3 best roster depth pieces added this offseason so far

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The New York Mets have done more this offseason than sign Justin Verlander, Carlos Correa, and anger cheap owners in the process. They’ve also made some important depth additions. Many of those guys won’t begin the year in the majors.

Every team needs a good cabinet full of players stashed on the farm, ready to get promoted, and contribute. The Mets have been active in this area. We should feel pretty good about this part of the team.

Who are the three best depth pieces added to the organization? It’s a position player and a pair of pitcher who I view as the most important.

1) NY Mets will have Danny Mendick on speed dial to the majors

Think of Danny Mendick as the new Travis Blankenhorn. In the past when the Mets were in need of an infielder, they turned to Blankenhorn. Not anymore. Mendick is a righty from Rochester with a much better track record of playing in the majors.

Mendick isn’t about to stun us and steal away playing time from anyone. He is nothing but a depth piece for the Mets.

Mendick is the definition of a utility player. The Chicago White Sox used him all over the field. It’s hard to rate his defense because of this. Add in that none of us have actually watched him play much, we can only assume he’s like most players who wear many gloves—passable wherever the skipper puts him.

At the plate, Mendick has slashed .251/.309/.366 in 446 big league plate appearances. He was a .289/.343/.443 hitter for the White Sox last year in 106 chances.

On the depth chart, he’ll fall behind Luis Guillorme but probably ahead of many others. The Mets would probably look to him the moment they need someone for the bench due to an injury.

2) NY Mets will have innings for Elieser Hernandez

Acquired in a trade with the Miami Marlins, Elieser Hernandez is someone the Mets have as a contender for the Trevor Williams spot in the bullpen. He’ll have to actually earn it. With David Peterson, Tylor Megill, and even Joey Lucceshi around, the Mets may prefer one of those guys on the active roster. They’re more familiar with them and each has had a better MLB career thus far.

A great thing about Hernandez is the remaining minor league option. This is probably why the Mets chose him over a few other targets. We may never actually see him pitch an inning for the team. Having him stashed as the long reliever or in Triple-A gives them plenty of choices.

Our expectations for Hernandez shouldn’t be so high. His time with the Marlins wasn’t great. In 287.2 innings spanning parts of five seasons, the new Mets pitcher was 10-21 with a 5.04 ERA.

We did get spoiled seeing Williams be a super long man last season. Hernandez is more in the mold of emergency starter or mop-up duty. He has had quite a bit of minor league success and even dominance at times in his career. At this point, he probably qualifies more as a Four-A player than anything else.

It’s still hard to dislike this transaction. The Mets can try a couple of different things with their pitcher staff. Hernandez isn’t saving the season. What he can do is keep an arm fresh for the next day.

3) NY Mets addition of Stephen Ridings has more upside

Another New York native like Mendick added to the Mets organization, Stephen Ridings comes over from the Yankees via waiver claim. The 6’8 hurler could be the next Colin Holderman as long as he is able to move past the injury that kept him out for nearly all of 2022.

Ridings definitely seemed to benefit from the Yankees’ decision to move him into the bullpen full-time. During the 2021 season, he had a 1.24 ERA in 29 innings. He’s a power pitcher capable of hitting 100mph. What’s not to love?

His spot within the organization will be based largely on performance. It would take a couple of injuries for the Mets to put him on the Opening Day roster. He should, however, be in the rotation of possible pitchers the club promotes whenever they need a fresher arm.

The 2023 season could be a one-and-done run for Ridings. He does have minor league options, luckily, which will allow him to bounce between the majors and minors without having to be designated for assignments. The Mets wouldn’t hesitate to DFA him to remove him from the 40-man roster in order to replace him. This ball club has taken risks with injured players before or paid guys with only minor league experience a major league contract.

The Ridings waiver claim may go nowhere. It’s worth a closer look. Anyone who can throw that hard is someone to consider.

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