5 Mets players who survived the non-tender deadline who could still get cut before Opening Day

2) Tyler Zuber

This one is puzzling. Tyler Zuber was picked up at last year’s trade deadline from the Tampa Bay Rays for promising minor league reliever Paul Gervase. Zuber hadn’t done much in his major league career. The Mets were banking on his 2.49 ERA in Triple-A translating well for them. He never made it out of Syracuse. There was a reason for it. Look no further than the 12.38 ERA he had in 16 innings of work.

Zuber caught the same bug that seemed to ruin the year of several other Syracuse teammates. While some, mostly a couple of the relievers, did manage to have good years it was a pit of despair for Mike Vasil, Dom Hamel, and even Brandon Sproat once he was promoted.

Unable to escape the misery, Zuber finished his time in Syracuse with a 2.68 WHIP aided in large part to 8.4 walks per 9. Why is he still around?

To make matters worse, Zuber doesn’t have any minor league options remaining. Ergo, he’s on the Opening Day roster or he’s gone. Not going to happen.

There isn’t rhyme or reason as to why the Mets should continue down the same path with Zuber. Releasing him and re-signing on a minor league deal is acceptable. Perhaps keeping him around long enough to show off his abilities in the spring can earn enough good faith between the player and organization for him to return if he doesn’t get a sweeter promise elsewhere. Even if this is the plan, he should be one of the first the team DFA’s once the 40-man roster gets tighter.