Jefferson Rojas keeps making the Mets’ decision harder by the day.
With the Dominican Winter League now rolling, the 2026 season gave New York’s prospect another loud reminder on Saturday: he homered twice. That followed a regular season in which Rojas launched 27 home runs, and his power surge has only strengthened the idea that he could force his way onto the Mets’ major league radar sooner rather than later.
The path to protecting him is already clear. Because of his Rule 5 Draft eligibility, the Mets will need to keep him on the 40-man roster in some form before the season starts.
That part is not really in doubt. The bigger question is how quickly New York can find a place for him once the 2027 season gets underway.
Rojas’ brief Triple-A stint only added to the case. In six games for Syracuse, he hit .308 with three home runs. Then came the Winter League showing, and now he’s giving the Mets more than enough ammunition to think about him as an Opening Day roster candidate rather than just a name for the future.
The fit depends on what happens elsewhere on the roster. If Bo Bichette opts out, the answer gets a lot simpler, with Rojas looking like the rookie the Mets would want at third base with no hesitation.
If Bichette opts in, the picture shifts again, and New York could be staring at a scenario where Marcus Semien moves to the bench. That would open second base for Rojas, or potentially create yet another position change for Bichette.
There’s also the wrinkle of timing. The start of the 2027 season will hinge on CBA negotiations, and nobody knows yet whether that means missing games, weeks, or months.
The concern for Rojas is that if the Mets add him to the 40-man roster before a lockout, he would be ineligible to play any minor league games. That wouldn’t change his long-term value, but it could slow his path to the majors if the negotiations drag on and the Mets want him to keep getting at-bats in Triple-A.
Still, Winter League production only pushes the argument further in one direction. The Mets are unlikely to bring Rojas north just to use him sparingly.
If he’s up, he needs a real role. Sitting him on the roster would make little sense.
Saturday’s game came at third base, the spot where he seems most likely to end up if he sticks and succeeds in New York. Through his professional regular season, Rojas has split time evenly between third and second, with 83 games and 81 starts at each spot.
Shortstop has been his main position, but defense has not been a strength, and Francisco Lindor is still there. For now, the Mets are not making any plans to move Lindor off his position.
The organization has shown before that it isn’t afraid to move quickly with prospects who are performing. Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty, and Mark Vientos all got their chances, and Ronny Mauricio can be added to that group too. The results have been uneven, but the Mets have made clear they’re willing to let a player force the issue.
Rojas is pushing toward that same kind of opportunity. The more he keeps producing, the easier it is to picture Syracuse as a temporary stop rather than a destination.
In Other News...
Mets Could Keep Winning From The Brooks Raley Trade
Brooks Raley gave the Mets a useful left-handed arm out of the bullpen before the club moved him to Philadelphia, and his results since the deal have only sharpened the contrast. New York turned that reliever swap into a pair of prospects, John Spikerman and Luke Gabrysh, and the early read is that the return could end up mattering more than a simple midseason bullpen upgrade ever would.
Gabrysh, in particular, has already drawn attention for strong pitching metrics, which gives the Mets something tangible to track as the trade ages. Even with Raley's decline after leaving New York, the bigger question for the Mets is whether the value they picked up will keep growing into something more than a useful piece of deadline business. [Read more 🡒]
Mets May Have To Cash In Prospects To Fix Costly Holes
The Mets entered the winter with a familiar kind of roster math to solve, one made trickier by the contracts already on the books and the possibility that baseballs financial system could look different soon. After being viewed as sellers at the deadline, the tone is now more cautious and more targeted, with the front office weighing whether the quickest path to fixing the biggest holes is to deal from a farm system that has real value but also real vulnerability.
Among the names that could come into play are Jacob Reimer, Sammy Stafura and Jack Wenninger, and the key detail is that none of them are being treated as untouchable. Each has a different track record and a different fit on the field, which gives the Mets room to be selective if they decide to chase immediate help. The harder part is knowing how far they want to go in giving up prospect capital when the roster still needs both answers and flexibility. [Read more 🡒]
Mets May Need To Act Fast On A Breakout Building Block
Carson Benge has given the Mets plenty to think about as they look ahead to the next phase of building around a young core. After a strong rookie season, the question is no longer whether he belongs in the mix, but how quickly the organization should move if it wants to keep him in Queens for the long haul. The idea of striking early on an extension has real appeal, especially for a club that could use more certainty around its emerging talent.
The Braves have made a habit of locking up young players before their prices climb, and the Mets have every reason to study that model closely. Benge is part of a broader wave of youth the team hopes can add speed and energy, with stolen bases still a need and prospects Jefferson Rojas and Nick Morabito potentially part of that answer. The challenge now is deciding whether to act before Benges breakout season turns into something even more expensive to buy into. [Read more 🡒]