Postseason Roster: So what if the cart is before the horse?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Since the Mets have a 98 per cent chance of needing a postseason roster by next Wednesday, it's not too soon to think about how that roster will be comprised. We can be sure the Mets are thinking about it, so we can too.

I figure the Mets have to choose 25 of these [crossout]30[/crossout] 31 players. (I'm not sure if Salas is eligible. Did they get him before the cutoff? If he is eligible, I'd be sure to include him.)

I'm assuming that Flores won't be healthy enough to play, but maybe if the Mets make it into future rounds he can return, like Juan Uribe did for the World Series last year.



Guys I see as being on the bubble: Edgin, Goeddel, Smoker, Verrett, Campbell, De Aza, Nimmo, Reynolds.

Blevins
Colon
Edgin
Familia
Goeddel
Gsellman
Henderson
Lugo
Reed
Robles
Salas
Smoker
Syndergaard
Verrett

Bruce
Cabrera
Campbell
Cespedes
Conforto
d'Arnaud
De Aza
Duda
Granderson
Johnson
Lagares
Loney
Nimmo
Reyes
Reynolds
R. Rivera
T.J. Rivera


EDITED TO ADD JUAN LAGARES

[seawolf17]

If I had to guess... it'd be something like this:

SP: Colon, Thor, Lugo, Gsellman
RHP: Salas, Verrett, Reed, Henderson, Robles, Familia
LHP: Blevins, Smoker
lineup: Reyes/Cabrera/TJRivera/Duda, Bruce/Cespedes/Granderson, d'Arnaud
bench: Johnson, De Aza, Loney, Conforto, RRivera

That cuts Edgin/Goeddel in the pen, and Campbell/Nimmo/Reynolds.

[Ceetar]

any love for Plawecki over Rene?

[Edgy MD]

I've got it thusly

Starting Pitchers

Almost Certainly In


Bartolo Colon
Robert Gsellman
Seth Lugo
Noah Syndergaard

Bubble


Sean Gilmartin
Gabriel Ynoa
Logan Verrett
(0 or 1 of these guys can expect to make it)

=#FF0000]Almost Certainly Out


Jacob deGrom
Rafael Montero

Relief Pitchers

Almost Certainly In


Jerry Blevins
Jeurys Familia
Erik Goeddel
Addison Reed
Hansel Robles

Bubble


Josh Edgin
Jim Henderson
Fernando Salas
Josh Smoker
(2 or 3 of these guys can expect to make it)

=#FF0000]Almost Certainly Out


Nodody

Catchers

Almost Certainly In


Travis d'Arnaud
René Rivera

Bubble


Kevin Plawecki

=#FF0000]Almost Certainly Out


Nobody

Infielders

Almost Certainly In


Asdrubal Cabrera
Kelly Johnson
José Reyes
T.J. Rivera

Bubble


Lucas Duda
Wilmer Flores
James Loney
Matt Reynolds
(probably 2 of these guys can expect to make it, but possibly 3)

=#FF0000]Almost Certainly Out


Eric Campbell
Gavin Cecchini

Outfielders

Almost Certainly In


Yoenis Cespedes
Curtis Granderson
Jay Bruce

Bubble


Michael Conforto
Alejandro De Aza
Juan Lagares
(probably 2 of these guys can expect to make it, but possibly 3)

=#FF0000]Almost Certainly Out


Ty Kelly
Brandon Nimmo

18 pretty solid locks, 15 bubblers, and 6 lockouts. Although Vic suggests that Soup may be in the mix too. That's some hard choosin'!

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Ceetar wrote: any love for Plawecki over Rene?

Not from me, not at this time. I put Flores on my roster but if he can't go I guess you choose between Loney and Soupy. It might be cool if Zimmo or Conforto could grab a first baseman's glove, but again, too lefty.

Blevins
Colon
[crossout]Edgin[/crossout]
Familia
[crossout]Goeddel[/crossout]
Gsellman
Henderson
Lugo
Reed
Robles
Salas
Smoker
Syndergaard
[crossout]Verrett[/crossout]

Bruce
Cabrera
[crossout]Campbell[/crossout]
Cespedes
Conforto
d'Arnaud
De Aza
Duda
Granderson
Flores
Johnson
[crossout]Loney[/crossout]
[crossout]Nimmo[/crossout]
Reyes
Reynolds
R. Rivera
T.J. Rivera

Edited September 29, 2016 by Guest

[bmfc1]

The Wild Card roster can be different from the NLDS roster. Using seawolf17's projection, Lagares and Nimmo can make the WC roster because you don't need to include the other starting pitchers (e.g., they can put Gsellman and Lugo in the bullpen instead of Verrett and Robles). I think that Terry loves Juan so I think he'll be on every roster, somehow.

