September roster expansions will allow the New York Mets to keep two extra players with them for the final month of the season. However, before we get there, the return of Sean Reid-Foley as well as Starling Marte will force some bodies out.
Who’ll be the next casualty? The Mets don’t have a whole lot of room. It’s these four who should, at least temporarily, shake in their boots a little bit about the potential of losing their spot on the Mets and maybe for good.
1) Ben Gamel
Let’s get the easy one out of the way. Ben Gamel will get DFA’d when Marte returns from the IL. He earned his chance to play in the majors this season, but the Mets don’t really have much of a need for him. Quietly putting together an acceptable .235/.409/.294 slash line in 22 plate appearances, his lack of minor league options will have the Mets parting ways.
Gamel hasn’t had any of those big moments off the bench or in a start like many part-timers seem to do. Only one complete game for the Mets since his promotion tells us what they think about him.
The Mets have an abundance of other choices sitting in Triple-A to potentially call up in September. More versatile players capable of manning the outfield as well as infield could be mixed and matched based on the opponent. Gamel could always survive the waiver wire and stay with the organization off the 40-man roster. The guarantee is that if the rest of the outfielders are healthy when Marte gets the greenlight, he’ll be the one packing his bags.