Mets Roster Central: Subtraction by Addition

As the Mets' losing streak approached (and has now reached) 10 games, displaying an offensive downturn with no answers, Mets Roster Central regrets to report that the transactions the Mets are making do not even suggest management is pretending to offer a way forward.

Transactions, 4/18/2026

GOING	COMING
Placed on 10-Day Injured List with Right Wrist Contusion	Promoted from Syracuse
Infielders	Catchers
Jorge Polanco	Hayden Senger
S/R DoB: 1999-11-13 High Level: MLB (2026)	R/R DoB: 1997-04-03 High Level: MLB (2025)

While Jorge Polanco has surprised few by being a suboptimal solution at first (and, more frequently, DH), his right wrist contusion (hadn't we been made to understand he had a calf strain or the like?) leading to an IL assignment can hardly be framed as good news.  But hey, finding opportunity in crisis is what GMs and PoBOs are supposed to do.  Maybe they press the right button, and maybe they call up the right replacement from the hundreds of aspiring ballplayers in the Mets system, and maybe they take a small step in the right direction.

It's been known to happen.  Hey, look at MJ Melendez.

But in a great surprise to Mets Roster Central, the Mets decided to call up third-string catcher Hayden Senger.  Hayden has of course shown himself to be a capable receiver, but one who hits like ... well, like a third-string catcher (.415 career OPS).

And when a team scraping the bottom of the league-wide barrel in most every offensive category needs to replace a starting firstbaseman/DH type, chooses such a character, you can't be blamed if you ask, "Are we actually trying to win?"

There is a logic to the move.  At least, Gary Cohen bent over backwards trying to lay out some logic to it in the booth today, noting that the Cubs have a bullpen loaded the eyeballs with lefties, and so the presence of Senger would allow the team to more safely deploy Luis Torrens as a righthanded pinch-hitter, and more safely deploy Francisco Alvarez (who Gary described as "red hot," but can more accurately be observed as not as Arctic-ly cold as some others in the Mets lineup.

The obvious retort to this is, if you want better options for a righthanded pinch-hitter, and righthanded DH, add a righthanded pinch-hitter/DH to roster and let the catchers do what they do from where they do it.

Gary might well have said, "Calling up Hayden Senger gives the Mets a great chance to rob Peter in order to pay off that nasty debt to Paul."

I mean, who are we kidding here, right?

What Gary didn't mention — at least, not while Mets Roster Central was listening — is that Senger, despite his unseemly track record as an MLB batter, is leading 11-9 Syracuse in almost every offensive category, sporting a .257 / .316 / .714 // 1.030 slash line boosted up by five homeruns, more than anybody with the big club.

You cannot be blamed for being dubious that he is the answer, but if you insist that the Mets shouldn't be messing with the catchers and instead call up the best offensive option ... the answer is still Senger.

So maybe they keep him around for one more day as this lefty-heavy bullpen looms, and then call Ronny Mauricio back, but the message is the same — the Mets are going to have to find a way to bop, as the answer isn't coming in the form of a callup any time soon.

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
Brian Chicklo	Joseph Golia	Bryan Baca	Sean Bardanett	Josh Bickel	Dustin Clarke	Tanner Miracle	Jeremy Chiang
DoB: 1972-07-17	DoB: 1978-??-??	DoB: Circa 1980	DoB: 1988-06-23	DoB: 1996-??-??	DoB: 1987-??-??	DoB: 1991-??-??	DoB: ????-??-??

Your 2026 New York Mets

	Starting Pitchers
	Clay Holmes	Nolan McLean	Freddy Peralta	David Peterson	Kodai Senga
	R/R DoB: 1993-03-27	R/R DoB: 2001-07-24	R/R DoB: 2996-06-04	L/L DoB: 1995-09-03	L/R DoB: 1993-01-30
Relief Pitchers
Huascar Brazobán	Craig Kimbrel	Sean Manaea	Tobias Myers	Brooks Raley	Austin Warren	Luke Weaver
R/R DoB: 1989-10-15	R/R DoB: 32291	R/L DoB: 1992-02-01	R/R DoB: 1998-08-05	L/L DoB: 1988-06-29	R/R DoB: 1996-02-05	R/R DoB: 1993-08-21
Relief Pitchers	Catchers		Infielders
Devin Williams	Francisco Alvarez	Hayden Senger	Luís Torrens	Bo Bichette	Francisco Lindor	Jorge Polanco
R/R DoB: 1994-09-21	R/R DoB: 2001-11-01	R/R DoB: 1997-04-03	R/R DoB: 1996-05-02	R/R DoB: 1998-03-05	S/R DoB: 1993-11-14	S/R DoB: 1999-11-13
Infielders		Infielders
Marcus Semien	Mark Vientos	Carson Benge	MJ Melendez	Tommy Pham	Luis Robert, Jr.	Tyrone Taylor
R/R DoB: 1990-09-17	R/R DoB: 1993-12-11	L/R DoB: 2003-01-20	L/R DoB: 1993-11-29	R/R DoB: 32210	R/R DoB: 1997-08-03	R/R DoB: 34356

Also on 40-Player Roster

Starting Pitchers			Relief Pitchers
Tylor Megill	Christian Scott	Jonah Tong	Alex Carrillo	Reed Garrett	Joey Gerber	Justin Hagenman
R/R DoB: 1995-07-28	R/R DoB: 1999-06-15	R/R DoB: 2003-06-19	R/R DoB: 1997-06-06	R/R DoB: 1993-01-02	R/R DoB: 1997-05-03	R/R DoB: 1996-10-07
On 60-Day Injured List with torn right UCL.	With Syracuse	With Syracuse	With Syracuse	On 60-Day Injured List — right UCL surgery and nerve relocation surgery.	On 15-Day Injured List with blistered right finger.	On 60 Day Injured List with fractured rib.
Relief Pitchers				Relief Pitchers		Outfielders
A.J. Minter	Dedniel Núñez	Jonathan Pintaro	Dylan Ross	Ronny Mauricio	Jorge Polanco	Nick Morabito
L/L DoB: 1993-09-02	R/R DoB: 1996-06-05	R/R DoB: 1997-11-07	R/R DoB: 2000-09-01	S/R DoB: 2001-04-04	S/R DoB: 1999-11-13	R/R DoB: 2003-05-07
With St. Lucie on Rehab Assignment	On 60-Day Injured List — right UCL surgery.	With Syracuse	With Syracuse, on Seven-Day IL	With Syracuse	On 10-Day Injured List with right wrist contusion.	With Syracuse
Outfielders
Juan Soto	Jared Young
L/L DoB: 1998-10-25	L/R DoB: 1995-07-09
On 15-Day Injured List with strained right calf	On 10-Day Injured List with torn left meniscus.