Controversial NY Mets player is quietly removed from the 40-man roster

While most of the baseball world was focused on arbitration salaries and which teams were cheaping out, the New York Mets made some smaller moves while also paying their players.

Drew Romo was claimed off of waivers by the Chicago White Sox. The former first-round pick was a Mets waiver claim earlier in the offseason, but having failed to pass through unclaimed, he’ll be an abandoned project.

In addition to his elimination from the 40-man roster, Ji Hwan Bae was a survivor on the waiver wire. The controversial Mets offseason addition via waivers himself courtesy of the PIttsburgh Pirates, his 2019 domestic violence suspension is what had fans always puzzled by the mere thought of adding him to the organization. Present for now, he’s at least buried in the minor leagues.

The Mets preemptively cleared two 40-man roster spots rather than wait for an addition to free them up

Romo seemed like a potential contender to battle it out this spring alongside Hayden Senger for the third-string catcher spot. It won’t happen after all. Bae, on the other hand, made a little bit of sense as a utility player to stash in the minor leagues. He can play multiple positions, but in terms of talent and moral acceptability, this was a tough one to understand.

Bae was one of the first Mets additions of the offseason. Claimed on November 6 by the Mets, he has struggled to find any regular playing time in parts of four seasons with Pittsburgh. He’ll steal you a base. Beyond that, he doesn’t really seem to carry much value other than being a Band-Aid at multiple positions.

Getting over his suspension was an impossible ask by the Mets organization to their fans. It wasn’t a headline-grabbing move by any means and with an entire offseason ahead, our bewilderment came from the quickness in which they grabbed him

The immediate backlash by Mets fans who lost a little bit of respect for the move in the first place likely had other organizations thinking twice about making such an unneeded waiver claim.

Moving Bae off the 40-man roster will surely result in a true major league addition while also opening up the path for more intriguing additions this offseason. Jose Rojas, Jose Ramos, and Cristian Pache, step on down.