Projecting New York Mets' Opening Day Roster

Projecting the Mets' Opening Day roster.

With spring training right around the corner, the Mets have their entire starting lineup returning from last season with some new faces on the pitching staff.

The Mets spent close to $500 million in the offseason after an 101-win campaign and Wild Card appearance in 2022. With their payroll sitting around $370 million, the most in MLB history, expectations are high heading into the season.

So, let's project who will be penciled in on the depth chart for the Opening Day roster by the end of March.

26-Man Roster:

Catcher: Tomas Nido, Omar Narvaez

Top prospect catcher Francisco Alvarez is likely to begin the season in Triple-A Syracuse to continue to refine his defensive skills behind the plate. This means Nido and Narvaez will platoon as the big-league catchers in the meantime. 

Infield: Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Francisco Lindor, Eduardo Escobar, Luis Guillorme

The Mets will have the same starting infield from last season with Guillorme serving as the super utility man. Escobar and top prospect Brett Baty will be competing for the third base job in camp, which Escobar will win to begin the year.

Outfield: Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte, Mark Canha, Tommy Pham

Like the infield, the Mets will have the same starting outfield from 2022 returning. Nimmo will be in center, Marte in right field and Canha in left. Pham will be the fourth outfielder, who plays against left-handed pitching. Pham will see time in left to spell Canha.

DH: Daniel Vogelbach, Darin Ruf

Although GM Billy Eppler told Inside the Mets the DH spot is currently "undefined," Vogelbach and Ruf are on the roster and will likely share a platoon again at the position. If Ruf isn't traded before Opening Day, he and Vogelbach will split time at DH.

Starting Rotation: Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, Jose Quintana, Carlos Carrasco

After Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker signed with other teams, the Mets brought in some new faces in their rotation to replace them. Newcomers: Verlander, Senga and Quintana will take up 3 out of 5 spots while Scherzer and Carrasco will slot into the other two spots. David Peterson and Tylor Megill will serve as depth starters in Triple-A Syracuse, but will likely be needed in the big-leagues throughout the season.

Bullpen: Edwin Diaz, Adam Ottavino, David Robertson, Brooks Raley, Drew Smith, Tommy Hunter, John Curtiss, Elieser Hernandez

The Mets re-signed Diaz and Ottavino, signed Robertson and traded for Raley. This group will be the high-leverage arms in the bullpen along with Smith. Hunter was also re-signed and will win a spot in camp. Now that Curtiss is healthy, he is a bounce back candidate that will win a spot in spring training as well. Last but not least, Hernandez will replace Trevor Williams as the swingman/long reliever in the bullpen.

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- Mets' David Peterson: 'I Have Confidence in Myself to be Starter in This Rotation'

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