The Mets Impending 40-Man Roster Shuffle

The Mets have been pretty banged up this season, including some guys who started the season injured-specifically, Pedro Beato and Chris Young.  The good news is that those two players (and other injured Amazins) are on the comeback trail, but that means the Mets will have to make room on the 40-man roster for Beato and Young.  As a result, the front office will have some interesting decisions to make.

Sandy Alderson and company have already made a few changes to the 40-man roster this season.  D.J. Carrascowas designated for

assignment and then released, while Jack Egbert was added.  A few days ago, Manny Acosta was DFA’d and Omar Quintanilla was added.  Neither Beato nor Young is on the 40-man, so at least two more decisions are looming.

Beato is eligible to come off the disabled list on June 3rd and barring any setbacks or implosions at Buffalo, he should come off that day or the next.  At this point, the Mets have two relievers in the bullpen who are first on the chopping block: Egbert and Chris Schwinden (the order in which they get kicked off the 25-man roster isn’t as clear).  The Mets just went through the trouble of adding the twenty-nine year old Egbert, but he doesn’t have any upside and probably wouldn’t be claimed off waivers.  Schwinden has options and can return to Buffalo, no questions asked.  However, when the Mets demote Schwinden to make room for either Beato or Young, a corresponding move to the 40-man will need to happen.

As a corresponding move, the Mets will likely remove a player in the minor leagues who is on their 40-man roster.  Who that player will be is a tough question.  Whomever is removed will have to be exposed to waivers if the Mets want to keep said player, and any of the players who seem like removal candidates stand a good shot at being claimed.  For example, the Mets could remove lefty Robert Carson, who had a cup of coffee this year in the Majors and has struggled to find consistency in the minors (474.1 minor league innings, 4.21 ERA, 1.507 WHIP, 6.6 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9).  But given his improvement in the minors this season and his relatively young age (23), odds are some team would claim him.

However, the most logical candidate is Josh Satin.  A twenty-seven year old utility infielder who doesn’t play any position particularly well, Satin went 5-25 during his call-up last year and is a lifetime .304/.393/.457 minor league hitter (he’s batting .268/.358/.360 this season with two homers).  Satin doesn’t project as anything more than a bench piece, so the Mets might not think it’s worth it to keep him on the 40-man.  Given his age, Satin also has a chance of clearing waivers (Nick Evans went up and down a lot last year, clearing waivers each time).  The Amazins could go in a different direction by and remove injury prone players such as Zach Lutz or Reese Havens, but they hold more potential than Satin.

To make matters more complicated, there will be other similar decisions in the near future as well.  Omar Quintanilla, who debuted for the Mets last night, will eventually return to Buffalo (although with Ruben Tejada, Justin Turner and Ronny Cedeno all hurt, it might be awhile) and need to be removed from the 40-man.  Furthermore, if the Mets decide they want to promote Elvin Ramirez to the big leagues, they need a space for him as well.  Eventually, there will be some tough decisions.

Of course, injuries could happen, or Chris Young might opt out of his contract or any number of instances which would delay these decisions.  But odds are the Mets will soon engage in some roster shuffling.  When you factor in others coming off the disabled list in the near future, such as Jason Bay, Josh Thole and Miguel Batista, Sandy Alderson and company will have some tough decisions to make.