Mets Roster Central: A Little Koosman and a Preview of the 2026 Rule 5 Draft

[Edgy MD]

As the off-season progresses, the Mets will be forced to clear some roster space to make way for the December 9 Rule 5 Draft, to which a lot of their valued minor league veterans will be exposed if not added to the roster.

But first, a quicky transaction the Mets pulled off a week ago.

Transactions, 10/14/2026

COMING

Signed as International Amateur Free Agent out of Colombia, Projected for DSL

Relief Pitchers

Randy Gutierrez

R/R DoB: 2009-02-16 High Level: MLB (2024)

While Colombia (Cartagena, in fact) is hardly the most exotic of baseball origins, it's always nice to see the Mets' scouting eyes cast beyond the usual sources for talent. 

Rumors of Randy Gutierrez signing with the Mets organization had only surfaced a week before, and in fact, he had previously been linked to the Yankees.  So extra bonus points whenever the Mets bring in somebody who the Yankees had been keen on.

The really special thing about this signing, however, isn't that he's Colombian, and that he spurned the Yankees.  The really cool thing is that, when he signed (as depicted in the photo at left), he or his people wanted to capture the moment for posterity on their own terms, so he (or his people) placed a phone in front of him to get a photo, video, or livestream going.  But he needed to prop that phone up, and in the Mets foreign office, the foreign scouting execs looked around for a prop, and grabbed the first thing they could find.

A Jerry Koosman bobblehead doll.

Just look at Little Jerry getting his faced smooshed by 21st Century Technology the young and vibrant version of him represented in the bobble can scarcely conceive, let alone understand.  As adorable as it is, it's just great to see a kid born in 2009, who could conceivably be pitching for the Mets in the 2040s, linked to a player who debuted for the team in 1967.

May the world spin on, and may Mets alwas be a part of it.

Back to Rule 5 action.  Among the highest-profile players who have to be added or exposed are:

• Ryan Clifford, who had a stinky-poo year at AAA, but remains a top power prospect for the team, ranked 14th-best prospect in the system by MLB.com.
• Gary Gill Hill, a New Rochelle native and one of three prospects the Mets received in the Freddy Peralta deal, who reached AAA as he showed modest improvement in the limited time he had with the Mets after the trade.
• Kevin Parada, who has lost most of the shine that made the Mets pick him in 2022, but that first-round brand and a noticeable uptick in 100 AAA plate appearances this season still might be enough to make him pop up on the radar of other teams; also made more vulnerable in that a second catcher is the kind of guy that teams like to grab in the draft.
• Jacob Reimer, compact guy who backslid a little in AA with difficulty hitting offspeed pitches, but still one of the team's top 10 prospects, and likely to be protected.
• Jefferson Rojas, the team's biggest get at the trade deadline, acquired from the Cubs in the Clay Holmes deal, and a virtual certainty to be protected, especially after elevating his game in both Binghamton and Syracuse after the trade, as well as the Caribbean, where he is currently tearing up the Dominican Summer League.
• Chris Suero, a slugging corner guy who also catches, who hit .201 this year, but with beaucoup power, making it an interesting proposition whether they protect him or Parada.
• Marco Vargas, an on-basey utility infielder, who has gotten as high as 53 games at AA last season as a 21 -year-old, is not a top prospect but could be a solid steal for a team with a hole in the infield and not looking at a particularly competitive 2027.
• Jack Wenninger, a starter with a healthy arm who watched everybody but himself get a shot in 2026, despite spending the whole season at AAA, and being routinely listed in the top 10 team prospectos.

Rojas is a near certainty to be added.  The others there, have varying likelihoods.  Clifford and Suero are valued players, but coming off terrible seasons, and so aren't great candidates for another team to try to carry all season without optioning down.  But who knows?

The Mets have several guys they can remove from the roster, in order to make room for the above, without a lot of pain: 

• Phillip Abner
• Cameron Weston
• Hayden Senger
• Christopher Morel
• Eric Wagaman
• Cristian Pache

If anything is more certain than Jefferson Rojas being added to the roster, it's Cristian Pache being removed from it.  But crossing off those six would leave six spots open, one or two of which will presumably go to free agents.  There is a good chance they will non-tender perpetual bubble starter Tylor Megill, so pick five names from that list above to pull onto your life raft, tap your Jerry Koosman bobblehead for good luck, and start rowing. 

