NY Mets Opening Day roster isn’t perfect but every decision made was

Hats off to the New York Mets for assembling the best possible Opening Day roster they could. It isn’t perfect, but every decision they made leading up to the final 26 was as good as it gets.

The position players

Hayden Senger was the best choice to be the backup catcher for no other reason than his defense. Familiarity with the organization didn’t hurt. All things equal, I think we all just wanted to see what he could do.

The only other decision the Mets had to make was whether or not they’d carry Luisangel Acuna. They will, in part because they couldn’t find a better option out there.

It’s unfortunate they’ll need to put Alexander Canario and Jose Azocar on waivers. Each was there for protection. Canario was added via trade in case Starling Marte wasn’t ready. Azocar hung around as a player who could have replaced Jose Siri or Tyrone Taylor. The outfielders all made it into Opening Day healthy.

The starting pitchers

Tylor Megill over Paul Blackburn turned out to be pretty moot considering the latter went on the IL. Regardless, Megill showed he’s the hotter arm this spring. We never did get the full fair fight for the last rotation spot due to injuries. If we did, Griffin Canning would have run away with it.

The timing of Blackburn’s knee injury is peculiarly convenient for the team to best assemble their Opening Day roster. He never was as great of a match as some of these other pitchers. A very limited stay on the IL will only further the conspiracy theories.

The bullpen

It’s frustrating to see Dedniel Nunez get sent down yet understandable given the circumstances. If he wasn’t 100%, the Mets have better options. In comes Huascar Brazoban and Max Kranick. Made possible by viewers like you and the injury to Blackburn, the Mets bullpen doesn’t have that obvious sore thumb sticking out.

If there’s one player who might upset you, it would be Danny Young. The club’s second lefty, his lack of minor league options is problematic and yet not that big of a deal. He succeeds and he stays. He fails and he goes. It’s pretty simple. Cutting him loose and replacing him with Anthony Gose based on a small sample in spring training would have been foolish.

Every roster decision was perfect and we can assume the same will happen with the starting lineup. The Mets have made no secret what their ideal lineup to begin the year will look like. No one tried to reinvent the wheel with this team which is the right call to make.