The Mets are staring at a roster crunch, and the calendar is making it even trickier.
With the Rule V roster deadline less than a week away, New York has to decide which players it wants to protect from the draft, while also leaving itself enough room to handle whatever comes next. That means balancing internal prospects, possible free-agent additions, and any trades that might bring in outside help.
As of Wednesday, the Mets’ 40-man roster is full. To open spots, they could go the route of non-tendering players such as Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio, or they could waive players in an effort to keep them in the organization on the minor league side.
The list of Rule V-eligible prospects is a real one, too. The Mets could lose six players in the draft: Jefferson Rojas, Jack Wenninger, Gary Gill Hill, Ryan Clifford, Chris Suero and Jacob Reimer.
Rojas stands out as the club’s top prospect, while Wenninger and Gill Hill are starting pitchers the Mets would almost certainly want to protect. Gill Hill came over in the Freddy Peralta trade at the deadline, adding another layer to his value in the organization.
If the Mets protected all six, President of Baseball Operations David Stearns would need to clear six roster spots before even thinking about outside additions. That’s where the looming lockout changes the equation.
The offseason is expected to stop at midnight on Dec. 2 if the owners lock out the players, freezing big-league transactions until a new collective bargaining agreement is reached. The big league portion of the Rule V Draft is scheduled for Dec. 9 during the Winter Meetings, but those meetings would likely be canceled if there’s a work stoppage.
There’s recent history here, and it matters. In 2022, the same thing happened, and because the lockout lasted into March, the Rule V draft was skipped entirely and never made up during the 2023 season.
That precedent gives Stearns a possible path to play a little more aggressively with his roster decisions. Rojas, Wenninger and Gill Hill look like near-certainties to be protected no matter what, but players like Reimer and Clifford could be handled differently if the Mets believe the draft may not happen at all.
In a normal offseason, those two would deserve serious consideration. Under these circumstances, though, New York could choose to hold off and preserve precious 40-man spots for later.
That would give the Mets more room to maneuver while they try to get most of their offseason work done before Dec. 2. It’s a gamble, but one the 2022 precedent makes worth considering if Stearns wants maximum flexibility.
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