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FULL LIST OF RULE 5-ELIGIBLE METS MINOR-LEAGUERS

Pitchers: Ryan Ammons Eli Ankeney Justin Armbruester Juan Arnaud Brett Banks Jose Chirinos Irving Cota Candido Cuevas Felipe De La Cruz Jorge De Leon Joel Díaz Zach Franklin Saul Garcia Gary Gill Hill Cristofer Gomez Noah Hall Dakota  Hawkins Wyatt Hudepohl Bryce Jenkins Jonathan Jimenez Gregori Louis Ernesto Mercedes Douglas Orellana Cesar Rivera Christian Rodriguez

Luis R. Rodriguez Ben Simon Austin Troesser Jack Wenninger Calvin Ziegler Catchers: Ronald Hernandez Kevin Parada Vincent Perozo Chris Suero Francisco Toledo Infielders: Ryan Clifford Randy Guzman Nick Lorusso Jacob Reimer Jefferson Rojas D'Andre Smith Marco Vargas Outfielders: Yohairo Cuevas Estarling Mercado Yonatan Henriquez

Your Projected 2027 New York Mets

	Starting Pitchers
	Sean Manaea	Nolan McLean	Christian Scott	Zach Thornton	Jonah Tong
	R/L DoB: 1992-02-01	R/R DoB: 2001-07-24	R/R DoB: 1999-06-15	L/L DoB: 2002-01-17	R/R DoB: 2003-06-19
Relief Pitchers
Chayce McDermott	Tobias Myers	Cionel Pérez	Kodai Senga	Robert Stock	Austin Warren	Devin Williams
L/R DoB: 1998-08-22	R/R DoB: 1998-08-05	R/L DoB: 1996-04-21	L/R DoB: 1993-01-30	L/R DoB: 1989-11-21	R/R DoB: 1996-02-05	R/R DoB: 1994-09-21
Relief Pitchers	Catchers		Infielders
Jefry Yan	Francisco Alvarez	Luís Torrens	Bo Bichette	Francisco Lindor	Ronny Mauricio	Jorge Polanco
L/L DoB: 1996-08-17	R/R DoB: 2001-11-01	R/R DoB: 1996-05-02	R/R DoB: 1998-03-05	S/R DoB: 1993-11-14	S/R DoB: 2001-04-04	S/R DoB: 1999-11-13
Infielders			Outfielders
Marcus Semien	Mark Vientos	Jared Young	Brett Baty	Carson Benge	A.J. Ewing	Juan Soto
R/R DoB: 1990-09-17	R/R DoB: 1993-12-11	L/R DoB: 1995-07-09	L/R DoB: 1999-11-13	L/R DoB: 2003-01-20	L/R DoB: 2004-08-10	L/L DoB: 1998-10-25

Also on 40-Player Roster

Starting Pitchers	Relief Pitchers
Tylor Megill	Philip Abner	Daniel Duarte	Reed Garrett	Justin Hagen- man	Nathan Lavender	Dedniel Núñez	Jonathan Pintaro	Dylan Ross
R/R DoB: 1995-07-28	L/L DoB: 2002-05-04	R/R DoB: 1996-12-04	R/R DoB: 1993-01-02	R/R DoB: 1996-10-07	L/L DoB: 2000-01-20	R/R DoB: 1996-06-05	R/R DoB: 1997-11-07	R/R DoB: 2000-09-01
Relief Pitchers		Catchers	Infielders			Outfielders
Jack Weisen- berger	Cameron Weston	Hayden Senger	Christian Cairo	Christo- pher Morel	Eric Wagaman	Nick Morabito	Cristian Pache
R/R DoB: 1997-10-08	R/R DoB: 2000-08-27	R/R DoB: 1997-04-03	R/R DoB: 2001-06-11	R/R DoB: 1999-06-24	R/R DoB: 1997-08-14	R/R DoB: 2003-05-07	R/R DoB: 2020-08-21

Your Projected Mets Coaching Staff

Manager	Bench Coach	Pitching Coach	Hitting Coord.	Third Base Coach	First Base Coach	Bullpen Coach	Ass't Pitch. Coach
Andy Green	Kai Correa	Justin Willard	Troy Snitker	Tim Leiper	Gilbert Gomez	José Rosado	Dan McKinney
DoB: 1977-07-07	DoB: 1989-07-14	DoB: 1990-09-09	DoB: 1988-12-05	DoB: 1996-07-19	DoB: 1992-03-08	DoB: 1974-11-09	DoB: 1989-06-06
Hitting Coach	Strategy Coach	Catching Coach	Coaching Assistant	Bat'g Pract. Pitcher	Equip. Manager	Bullpen Catchers	Bullpen Catchers
Nate Irving	Tucker Frawley	J.P. Arencibia	Rafael Fernandez	Jonathon Cramman	Kevin Kierst	Eric Langill	Dave Racaniello
DoB: 33894	DoB: 1984-05-08	DoB: 1986-01-05	DoB: 1988-08-03	DoB: 1991-03-23	DoB: 1964-07-09	DoB: 1979-04-09	DoB: 1978-06-03

