Mets Roster Central: Exes and Exiles

Two bad things can happen when you break up with somebody.  (1) Somebody else immediately swoops in and romances them, making you wonder why you would break with somebody so desirable.  (2) Nobody else immediately swoops in and romances them, making you wonder why you ever were with somebody so seemingly otherwise undesirable.

Both of these are stinking thinking, of course, but such is your vulnerability when your decision has left you newly alone and vulnerable — or if you are the Mets, spiraling toward oblivion and irrelevancy. 

GOING

Cleared Waivers and Assigned to Syracuse

Outfielders

Austin Slater

R/R DoB: 1992-12-13 High Level: MLB (2026)

Austin Slater wasn't as bad as all that as the righthanded half of a Slater/MJ Melendez platoon that had been alternating with Juan Soto between DH and left field.  He hit .250 (which is sadly a defensible umber by today's standards, but it was an empty .250 (.250 / .286 / .300 // .586). 

That is no worse than most of the lineup has been doing, and certainly no worse than his slumping platoon mate has been showing the world, but he's the guy with the least contract security, so he is the most easily shuffled off.

With Jacob Young, on the mend, MJ might not be far behind.  The clock is certainly ticking.

Transactions, 5/24/2026

GOING	GOING
Cleared Waivers and Assigned to Syracuse	Refused Minor-League Assignment and Opted for Free Agency
Relief Pitchers	Outfielders
Craig Kimbrel	Austin Slater
R/R DoB: 1988-05-28 High Level: MLB (2026)	R/R DoB: 1992-12-13 High Level: MLB (2026)

The apparent end of Craig Kimbrell's Mets career was foreshadowed by the Mets sending him out there for an extra inning to mop up a loss.  He has been passed on, for the time being, by other teams who don't want to add him to their MLB roster, but there may or may not still be a market for the aging and man-bunned former star.  Kimbrel has been assigned to Syracuse, but there is every reason to believe he will refuse that assignment, and like Slater, go hunting for a new home.

Kimbrel's exile led to a new wave of premature speculation about his Hall of Fame chances, including a sorry case against offered in a hot take by Bob Nightengale, who just should know better.

Nighty argues that John Franco had had 424 saves and 23.4 WAR (compared to Kimbrel's current 440 and 22.5) in 409 more innings, and got nary a tumble from Hall of Fame voters.

Now, Mets Roster Central is not going come out for or against the enshrinement of Craig Kimbrel here, but putting aside the idea that taking less time to accomplish similar feats should be seen as a good thing, WAR is just a terrible measure of success for closers:

• Firstly, the formula that generates the number is proprietary, so it is an act of faith to accept WAR at face value.
• Secondly, what we do know about WAR is that it normalizes — it extricates the numbers players accomplish from the situations they perform in, and treats all situations as the same.  This is disastrous for a situation-specific role, like and end-of-game specialist.

Take, in that second situation, an NFL short-yardage specialist of a fullback.  He may get 10 carries in a year, all on the one-yard line, plunging into the end zone for a touchdown each time.  Extricate those 10 carries from the situation they occurred in, and this player looks like a disaster, a running back averaging one yard per carry.  Worst in the league!

Anyhow, the once indomitable closer has a three-pronged decision to make — retire, shop for a new opportunity, or humbly head to Syracuse to see if he can up his game.  We expect (b) with Austin Slater has already taken, joining Tommy Pham and Andy Ibáñez on The Great List of Veteran Reserve Righthanded-Htting Outfielders Who Couldn't Stick on the 2026 Mets.

Eric Wagaman, shuffled off before he could so much as appear, probably deserves honorary membership.

Your 2026 New York Mets

	Starting Pitchers
	Nolan McLean	Freddy Peralta	David Peterson	Christian Scott	Jonah Tong
	R/R DoB: 2001-07-24	R/R DoB: 2996-06-04	L/L DoB: 1995-09-03	R/R DoB: 1999-06-15	R/R DoB: 2003-06-19
Relief Pitchers
Huascar Brazobán	Sean Manaea	Tobias Myers	Jonathan Pintaro	Brooks Raley	Austin Warren	Luke Weaver
R/R DoB: 1989-10-15	R/L DoB: 1992-02-01	R/R DoB: 1998-08-05	R/R DoB: 1997-11-07	L/L DoB: 1988-06-29	R/R DoB: 1996-02-05	R/R DoB: 1993-08-21
Relief Pitchers	Catchers		Infielders
Devin Williams	Hayden Senger	Luís Torrens	Bo Bichette	Brett Baty	Vidal Brujan	MJ Melendez
R/R DoB: 1994-09-21	R/R DoB: 1997-04-03	R/R DoB: 1996-05-02	R/R DoB: 1998-03-05	L/R DoB: 1999-11-13	S/R DoB: 1998-02-09	L/R DoB: 1993-11-29
Infielders		Outfielders
Marcus Semien	Mark Vientos	Carson Benge	A.J. Ewing	Nick Morabito	Juan Soto	Tyrone Taylor
R/R DoB: 1990-09-17	R/R DoB: 1993-12-11	L/R DoB: 2003-01-20	L/R DoB: 2004-08-10	R/R DoB: 2003-05-07	L/L DoB: 1998-10-25	R/R DoB: 1994-01-22

Also on 40-Player Roster

Starting Pitchers				Relief Pitchers
Clay Holmes	Tylor Megill	Kodai Senga	Zach Thornton	Alex Carrillo	Daniel Duarte	Reed Garrett
R/R DoB: 1993-03-27	R/R DoB: 1995-07-28	L/R DoB: 1993-01-30	L/L DoB: 2002-01-17	R/R DoB: 1997-06-06	R/R DoB: 1996-12-04	R/R DoB: 1993-01-02
Relief Pitchers				Catchers	Infielders
Justin Hagenman	A.J. Minter	Dedniel Núñez	Dylan Ross	Francisco Alvarez	Francisco Lindor	Ronny Mauricio
R/R DoB: 1996-10-07	L/L DoB: 1993-09-02	R/R DoB: 1996-06-05	R/R DoB: 2000-09-01	R/R DoB: 2001-11-01	S/R DoB: 1993-11-14	S/R DoB: 2001-04-04
Infielders	Outfielders
Jorge Polanco	Luis Robert, Jr.	Jared Young
S/R DoB: 1999-11-13	R/R DoB: 1997-08-03	L/R DoB: 1995-07-09

Your Mets Coaching Staff

Manager	Bench Coach	Pitching Coach	Hitting Coordinator	Third Base Coach	First Base Coach	Bullpen Coach	Ass't Pitching Coach
Carlos Mendoza	Kai Correa	Justin Willard	Jeff Albert	Tim Leiper	Gilbert Gomez	José Rosado	Dan McKinney
DoB: 1979-11-27	DoB: 1989-07-14	DoB: 1990-09-09	DoB: 1992-08-16	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 Practice Pitcher	Equipment Manager	Bullpen Catchers	Bullpen Catchers
Troy Snitker	Danny Barnes	J.P. Arencibia	Rafael Fernandez	Kevin Mahoney	Kevin Kierst	Eric Langill	Dave Racaniello
DoB: 1988-12-05	DoB: 1989-10021	DoB: 1986-01-05	DoB: 1988-08-03	DoB: 1987-05-11	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	Reconditioning Coordinator	Reconditioning 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: 22846