5 NY Mets players who won’t be on the roster next season

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The 2023 New York Mets have come nowhere close to meeting expectations as they won't play a single meaningful baseball game despite breaking records with their massive payroll. Pretty much everyone in the organization deserves some blame, but it's safe to say the Mets roster will have a new look in 2024 as they attempt to get back to playing winning baseball.

Some players we know will be here like Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor. Others we hope will be here like Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil. It's nice that the Mets have somewhat of a core still in place, at least with their position players, but the roster in general will have new players on it.

With that in mind, these five players who are currently on the roster will not be on it next season.

1) Daniel Vogelbach will not be on the NY Mets roster next season

Daniel Vogelbach has had an up-and-down tenure with the Mets. After they acquired him at the deadline last season he performed admirably, posting an .830 OPS with a 139 OPS+. He didn't hit for much power or play a position, but Vogelbach did what he's done for much of his career. Crush right-handed pitching.

This season hasn't been nearly as good for Vogelbach who has been a player Mets fans have blamed for this awful season. For the first half of the season there were reasons to blame him as Vogelbach had a .690 OPS and just five home runs prior to the all-star break. Things have been much better in the second half as Vogelbach has launched eight home runs with an .807 OPS since the break entering play on Saturday.

It's been nice to see Vogelbach play better, but he still should not be on the roster in 2024. He's just too limited of a player.

By rostering Vogelbach, they have a DH who doesn't hit for much power, can't run, can't field, and can't hit against lefties. He's a solid hitter against righties, but with Vogelbach only being able to go station to station, there isn't much the Mets can do to bring him around to score without stringing a bunch of hits together or hitting a home run.

Vogelbach does have another year of team control and won't be making much money, so maybe he'll have value around the league. Even if Mark Vientos isn't ready to take over that DH role quite yet, the Mets need to be looking for an upgrade.

2) Carlos Carrasco will not be on the NY Mets roster next season

When Carlos Carrasco landed on the IL after fracturing his pinky, it felt like his Mets tenure had officially come to an end. There were some good times last season, but rough stretches in 2021 and 2023 are what he'll mostly be remembered for.

The Mets had high hopes for Cookie entering this season as he had come off a strong year in the back of their rotation in the 2022 campaign. The Mets accepted his club option expecting him to be a strong fifth starter, but he had been anything but when healthy.

The right-hander had a 6.80 ERA in his 20 starts and 90 innings pitched. Yes, he couldn't even reach 100 innings in 20 starts meaning he averaged fewer than five innings per start. Carrasco had a couple of good outings, mainly his eight scoreless innings that came out of nowhere in Arizona, but he's looked mostly uncompetitive when he's taken the ball this season.

Carrasco is now 36 years old, has had trouble staying healthy, and is hitting free agency. It's almost certain the Mets will let him walk or watch him retire. They need to bring in at least a couple of free agent starting pitchers, and one of the spots they need to replace is Carrasco's.

3) Jonathan Arauz will not be on the NY Mets roster next season

Jonathan Arauz was one of the journeyman players the Mets brought up from AAA Syracuse after their trade deadline sell-off. The 25-year-old had played parts of three seasons with the Red Sox and Orioles before inking a minor league deal with New York this past offseason.

Arauz was a .200 hitter in 68 games played in his MLB career prior to this Mets stint, and he's been even worse during his limited time with New York.

The switch-hitting infielder has slashed .125/.197/.232 with two home runs and six RBI in 23 games and 63 plate appearances with the Mets. He hit a couple of home runs against the Pirates and has played some solid defense, particularly at third base, but other than that, Arauz hasn't done much.

Arauz has lost virtually all of his playing time after the Mets promoted Ronny Mauricio and Brett Baty to begin September, as his only appearance has come in the field as a defensive replacement. He certainly won't begin the 2024 season as a member of the Mets Opening Day roster, and there's a good chance they simply release him and look elsewhere for depth.

4) Phil Bickford will not be on the NY Mets roster next season

Most of the trades the Mets made at the deadline involved them trading some of their proven veterans in exchange for prospects. All of their trades except for one were considered to be moves made by sellers. New York made one surprising trade on deadline day, acquiring Phil Bickford and Adam Kolarek from the Dodgers in exchange for cash considerations.

Part of why the Mets did this was to simply get arms as they had traded relievers David Robertson and Dominic Leone, but the Mets also clearly liked something about these two arms in particular. Kolarek was affective in his short Mets stint, as he allowed just two baserunners in 4.2 innings pitched before being DFA'd and scooped up by the Braves.

Bickford on the other hand, has stuck around with the Mets since the deadline and it's hard to see why. He has a 6.88 ERA in 16 appearances and 17 innings pitched. He has decent stuff, but isn't very overpowering and has had command issues.

The right-hander had a 5.14 ERA for the Dodgers this season and was ineffective in 2022 as well after a couple of solid seasons prior. Bickford is out of options and is clearly not a guy the Mets should have in their bullpen in 2024 if they have any plans on competing.

5) Rafael Ortega will not be on the NY Mets roster next season

Like Arauz, Rafael Ortega was promoted immediately after the deadline to simply play out the rest of the season. The Mets felt that their prospects weren't ready right away, so instead of rushing them up, the Mets decided to promote some players who are really nothing more than Quadruple-A players.

Unlike Arauz, Ortega has had some MLB success. He had a great year in 2021, hitting .291 with an .823 OPS in 103 games for the Cubs, but struggled last season for Chicago in more games.

The Mets are Ortega's sixth team, and his tenure with them has had similar results to all of the others except for the Cubs. Ortega has slashed .229/.333/.389 with one home run and six RBI. Nothing special there.

Ortega is a decent defender with the ability to play center field, can make contact, and runs fairly well. He's not the worst fourth outfielder option in the world, but even a guy like Tim Locastro who might not be as good of a hitter but can really impact a game on the base paths is a better option to me.

The 32-year-old hasn't really stuck anywhere in his MLB career, and that trend will hold true as he won't be on the Mets roster in 2024.

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