Your Mets Training Staff

Director of Player Health	Head Athletic Trainer	Assistant Athletic Trainer	Recond. Coordinator	Recond. Therapist	Head Performance Coach	Assistant Performance Coach	Performance Coordinator	Soft Tissue Specialist
Brian Chicklo	Joseph Golia	Bryan Baca	Sean Bardanett	Josh Bickel	Dustin Clarke	Tanner Miracle	Jeremy Chiang	Hiroto Kawamura
DoB:1972-07-17	DoB:1978-??-??	DoB:Circa 1980	DoB:1988-06-23	DoB:1996-??-??	DoB:1987-??-??	DoB:1991-??-??	DoB:????-??-??	DoB:1962-07-19

2026-2027 MLB Free Agents

Hitting Coord.	Strategy Coach	Bat'g Pract. Pitcher	Relief Pitchers
Jeff Albert	Danny Barnes	Kevin Mahoney	Joey Gerber
DoB: 1992-08-16	DoB: 1989-10021	DoB: 1987-05-11	DoB: 1997-05-03

2026-2027 Minor-League Free Agents

Starting Pitchers					Relief Pitchers
Eris Albino	Dalton Mall	Matteo Morelli	Christo- pher Rochin	Omar Victorino	Luis Alvarez	Jesüs Anton	Mike Baumann	Yoralbert Cadíz	Joe Charles
R/R DoB: 2004-02-24	R/R DoB: 1999-08-27	R/R DoB: 2006-02-27	R/R DoB: 2006-09-18	R/R DoB: 2005-06-09	R/R DoB: 2003-05-05	R/R DoB: 2006-02-17	R/R DoB: 1995-09-10	R/R DoB: 2004-10-24	R/R DoB: 2000-04-05
Relief Pitchers
Colton Cosper	Anthony Crespo	Chris Devenski	Franyel Diaz	Kevin Herget	Joe Jacques	Wilson Lopez	Yoelvis Martinez	Trey McGough	Pablo Medina
L/L DoB: 2002-09-08	R/R DoB: 2004-05-04	R/R DoB: 1990-11-13	R/R DoB: 2004-12-18	L/R DoB: 1991-04-03	L/L DoB: 34769	R/R DoB: 2002-07-15	R/R DoB: 2006-06-21	L/L DoB: 1998-03-29	L/L DoB: 2006-10-12
Relief Pitchers								Catchers
Jahzeel Montas	Layonel Ovalles	Zach Peek	Anthony Reynoso	Jun-Seok Shim	Jermayne Verdu	Deivy Victora	Brandon Waddell	José Aular	Austin Barnes
R/R DoB: 2005-01-06	R/R DoB: 2003-06-16	R/R DoB: 35921	L/L DoB: 39102	R/R DoB: 2004-04-09	?/R DoB: 2006-07-27	R/R DoB: 2005-08-14	L/L DoB: 1994-06-03	R/R DoB: 2004-01-02	R/R DoB: 1989-12-28
Catchers	Infielders
Daniel Silva	Christian Arroyo	TT Bowens	Vidal Brujan	Taylor Darden	Jefrey De Los Santos	Alexander Eneas	Cole Fowler	Leandy Mella	Diego Mosquera
S/R DoB: 2005-01-12	R/R DoB: 1995-05-30	R/R DoB: 1998-05-27	S/R DoB: 1998-02-09	R/R DoB: 2000-01-16	R/R DoB: 2003-05-30	R/R DoB: 2007-09-12	L/R DoB: 2002-12-10	L/R DoB: 2007-02-24	L/R DoB: 2005-05-14
Infielders									Outfielders
Sam Robertson	José Rojas	Nick Roselli	Dangelo Sarmiento	JT Schwartz	Zack Short	Kevin Villavin- cencio	Trace Willhoite	Wyatt Young	Haniel German
R/R DoB: 2004-07-17	L/R DoB: 1993-02-24	L/R DoB: 2003-03-31	R/R DoB: 38356	L/R DoB: 1999-12-17	R/R DoB: 1995-05-29	R/R DoB: 2003-11-24	R/R DoB: 2000-11-17	L/R DoB: 1999-12-05	R/R DoB: 2005-12-05
Outfielders
Simon Juan	MJ Melendez	Adolfo Miranda	Jared Oliva	Jaylen Palmer	Jeffry Rosa	Matt Rudick	AJ Salgado	Mike Tauchman
R/R DoB: 2005-07-13	L/R DoB: 1993-11-29	R/R DoB: 2006-10-04	R/R DoB: 1995-11-27	R/R DoB: 2007-07-31	R/R DoB: 2004-09-11	L/L DoB: 1998-07-02	L/R DoB: 2001-09-16	L/L DoB: 1990-12-03

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[whippoorwill]

Love the Jerry Koosman reference!