Five Mets players might still be removed before Opening Day after surviving the non-tender deadline.
At the non-tender deadline on Friday, the New York Mets did not have a bloodletting. They took Alex Young, Alex Ramirez, and Grant Hartwig from the 40-man roster. There were nine vacancies. Please, four bullpen arms, three starting pitchers, and two bats!
The ever-ruthless David Stearns does not intend to keep them around until Opening Day just because they made it through this offseason roadblock. Last winter, we witnessed firsthand Stearns’ willingness to add players and immediately dismiss them. He is cautious. In the spring, he really lets the players fight it out.
For the time being, these five guys are still with the Mets. Are they going to attend Opening Day?
1) Danny Young
Danny Young had the most intriguing dispute among the guys the New York Mets did offer a contract to. This previous year, he was great for a time. He only pitched his way out of being anything more than a mop-up guy on the playoff roster in the last few weeks. We are nevertheless grateful for what he managed to do. Young was a valuable component of the Mets this past season as the most reliable lefty out of the bullpen, despite his 4.54 ERA in 37.2 innings.
The Mets have good reason to keep Young on the team. They can pay him the league minimum through this year and the following, but he won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2026 season. He is an inexpensive bullpen option. I hope he is not the first pick but rather the backup lefty.
His lack of remaining lower league possibilities is the key argument against him. Young will be on the DFA bubble right away. He would likely be DFA’d at the first hint of difficulty if he were to make it through the summer.
The Mets gave up on Young too soon because of his excellent 11.5 strikeouts per nine. Watch what happens during the off-season. With their bullpen selections, they could have—and regrettably—performed far worse.
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