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8 easiest Mets players on the 40-man roster to non-tender or release this offseason
There isn't room left for these 8 players on the 40-man roster.
One part of the New York Mets offseason will be non-tender decisions. Less fanciful than free agent decisions, the non-tender candidates are those the team decidedly chooses to move on from. Typically, these are players who meet a certain criteria. Most important is how the player performed. However, teams also weigh whether or not the player has minor league options remaining or how much their contract will cost even through arbitration.
Money isn’t a major concern for any of these future 40-man roster casualties that’ll be easy choices to move on from.
1) Danny Young
There was a time when keeping Danny Young made sense for the Mets. He was great in the meat of his 2024 season. He’d end up finishing the year with a meek 4.54 ERA but with a still promising 11.5 strikeouts per 9. He had a 0.000 ERA in July and a 2.45 ERA in August. Then came September when it inflated up to 10.57.
Young was used sparingly in the postseason. One could argue he only made the roster because the Mets didn’t have any other true lefty reliever available. David Peterson was the only other option, but he wasn’t used so much as a lefty but more so as a high-leverage long man.
Why can’t Young return in 2024? His minor league options are exhausted. A flame out late in the year assured us all the only way he could possibly return is if he manages to stick around as depth in case of injury. And if this happens, he’ll be on the clock immediately.
2) DJ Stewart
Breathe your sigh of relief. DJ Stewart will not be back with the Mets in 2025. Maybe the offensive equivalent of Young in some ways, the Mets force fed him on the roster simply because they had the desire to have a left-handed bat off the bench. The acquisition of Jesse Winker helped alleviate us from seeing him overused.
Stewart ended up hitting .177/.325/.27 on the year with only 5 home runs. It seems the success he had in 2023 was indeed a mirage. Other than routinely drawing walks, he didn’t offer the Mets very much at all.
David Stearns will get rid of Stewart for a reason that’ll be familiar on this list. They can no longer option him to the minor leagues beginning in 2025. There is no chance he sticks around.
3) Max Kranick
Max Kranick had a season you probably didn’t pay much attention to. A waiver claim who earned an extra option year because he missed enough time with injuries in the past to qualify for it, this seemingly savvy pickup never had any sort of payoff for the Mets. He did crack the National League Wild Card Series roster simply because the Mets had the desire to have an innings eater around. He never would get into a playoff game.
Kranick grew up a Mets fan and to even be a part of this magical season achieved some sort of life’s mission. Kranick is a candidate to return on a new minor league deal. However, with the last of his options used up and no real proof he’d be of any value to carry on the 26-man roster for Opening Day, it’s easy to picture the Mets releasing him.
4) Joey Lucchesi
An unsung hero late for the Mets, Joey Lucchesi ate up some innings in Game 162 against the Atlanta Braves. He went through the motions. He helped bridge the final game of the regular season into the playoffs for the ball club. Viewed in the past as a solid depth piece, Lucchesi’s final minor league option was exhausted this year when the team sent him to Syracuse before the year even began.
Battling back from Tommy John Surgery to pitch as well as he did in 2023 for the Mets (yeah, he made a couple of starts, remember?) at least showed teams Lucchesi has something left to offer. Of all the Mets players to join the organization since Steve Cohen took over, no one’s tenure flew by as quickly as Lucchesi. It still feels like he has one full quality season left in him.
5) Jose Azocar
Who? That’s okay. Jose Azocar never actually made it into a Mets game. He was a September waiver claim from the San Diego Padres when the team was apparently doing everything they could to avoid calling up Luisangel Acuna. A speedy outfielder with no minor league options left, he’s the kind of guy who’ll head into free agency and await ending up with a contender looking for the next Terrence Gore.
In 281 plate appearances in Triple-A, Azocar batted .296/.325/.438 with 30 stolen bases in 36 attempts. He’s not the kind of guy you seriously want to consider for your Opening Day roster. The Mets don’t need another Tim Locastro or Zack Short. One-dimensional players never last, do they?
6) Tyler Zuber
Another, maybe less loud, who? Tyler Zuber was a trade deadline acquisition by the Mets. Don’t remember his big games? That’s because he never made it out of Triple-A.
Zuber was a member of the Tampa Bay Rays organization before getting traded to the Mets for Paul Gervase. Undoubtedly the worst Mets trade deadline deal of this past summer, it’s easy to understand why he never managed to make his way to Flushing.
The promising 2.49 ERA Zuber posted with Triple-A Durham for the Rays multiplied with Syracuse. Zuber went from 3-0 to 0-3 and finished his Mets stint with a 12.38 ERA. Even if he did have minor league options after this year (he doesn’t) it would be very simple to let him leave.
7) Matt Gage
Surely you remember Matt Gage. A player for cash trade from none other than the Los Angeles Dodgers, Gage was one of Stearns’ attempts to find realistic backup options in the era of Jake Diekman. He never did make it into a game for the Mets. Yet again, he’s a player without options already aware of his fate.
Gage posted a 3.92 ERA for Syracuse in 20.2 innings. He stuck out 10.5 batters per inning in his attempt to get back to the majors where he has logged only 19.2 total innings. It wouldn’t be so bad to invite him back on a fresh minor league deal for some depth. On his current deal, it’s a requirement to move on.
8) Alex Young
This was one of the more underrated midseason acquisitions by the Mets. A waiver claim late in the year, they brought a second left-handed throwing man with the surname Young into the fold. This Young, Alex Young, had an effective 3.29 ERA in 13.2 innings for the Mets. Why does it feel like he pitched a lot more?
This Young did walk a few too many batters without the high strikeout rate of his unrelated teammate, Danny Young. He wouldn’t be a terrible player to have back again next year. However, zero minor league options for 2025 should have the Mets moving on from him. It doesn’t make sense to plan around a roster with him on it. He could be worth re-signing on a new minor league pact with a minor league invite to spring training depending on how the offseason goes.
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