[Centerfield]

OMG WILL YOU GUYS STOP.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Terry uses Rivera and he doesn't use Plawecki, which pretty much tells me that Rivera has the advantage.

Do we know for sure whether or not Salas is eligible?

And deGrom is definitely out. He had surgery and recovery time is three months.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Let's go Reds/Rockies is about all I can muster on the subject at the present time.

[bmfc1]

Salas joined the organization before September 1 so take solace, we have Salas.

For comparison purposes, the Mets World Series roster was 11 pitchers, 14 hitters: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mets-and-royals-announce-2015-world-series-rosters-uribe-in/

[Edgy MD]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Terry uses Rivera and he doesn't use Plawecki, which pretty much tells me that Rivera has the advantage. Do we know for sure whether or not Salas is eligible? And deGrom is definitely out. He had surgery and recovery time is three months.

No doubt, but I treated him as a live player since they haven't bothered putting him on the disabled list. I didn't create a "Certainly Out" category, but he would be it.

[Frayed Knot]

Ceetar wrote: any love for Plawecki over Rene?

Based on 125 plate appearances since July 1st vs 4 PA since July 1st, and throws well vs throws like wounded chicken?
Ummmmmm, I going to go with 'No' on this one.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

Pitchers
1) Blevins
2) Colon
3) Familia
4) Thor
5) Lugo
6) Gsellman
7) Reed
8) Robles
9) Salas
10) Smoker
25) Verrett

Ourfielders
11) Bruce
12) Cespedes
13) Granderson
22) De Azaa
24) Nimmo

Catchers
14) d'Arnoud
15) Rene Rivera

IF
16) Reyes
17) Cabrera
18) Johnson
19) TJ Riverea
20) Duda
21) Loney

Off
Campbell
Reynolds
Edgin
Goeddel
Henderson
Verrett
Montero
Gilmartin

This was tougher than I thought. I went with Verrett over Edgin because Verrrett can be a long man in case of a disaster, but I'm not convinced, either.

If Campbell is on the postseason roster to be anything more than Thor's food tester, I'm worried.

[Edgy MD]

Campbell is Campbell, but the paucity of righty bats is a concern.

[bmfc1]

The list at the top of the thread doesn't have Lagares.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Oops, my bad. He's been added.

[Vic Sage]

Assuming no Flores and an 11/14 ratio of pitchers/hitters:

regular line-up (8):
3b - Reyes #
SS - Cabrera #
LF - Cespedes
CF - Granderson*
RF - Bruce*
2b - TJRivera
1b - Duda*
C - d'Arnaud/Rivera

Bench (6):
C- Rivera/d'Arnaud
LHed OF/PH - deAza*
RHed OF/PH - Lagares
LHed IF/PH -Johnson*
RHed IF/PH - Campbell (or Reynolds, Kelly#, Cecchini) [Flores - DL]
LHed PH - Conforto* (or Loney*, Nimmo*)

SP (4):
SP1 - Syndergaard
SP2 - Colon
SP3 - Gsellman
SP4 - Lugo

RP (7):
CL - Familia
SUp - Reed
SUp - Salas
RH - Robles (or Henderson, Goeddel)
LH1 - Blevins*
LH2 -Smoker* (or Edgin*, Gilmartin*)
SP5/Lg - Verrett (or Ynoa, Gilmartin*, Montero)

Edited September 29, 2016 by Guest

[Vic Sage]

Edgy MD wrote: Campbell is Campbell, but the paucity of righty bats is a concern.

Particularly with Lagares' injury still not allowing him to swing well, with Flores likely not available, and with only 1 catcher on the bench. Terry is not going to want to go into the post-season without a bat that can face a lefty late in the game. If it's not Campbell, it's Reynolds.

[G-Fafif]

[youtube:336eb50w]vPnLXjx5qOg[/youtube:336eb50w]

Dedicated to versatile, switch-hitting, always hustling Ty Kelly.

