5 Mets players already in danger of losing their 40-man roster spot

5) Reed Garrett

Reed Garrett was a mostly forgettable member of the 2023 Mets. A June waiver claim, he went on to pitch to a 5.82 ERA in 17 innings of work across 9 games. Next year is his age 31 campaign. Fortunately for him, minor league options should have Garrett as a contender to make somebody’s 40-man roster even if it isn’t the Mets.

Keeping Garrett around for depth is fine, however, the upside of what he can offer seems rather limiting. In 44.1 MLB innings he’s 1-1 with a 7.11 ERA. He may get free Slurpees for this performance, but it’s not enough to choose him over someone else.

Saving Garrett’s roster spot on the Mets could be the lack of other internal options. Because they do still have room on their 40-man roster and Garrett is cheap and able to stay in the minors, replacing him with a shot-in-the-dark fellow veteran from outside of the organization might be as necessary.

One more positive is that the Mets will probably want to have some veteran able to take a bullet for them in a game where they simply need to get through it. Rather than throw a kid on the mound for a tough love learning experience, Garrett is the sort of pitcher who can grind it out and get us through to the end. Like the rest of the pitchers on this list, the case of whether he survives or not will involve his past performance, who the team adds, and what he looks like in the spring if he’s able to make it that far.