3 internal candidates to replace Trevor Williams as the long man next season

Trevor Williams has been an enjoyable part of this year’s New York Mets team. Flipping between the bullpen and rotation all season has helped them in a lot of ways.

Williams is, however, a free agent after this season. The Mets could re-sign him and try to see if he can be just as good in the future. Or they could try to find the same success with someone else.

Wouldn’t you know, the Mets have a couple of internal candidates who could already be in line to have a similar to-do list as Williams has been handed this year.

1) NY Mets candidate to replace Trevor Williams next season: Tylor Megill

Exactly where does Tylor Megill fit into the Mets’ plans for next year? The team’s rotation for 2023 is completely unpredictable. The only guy not headed to free agency or with an option or opt-out is Max Scherzer.

Megill would be a candidate to take on a role in the rotation. He could also be someone the Mets view as a long man to try to replicate what Williams was able to do. How he is able to perform for them in late 2022 out of the bullpen could factor into any future spots he takes on the roster.

There are benefits to putting Megill in a role like this. It limits his innings, keeps him in the major leagues, and likely means the Mets have better options ahead of him on the starting pitcher depth chart. The only reason Megill didn’t begin this season in the minor leagues was because Jacob deGrom was hurt to start things off.

Next season will be Megill’s third in the big leagues so the Mets might want to push him a little harder to eat up the number of frames veterans typically will. We should expect the Mets to have only one roster spot available in the rotation for a player with Megill’s lack of experience. If it’s not him, a long man and emergency starter job could be ideal.

3) NY Mets candidate to replace Trevor Williams next season: Jordan Yamamoto

Out of these three, Jordan Yamamoto is the least likely to make his way onto the Opening Day roster next year. In the small number of chances the Mets have given him, Yamamoto has not performed well. He has already been designated for assignment by the team but after clearing waivers accepted a minor league assignment.

Yamamoto might not fit in exactly as Williams has this year right off the bat. He’d need to pitch his way back into the good graces of the front office to even be considered for the role. An injury last year cost him some time and this season has been spent at multiple minor league levels trying to figure things out.

It’s possible the Mets move on from Yamamoto completely. They could, however, give him a mulligan for this season and see if he can pitch better in the spring and maybe become something closer to the big league pitcher they thought they had acquired from the Miami Marlins.

One other name to toss your way is David Peterson. Because he has been so effective as a starter and not so much as a reliever, it would be wiser to bounce him between the majors and minors yet again in 2023 if he isn’t a permanent part of the rotation already. Peterson doesn’t quite seem capable of pitching in relief. That’s not such a bad thing. In his own specialized role this season bussing from Syracuse to Queens as often as he has, Peterson has been another one of those unsung heroes alongside Williams who has helped the Mets get this far.