3 NY Mets player auditions for the 2027 roster that shouldn’t be delayed any longer

We’ve been in “what’s next?” mode for the New York Mets for weeks. After the trade deadline, the focus came onto what players can do for the team less so now and more so in the future. Rookies like Nate Lavender have caught our attention. Veterans like Sean Manaea have, at times, at least shown they can have a role on the ball club in 2027.

Then there are those still sitting in the minor leagues. While Cristian Pache, Christopher Morel, Robert Stock, and more get playing time every so often, a few other players fester in the minor leagues. It’s not criminal what the Mets have done with them. This is more on the scale of taking candy from a baby.

Exhausted from a month of August tryouts that seem to have reached their end point, the Mets can no longer avoid auditions for these three players who remain in the minor leagues.

These Mets players need to begin their 2027 auditions sooner than later

1) Jonah Tong

Jonah Tong has taken a big step back this year, pitching to a 4.86 ERA in 100 innings of work across 22 starts. It’s looking like he may get one more start in Triple-A before a call-up in September. Why wait? Stock is filler material. As fun of a story as he is and smart of a mind as he possesses, there’s no reason he needs to make another start for the Mets again.

Tong, on the other hand, has made his way into only 3 Mets games all year. Still very much on the pace he should have been all along, prematurely promoted in 2025, the lost season for the Mets has made it perfect for Tong to start facing big league hitters again. There’s no reason the Mets need to go into the offseason with a question mark hovering over Tong’s head. They need to know if he’s actually someone they can consider for the rotation or not.

2) Nick Morabito

Nick Morabito won’t wear number 8 ever again. What he should do is wear a big league Mets uniform. His brief stint with the club in May was horrific. The numbers haven’t been superb down in the minors. He went into Friday’s game batting .256/.355/.384 with 12 home runs and 41 stolen bases.

Morabito needs to be in the major leagues for a lot of the same reasons as Tong. He seems to fit pretty well as the Tyrone Taylor replacement. A right-handed outfielder with speed and strong defensive capabilities, the minimum of hitting left-handed pitchers well could give the Mets a solution in center field in case A.J. Ewing struggles in those spots. There is very little reason why some of the journeymen have been with the Mets in August. Featuring Morabito even on an irregular basis seems to benefit them far more.

3) Zach Franklin

Zach Franklin went into Friday with a 3.24 ERA in 7 games for the Syracuse Mets. An improvement over what he did with the Chicago White Sox in Triple-A, it has lowered his season ERA to 4.19. His strikeouts have been a bit low and the walks are a tad up, but that’s not a big enough concern when Franklin is a Rule 5 Draft eligible player who’s already 27-years-old.

The only reason why Franklin might not be here yet is because the Mets aren’t convinced there actually will be a Rule 5 Draft this offseason due to the expiration of the CBA. Once a player is added to the 40-man roster, they’d be ineligible to appear in any minor league games next year during any absence of major league baseball games. Other than that thinking, they should probably test him out against major league hitters before the 2026 season is through.

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