5 NY Mets players who could get buried on the roster early in 2026

5) Adbert Alzolay

Heading into the offseason, the big praise for David Stearns was how he signed Adbert Alzolay a year early. The Mets paid him to rehab on a minor league deal in 2025 to prepare him for 2026. Now he’s not looking like such a sure thing for the Opening Day roster. In fact, if you were to bet he makes the team right now, you might want to rethink some life choices.

This doesn’t negate how clever of a move this was. Alzolay is a soon-to-be 31-year-old coming off of Tommy John surgery and an easily overlooked full season as a reliever in the majors back in 2023 with the Chicago Cubs. It has been a while since he last pitched because of the injury. Considering the injury, it kind of always made sense to plan for Alzolay to begin the year in the minors rather than push him too early.

Alzolay doesn’t have minor league options remaining and unless there’s an opt out in his contract, the Mets are wiser to let him get some in-game action down in Syracuse before making the call. He should, however, still be considered an option to overtake Kimbrel for a final roster spot. The pair are similar in a sense with Kimbrel having a much fatter resume.

There are extremes of what Azolaly can do for the Mets this coming year with everything in between as an option, too. Slow and steady should win the race with him. Wait until you actually have some permanency available on your big league roster before making the call to promote him, unless he wins the job outright in St. Lucie.

As good as he can be, Azolaly doesn’t have the leeway to struggle. He’s removable if he’s not the same pitcher he was prior to Tommy John surgery.