Spring training has finally ARRIVED
Well the time has finally arrived for pitchers and catchers and the rest of the New York Mets to make their way down to Port St. Lucie in Florida. The team has announced their roster that they are bringing along which includes the obvious Lindor, Vientos, Nimmo, Manaea, oh and I almost forgot JUAN FREAKIN SOTO along with names from Binghamton and Syracuse as usual. Names like highly anticipated pitching prospect Brandon Sproat who has been catching many eyes over the last few seasons, Ryan Clifford, Drew Gilbert, Dom Hamel, and Jett Williams. Ronny Mauricio is on the roster returning from his ACL injury he unfortunately sustained before last season even began. Brett Baty and Luisangel Acuña are along for the ride as they try to continue to prove that they belong at with the team that will be continued to be lead by manager Carlos Mendoza. Pete Alonso even though a contract is agreed upon is not part of the roster at this time as he is not officially signed back to the team.
As you look at the roster there are some new faces as well as a couple returning.
Juan Soto is going to get his own paragraph because respectfully he deserves that. He chose to come to our family instead of staying with the supposed toxic one on the other side of the City. He is bringing his generational talent to Queens bringing extra hope and joy to Mets fans to see that we finally got a guy of his caliber here in Queens. While he may lack in defense his offense more than makes up for it. A career batting average of .285 and coming off of a season where he hit the most home runs(41) and hits(166) of his career so far along with 109 RBIs just one under his career leading 110. This acquisition is game changing and we Met fans are still ecstatic about it and he hasn’t even officially hit the field yet. THANKS UNCLE STEVE!
The Mets traded for Outfielder Jose Siri from the Tampa Bay Rays who has some power but definitely can struggle at the plate dealing with so many strikeouts over his last two seasons having 130 in 2023 and 170 in 2024 and batting .187 in 2024 as well. He is more so known for his defense with his closing speed on fly balls and making some great catches. Another Bader like player with more Pop in the bat.
The Mets also brought in infielder Nick Madrigal who is coming off a year where he got sent down to Triple-A from the Cubs organization but unfortunately got injured early on fracturing his hand. In his short stint in the majors last season he batted .221, no home run, 4 walks, and 10 strikeouts in 86 at bats.
Clay Holmes was also brought in now as a starting pitcher it seems. Holmes hasn’t started a game since 2018 but with the Mets pitching lab they have confidence that they can do their thing like they did with Manaea and Severino last season. Holmes is coming off a an All-Star game achieving year for himself going 3-5 out of the Yankees bullpen with a 3.14 ERA with 68 strikeouts 30 Saves and 22 earned runs in 63 innings.
The Mets also took from another rival in AJ Minter from the Atlanta Braves. He is coming off a smaller sample size of a season for himself only appearing in 39 games but achieving a 2.62 ERA in that time going 5-4 with 35 strikeouts with a 1.02 whip.
The Mets did bring back the previously mentioned Sean Manaea(3yr), Ryne Stanek(1yr), and Jesse Winker(1yr). These three were key pieces to their success in the post season some more than others out of the three but they all played their part on and off of the field. Sean Manaea looks to continue his ace like play coming into this season after seemingly turning his season around in the middle of the previous year.
Check out the full roster here courtesy of @Mets X- https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gjb1C08XQAArMQl?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
Stats were acquired from StatsMuse and ESPN
