In a move designed to further protect arms after a shortened spring training, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association announced Tuesday that teams can carry no more than 14 pitchers through May 29.
The initial agreement for this year was for clubs to drop to 13 pitchers this coming Monday, when rosters must be trimmed from 28 to 26. That overall roster reduction will still be in effect. That will leave the Mets having to — at minimum — contemplate whether to release Robinson Cano or demote Dominic Smith.
That would be picking from the most extreme choices available. They also could release Travis Jankowski or option Luis Guillorme or perhaps J.D. Davis. The demotion of Smith arguably would make the most sense for 26-man roster construction and preserving all of the current assets. But would you lose Smith mentally and/or further diminish his trade value by optioning him to Triple-A?
The Mets plan to meet Friday when the big club is back in New York to fully explore the options, with no plan to finalize a choice until after their game Sunday night. After all, an injury between now and then could make the decision for the Mets.
“I’m going to sit with our baseball operations group and coaching staff and walk through what the options are and listen to people provide opinions and insight on how they view it,” general manager Billy Eppler said by phone. “I will get a feel for how they view the roster taking shape. Ultimately, I will sit with Buck [Showalter] and try to figure out what the best course of action is.”
The Mets currently have 14 position players and 14 pitchers at a time when many teams have been carrying at least 15 pitchers. Eppler would not provide what he expects the position player and pitcher composition to be or any insight into the decision making. But, assuming the Mets go to 13 pitchers and 13 position players on Monday and don’t take advantage of the rule continuing to allow 14 pitchers, it still would mean removing one position player.
Jankowski traditionally would be the most vulnerable. He made the team off a minor league contract. The Mets are his fourth organization and he has yet to establish himself as a no-question major leaguer. Players of his genre are regularly available at the margins of the game.
The Mets, however, really have liked the Stony Brook alum since he showed up at spring training. The Mets value his eye at the plate, small-ball skills, defense and speed. Plus, Jankowski profiles as a player who will comfortably accept a bench role, which might be tougher for players such as Davis and Smith. The Mets decided to go with 14 pitchers rather than 15 to this point, in part to get and then keep Jankowski on the roster. Showalter has shown an affinity for what the 30-year-old brings.
Jankowski is out of options, so he cannot just be sent to the minors. Plus, he has more than five years of service time. Thus, the Mets would have to release him and pay his whole 2022 salary ($1.25 million) to remove him from the active roster. At that point, any club could sign him. The Mets also could attempt to re-sign the lefty swinger to a minor league deal, but if they did so, he could not return to the majors for 30 days. Part of letting him go would be how they feel about having to summon Khalil Lee or Nick Plummer, both lefty-swinging outfielders on the 40-man roster, if they need an injury replacement.
The Mets could option Guillorme to the minors, but that would remove their surest-handed backup shortstop. Eduardo Escobar can fill in at short on the rare occasions Francisco Lindor needs off, but that would leave a defensively questionable infield on the left side with Escobar and either Davis or Jeff McNeil at third. The Mets could option Davis. But he is their only spare righty hitter, and the Mets believe in his bat.
So if the Mets see depth value in keeping Jankowski, Guillorme and Davis, that would leave Cano versus Smith. Cano is hitting .184 with one extra-base hit in 40 plate appearances. He’s 39. He missed all of last season after violating the PED policy for a second time. It is possible that his offensive impact is gone. But I just don’t see the Mets giving up on him yet. They owed him $40.5 million between this year and next. I suspect they will want to see at least 100 plate appearances before even Steve Cohen will just eat that salary. Plus, the Mets believe Cano has a valuable leadership component.
Sending Smith to the minors would allow the Mets to not risk losing Jankowski, not have to decide yet on Cano and keep the useful reserve qualities of Davis and Guillorme. Since the Mets signed Mark Canha, Starling Marte and especially Escobar, there has been a roster reckoning coming for Davis, McNeil or Smith. McNeil has removed himself from the conversation by hitting as if 2021 was a low-point aberration.
Smith was going to be shipped to San Diego for Eric Hosmer, Chris Paddack and Emilio Pagan, but the Mets backed out of that potential deal just before the season. Since then, Smith has struggled with erratic at-bats — a .207 batting average and one extra-base hit. Showalter also has not played Smith one inning in the outfield, a sign of how much the manager favors Jankowski’s defense or McNeil’s bat when the need for playing someone aside from Canha, Marte and Brandon Nimmo arises.
Smith is just 26, though. He is liked by fans and teammates. Would the Mets have to concern themselves about both how Smith would handle a demotion and the impact on others?
Without an injury between now and Sunday night, the Mets will have to ponder all those moving parts and all the potential ramifications that will complicate their math equation of going from 14 position players to 13.
