Mets 40-man roster: Three guys who could lose a spot before Opening Day

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NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 08: Tyler Bashlor #49 of the New York Mets in action against the Philadelphia Phillies during a game at Citi Field on September 8, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Don’t put the current New York Mets 40-man roster in ink just yet. Because it is so pitching-heavy, we could see some men fall from it before Opening Day.

The current New York Mets 40-man roster is heavy on pitching and much lighter on pitching. There are only two position players on it who have yet to appear in the big leagues, catching prospect Ali Sanchez and shortstop Andres Gimenez.

Everyone else known for wielding a bat has familiarized themselves with Major League Baseball in the past. I expect some changes by Opening Day with a little more balance.

This means the Mets are likely to designate at least a pitcher or two for assignment to clear a roster spot for another bat. While there’s no urgency to do something like this in the spring, someone may snatch up a bigger role with the organization.

Often, it’s a numbers game. And these three pitchers may lose their 40-man roster spot before the year even begins because of it.

Tyler Bashlor

From the cavalcade of relievers we’ve seen sent up and down from Triple-A over the last two or three years, Tyler Bashlor is one there’s still a little optimism around. He’ll pitch this year at age 27, with a lifetime ERA of 5.33.

While this may strike most of us as an ugly number, he did hold down a 4.22 ERA in 32 innings back in 2018. Walks absolutely destroyed him in 22 big league innings last year with 17 of them in the limited action he did see.

Bashlor is on the doorstep to Major League Baseball. He has pitched well enough at the minor league level to deserve a look but has yet to do enough to stay in Queens.

This year may be a make or break campaign for Bashlor. Unless he’s able to show the Mets some early signs that he has yet to reach his ceiling, it’s possible he becomes the next victim of a roster crunch.

Jacob Rhame

The soon-to-be 27-year-old Jacob Rhame has been through 47.2 big league innings thus far. The results have been far from promising with a 6.23 ERA on the other side of things. Rhame hasn’t blown batters away with strikeouts either—a skill needed to allow an organization to stay a little patient with a player.

Rhame came to the Mets in 2017 from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the August trade deadline deal for Curtis Granderson. He debuted shortly after, leaving a bad impression with a 9.00 ERA in his first 9 frames.

It’s getting harder to believe Rhame will ever become a solid bullpen arm at the major league level. In the minor leagues last year, he did little to support his case with a 5.23 ERA on the year.

Last year, I think the Mets still believed they could get a little more out of Rhame in the future. Amongst those fringe major league pitchers we saw from the bullpen, he was one of the younger ones. It made sense to allow him more time.

Rhame didn’t get to see much big league action in 2019 and it feels even less likely he will in 2020. The bullpen has been revamped and I think the veterans the Mets brought in are ahead of him on the depth chart.

When home runs aren’t doing damage to his statistics, walks are. He has been especially inconsistent in the former, throwing his share of meatballs at the minor league level since coming over to this organization.

Right now, Rhame is a guy the Mets may have around just because they haven’t had someone to replace him on the 40-man roster. This could soon change.

Paul Sewald

I was actually kind of happy for Paul Sewald when he won a game for the Mets in 2019. After going 0-6 in 2017 and 0-7 in 2018, he seemed destined to become this franchise’s next Anthony Young only spread out over more seasons.

Sewald has seen more life and big league action than Bashlor and Rhame. He’ll turn 30 this year and has already tossed 141.1 innings for the Mets. In addition to his now 1-14 career record out of the bullpen, he owns a 5.16 ERA.

In his most recent tour through the major leagues, Sewald did look a little better. Be forewarned, his 2019 numbers only include 19.2 innings of work. So while the strikeout numbers were up and the walk rate was terrific, I’m not sure over the span of a longer period he’d be able to maintain this.

Sewald is a clear minor league graduate. Looking back at his numbers, he was a successful closer on the farm. It’s a little hard to believe considering what we have witnessed at the major league level.

Easily the biggest disadvantage Sewald has over the other two men on this list is his age. There’s little chance he blooms into the next Seth Lugo. More likely, he’s the next Drew Gagnon, Chris Mazza, Tim Peterson, or anyone else who has been designated for assignment over the past few seasons after bouncing up and down between the major and minor leagues.

There’s going to come a point this year, possibly even in spring, when the Mets realize Sewald doesn’t have a place with the franchise. An advantage of giving him the DFA treatment over others is his age may help keep him within the organization. Except for Mrs. Sewald, there isn’t much demand for him. Designating Sewald for assignment doesn’t have to be the end of his tenure with the organization.

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Don’t put the current New York Mets 40-man roster in ink just yet. Because it is so pitching-heavy, we could see some men fall from it before Opening Day.

Tyler Bashlor

Jacob Rhame

Paul Sewald

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