Timing will be everything for the NY Mets and when they call up Adbert Alzolay

On Wednesday’s New York Mets broadcast, Gary Cohen shared a tidbit about Adbert Alzolay on his projection for the coming year. According to Cohen via David Stearns, Alzolay isn’t making the team. No chance. No shot.

It’s not the worst thing. The understanding is Alzolay needs innings. Recovering from Tommy John surgery, the Mets will be extremely cautious with their clever 2024-2025 offseason signing.

Alzolay agreed to a two-year minor league deal with the Mets with both sides knowing he wouldn’t throw a pitch at all in 2025. They’re not about to rush him out there and for good reason. In addition to needing the innings, timing will matter with the out of options reliever who had a figurative curveball thrown at him just as he was getting established as a premier high-leverage arm for the Chicago Cubs.

The Mets aren’t rushing Adbert Alzolay to the frontlines

Until the Mets started adding players like Craig Kimbrel and Luis Garcia, you would have found Alzolay on the depth chart to crack the 26-man roster. It seems like the Mets never had any intention of letting him battle for a roster spot. Can we blame them? An early disaster would have had them pulling the plug. All of the effort to pay and rehab him would have been for nothing.

Thank goodness this was only a minor league deal because it allows the Mets to stuff Alzolay in Syracuse for however long they need. His contract may include opt outs at certain points, something they’ll be mindful of.

The cliche phrase of “like acquiring someone at the trade deadline” certainly seems to apply here. Alzolay is basically in the same position Brooks Raley was last year with the main difference being the lack of urgency to activate. Raley made his first relief appearance on July 19th. He never missed a full year, placing Alzolay at a much earlier availability.

The clear unknown of how Alzolay will perform off of major surgery has him fitting in not much different from many of your average depth pieces. Calling him up prematurely and having to DFA him wastes Alzolay if he ends up claimed on waivers.

Most depth charts you’ll find for the Mets include few optional relievers. Tobias Myers, whom the team has already said will make the roster, and Huascar Brazoban are it.

Alzolay is someone who’ll need to wait until the situation calls for his presence. First, he’ll need to prove he’s better than the others. It’s going to take a while before we see him.