With Spring Training around the corner, the excitement for the 2025 Mets season is starting to grow. The players are reporting to camp and the first Spring Training game will be under way this weekend. With roster moves likely being complete, let’s take a look at what the Mets 26 man roster could look like.
Rotation
Kodai Senga
Sean Manaea
David Peterson
Clay Holmes
Griffin Canning
Paul Blackburn
I think this rotation is mostly set. There are rumors the Mets could reunite with Jose Quintana after the Frankie Montas injury, but that seems unlikely given that Steve Cohen has expressed the team has already gone beyond his desired payroll. If another starter goes down maybe a Quintana reunion becomes more plausible but until I would assume it’s these 6 plus Tylor Megill in contention for a spot in the Opening Day rotation. Brandon Sproat is an intriguing option for midseason, but given he had a 7.53 ERA in only 7 AAA starts last year, it’s clear he needs more seasoning in the minors before being given an opportunity at the big league level.
Senga, Manaea, Peterson and Holmes are all locks for the rotation if healthy, leaving Canning, Blackburn and Megill battling for the final 2 spots. Just looking at some of their basic career numbers, there’s not much separating this trio. Blackburn has the best FIP but worst ERA+ of the bunch, likely because he spent most of his career playing for Oakland in their pitcher-friendly ballpark.
| Career ERA+ | Career FIP | |
| Tylor Megill | 89 | 4.40 |
| Griffin Canning | 92 | 4.78 |
| Paul Blackburn | 83 | 4.38 |
I think Megill likely has the most upside out of this trio but he will likely be the odd man out and start in AAA since he is the only one of these starters with minor league options remaining. The Mets will likely start with Canning and Blackburn in the rotation and keep Megill in the minors as insurance, as he will certainly be needed later this season.
Bullpen
Edwin Diaz
Ryne Stanek
AJ Minter
Jose Butto
Dedneil Nunez
Reed Garrett
Sean Reid-Foley
Diaz, Stanek, Minter and Butto should all be locks to make the team if healthy. Reed Garrett and Dedneil Nunez were both reliable last season and deserve spots on the Opening Day bullpen, although both still have minor league options remaining which could complicate their situations. However, unlike with Megill, I would keep both Nunez and Garrett on the Opening Day roster, as they are both much better than the alternatives.
That would leave the final spot to be a competition between Danny Young, Sean Reid-Foley (AKA SRF AKA the Guam Phenom), Huascar Brazoban, or a spring training roster invite, such as Genesis Cabrera. Personally, I would give SRF another chance. He had a 1.66 ERA in 21 ⅔ innings last season and his FIP was 2.80. His walks are out of control at 5.8 per 9 innings last year and 5.7 for his career but he has shown flashes of being really good and I think he has more upside than any of the competing options.
Starting Lineup
C- Francisco Alvarez
1B- Pete Alonso
2B- Jeff McNeil
SS- Francisco Lindor
3B- Mark Vientos
LF- Brandon Nimmo
CF- Jose Siri
RF- Juan Soto
DH- Jesse Winker/Starling Marte
There’s not much to debate here honestly, this is going to be the starting lineup with the only possible exception being Taylor starting over Siri. Both will certainly be on the roster regardless, but I would start Siri over Taylor. Siri has more power potential and is an elite defender, finishing in the 99th percentile last year in OAA. Other than that everything else is straightforward.
Bench
C- Luis Torrens
OF- Tyrone Taylor
IF- Nick Madrigal
Torrens and Taylor are locks to make the team so the only remaining spot up for debate is the backup infielder. I’m not a fan of the Madrigal signing and I think he will be deedee megadoodoo, but I think he will start the year in the majors. Luisangel Acuna is clearly a better option, as he’s a better hitter, fielder and baserunner than Madrigal, but I can see the logic in giving him consistent at bats for the first few months of the season and I think that’s what the Mets will do. Acuna will take this spot by the All Star break at the latest, likely sooner if there’s an injury or if he is killing it in AAA. Other options would be Jared Young or Brett Baty, but Baty has no middle infield experience and Young is even less proven than Madrigal at the big league level.