[G-Fafif]

Centerfield wrote: OMG WILL YOU GUYS STOP.

d'Kong76 wrote: Let's go Reds/Rockies is about all I can muster on the subject at the present time.

Agreed, mostly...though, damn, I like Ty Kelly.

[Edgy MD]

I mostly like Ty Kelly because he always looks like he's this close to crying.

[Fman99]

d'Kong76 wrote: Let's go Reds/Rockies is about all I can muster on the subject at the present time.

Yep. I don't know how many chickens we got and I ain't attemptin to know.

[Zvon]

Mets Guy in Michigan wrote: If Campbell is on the postseason roster to be anything more than Thor's food tester, I'm worried.

Haa!

No Conforto?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

How the h-e-hockey-sticks are you guys putting Loney on your rosters over Conforto? I mean... guys. GUYS.

From a different, crazier precinct... does anyone else think it possibly crazy-like-a-fox to play the hell out of Cecchini this weekend, then sneak him into the mix over, say, a 12th reliever? He's a righty, with pretty damn good contact skills. At the very least, he's Loney with a MI glove and pinch runability... And at most, he's Maybe surprise bench line-drive 2015 Conforto.

[G-Fafif]

Edgy MD wrote: I mostly like Ty Kelly because he always looks like he's this close to crying.

Because he cares, dammit.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: How the h-e-hockey-sticks are you guys putting Loney on your rosters over Conforto? I mean... guys. GUYS. From a different, crazier precinct... does anyone else think it possibly crazy-like-a-fox to play the hell out of Cecchini this weekend, then sneak him into the mix over, say, a 12th reliever? He's a righty, with pretty damn good contact skills. At the very least, he's Loney with a MI glove and pinch runability... And at most, he's Maybe surprise bench line-drive 2015 Conforto.

Not crazy at all. Plus you never know if Cabrera's knees blow up.

[Vic Sage]

Assuming you don't want to start Duda against a tough LHP, or want to PH for him late in a game (neither of which is far-fetched), who is your RHed 1bman? Or if Duda re-injures himself (also a distinct possibility), and you need a 1bman, assuming we haven't included Loney on the roster, then who's the 1bman? I guess in that case its K.Johnson, but he's more useful as a LHed bat off the bench, or platooning with Rivera at 2b. With Flores down, the only RHed hitter we have with any 1b experience is Campbell. So the more i look at it, the more i see Collins wanting him on the post-season roster.

I Like Kelly alright, but he's like a less productive Rivera, and i don't think he has any experience at 1b. Cecchini hasn't shown anything yet, and his defense isn't ready for MLB (much less the post-season), so he'd be purely a PHer off the bench. I don't think the Mets will carry less than 11 pitchers, so i don't see how they'd have room for either Kelly or Cecchini (or Reynolds, really).

It's not like I'm advocating for Campbell, but Flores' injury has left a hole in on our bench, and Campbell is currently the only guy on the 40-man with the experience and versatility to even attempt to fill that particular niche.

[Edgy MD]

I'm not sure the Mets have given up on Flores, but it's certainly a real possiblity.

T.J. has three innings in the bigs at first in recent weeks, and 40 games in the minors over there. But I imagine it's the question they have to deal with as soon as they first deal with Duda-vs.-Loney.

I wonder. If Duda's ready to play, I kind of trust him more with lefties than Loney.

Kelly and Rivera can both fit on the roster if they carry 11 pitchers, and that would allow an option of Kelly at second and T.J. at first against a lefty.

But Kelly ain't playin' much so I'm not sure how seriously Terry is considering him.

[G-Fafif]

In his noncontiguous stay that dates to August 6, Ty is .333/.463/.433. Forty-one plate appearances, so a limited sample size, for sure, but as a potential 25th man, he strikes me as modestly potent lightning in a bottle.

As a 27th man, he's gold.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Because Wednesday's game only requires a one-day roster, according to the Daily News this morning the plan is to only carry one extra starter (in addition to Syndergaard) in case they need a long man. Indications are that that will be Gsellman. This means that Lugo and Colon won't be on Wednesday's roster, allowing the Mets two extra position players.

If the Mets advance to the NLDS, Colon would pitch Game 1, and Syndergaard would pitch Game 3. Game 2 would go to Lugo or Gsellman.