is because they both had options.]
Starters
The Mets need starting pitching, again. Stearns himself said they need “multiple,” which is a reasonable conclusion, considering the current rotation is: Kodai Senga, David Peterson, and Tylor Megill, if we are just counting members of the 40. Paul Blackburn is a wild card, as he looked good in his few starts as a Met, but he is recovering from a truly brutal injury that makes his future hard to forecast. They do, however, have options. There are multiple top end and mid level starters that Stearns can chase in free agency. He is open to bringing back Sean Manaea and Luis Severino, both of which are qualified free agents and likely looking for long term deals after Manaea became the ace of the staff in Senga’s absence, and Severino had a healthy season for the first time in a while. They do have some upper minors pitching prospects, led by Brandon Sproat, who will likely make an impact on the 2025 season even if the Mets do sign a full rotation. Regardless, though, this will be an area of need again.
Relievers
The Mets have, by my count, three full on established relievers. Closer Edwin Díaz, Reed Garrett, and (assuming health) Dedniel Núñez. I think José Buttó profiles as a reliever long term, but his lack of ability to pitch in back-to-back games is a tough pill to swallow. After that, the bullpen is wide open. In perhaps my favorite offseason tradition in the David Stearns era, he is already acquiring relievers in a myriad of ways. He claimed Kevin Herget off of waivers on Monday, signed Dylan Covey to a major league deal, and signed Chris Devenski to a minor league deal. He will do this throughout the offseason. Some of them will stick and become the next Reed Garrett, some of them will not and they will move on quickly. The Mets don’t have the infrastructure to bring up arms like the Rays, Brewers and Dodgers do, to name a few, but they are getting there. They will throw all different types of relievers at the wall to see what sticks.