5 NY Mets players who will begin the year on the roster but might be gone by Memorial Day

3) Paul Blackburn

It’s a bit of a surprise that Paul Blackburn has lasted so long on the Mets’ roster. The Mets acquired Blackburn at the 2024 trade deadline from the Oakland Athletics. The right-hander was only limited to just 75.1 innings with the A’s and Mets and put up a poor 4.66 ERA, 4.63 FIP, and 1.29 WHIP. Of Blackburn's few positives, he held opponents to an 87.6 MPH exit velo with a 6.6% walk rate. But he only struck out 18.7% of batters he faced with a 1.43 HR/9 and 8.2% barrel rate.

Unlike Canning, it’s not as if Blackburn put up solid numbers over any period of time. From 2022 through 2023, Blackburn owned a 4.35 ERA, 4.09 FIP, and 1.40 WHIP. His only strong suits were limiting walks (7.8%) and hard contact (87.7 MPH exit velo, 6.4% barrel rate). He only struck out 20.7% of opponents and had a 1.09 HR/9 ratio.

Blackburn doesn’t have much to build off of, either. He had a 90 Stuff+ in 2022 and 2023. 2024 saw him put up an 89 Stuff+. For what it’s worth, Blackburn still averaged a career-high 92.2 MPH with his fastball this year, but this still falls far from the league average. Only one of his offerings has above-average vertical and horizontal break, that being his slider.

If Canning has a slim-to-none chance of sticking around until Memorial Day, Paul Blackburn has an even smaller chance. The Mets would have been better off non-tendering him rather than paying him over $4 million to stick around for now.