213 Miles From Shea

Quick Broadcasting Note: Today’s spring training game will only on be on MLBN if you live out-of-market. There is no SNY/WPIX coverage but there is radio coverage on 880 AM. Yankees coverage is a bit more confusing. The game is on the Gotham Sports App, which carries the Yankees, Nets, Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, Devils and Sabres. I’m not 100% confident, but you should be able to watch the Yankees game if you have a cable subscription that carries YES and you link that account to the Gotham Sports App.

The Mets head to Tampa this afternoon for a very early trip across the entire state of Florida. There’s a stinky situation right now with Yankees, and it has nothing to do with all the former Yankee faces now in the Mets dugout. There was a massive sewage line breakage outside of the stadium which led to raw sewage in the Yankees clubhouse. Hopefully the situation is remedied before the game today.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Justin Hagenman. Hagenman was drafted by the Dodgers in 2018 and traded to the Red Sox in 2023. He finally made his major league debut last season with the Mets. He pitched in nine games including one start totaling 23 2/3 innings with a 4.56 ERA, 3.77 FIP, 1.099 WHIP and an 89 ERA+. He pitched multiple innings every time he pitched for the Mets last season, saving the bullpen multiple, valuable innings of work. We saw the Mets were aggressive already getting pitchers multiple innings of work in their first spring training game and we’ll see if that pattern continues today with Justin Hagenman. As a bonus challenge for Justin Hagenman, the Yankees are throwing out a regular, major league heavy batting order to start the game.
2. Carson Benge. Leading off for the Mets today is the highest rated position prospect in the Mets system right now. Benge has been ranked #19 by Baseball America, #10 by Baseball Prospectus, #16 by MLB Pipeline, and #21 by Fan Graphs. He will probably be the Mets right fielder at some point this season. He’s coming off of a minor league season where he played across three levels with a .281/.385/.472 with 15 homers and 22 stolen bases.
3. Ryan Clifford. Ryan Clifford (#86 Baseball Prospectus) is the last of the prospects left from the Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer trades a couple of seasons ago. Last season Clifford played first and the outfield when he wasn’t the DH. If you look at his time in the field only, he played in the outfield about 40% of the time. In 2024 he had a 133 wRC+ in Binghamton and last season he hit .237/.356/.470 between Binghamton and Syracuse with 29 homers. It’s a big day today if you like Mets position prospects!

Let’s Go Mets!

Carl Edwards Jr. is an Immaculate Grid Superstar!

From 2015 to 2025, Edwards Jr. has played for the Cubs, Padres, Mariners, Braves, Blue Jays, Nationals, Padres again, Angels and Rangers. The Mets will be his ninth club if he makes the roster.

The Mets signed the veteran reliever in early December, and he already made his Grapefruit League debut on Saturday, 2/21, pitching two innings, allowing a hit, walk and one unearned run while striking out two.

Carl Edwards Jr’s first outing showcased his ability to pitch more than one inning in relief. This not something that he has done often at the major league level, but something he did do in the minors in 2025. Last season the Mets had several pitchers that were consistently pulled before the 6th inning, creating a huge tax on the bullpen. Now that Edwards has pitched multiple innings once for the Mets, we’ll be looking to see if he does that again to distinguish himself.

Edwards only had six innings over four games at the major league level in 2025, allowing three runs from four hits. Across Triple A in two different organizations he pitched in 15 games, making eight starts, totaling 50 2/3 innings with a 4.44 ERA an 1.461 WHIP. He also had a lot of work in the Mexican league, making 14 starts totaling 74 2/3 innings with a 3.58 ERA and 1.232 WHIP.

The last time he had sustained success in the majors was in 2022 and 2023 with the Washington Nationals. Over those two seasons he pitched 93 2/3 innings over 89 games with a 3.07 ERA, 4.11 FIP, 1.324 WHIP and a 132 ERA+.

Edwards primarily throws a four seamer (51.1%) that sits in the low-to-mid 90’s and mixes in a high-70’s curve (34.4%) and a high-80’s changeup (14.4%). He brings a lot of veteran experience, and depending on how the Mets use him in Syracuse, he has the ability to spot start or be the bulk guy if needed. Like all pitchers we’ve covered in this NRI preview series, it feels more likely than not we’ll see Carl Edwards Jr. at some point this season on the major league roster.

The wait is over! The 2026 Mets take the field today for their first spring training game. There are a lot of new faces on the roster this spring, and familiar faces in new places on the diamond. Players in new positions like Bo Bichette at third, Jorge Polanco at first, Juan Soto in left and Brett Baty in right will dominate story lines this spring. On top of that the Mets have 30ish non-roster players in camp this spring.

The Mets will face off against the Marlins today and will end their spring training schedule against them a month later on March 22nd. By then the roster will be set. How we get to that roster starts today!

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Brandon Waddell. Today’s starter is back in came as a non-roster invitee for a second season in a row. Waddell ended up pitching 31 1/3 innings for the Mets last season with a 3.45 ERA and a 118 ERA+. His actual results were quite different than his expected results which had him at an xERA of 5.59 and an xBA of .281. He’s trying to break through camp as a lefty, and even if he doesn’t break camp with the team, it is safe to assume we’ll see him with the major league club at some point this season.
2. Stolen bases in spring. There is a thought around baseball that spring training can give insight into stolen bases. Specifically around which players are trying to be more aggressive on the base paths, which teams are making more stealing attempts, etc. Juan Soto is coming off of a career high 38 stolen bases with a previous career high of 12. How many bases did he steal last spring? Zero. Antoan Richardson, the former Mets first base coach, was an absolute wizard and played a huge role in the 2025 Mets stolen bases. We’ll be looking all spring to see how the new first base coach, Gilbert Gomez, handles the role.
3. New Defense. This was touched in the introduction. Players in new defensive positions will be the major story of the spring. We’ll see a good bit of this today. Juan Soto will be returning to left field. Bo Bichette will get reps a third base. We’ll also see Ronny Mauricio at short. If Lindor misses anytime, Mauricio is the only player on the Mets roster who played any innings at short with the Mets last year.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets either have a ton of shortstops on the roster or they have limited depth at the position. It completely depends on how the Mets see the versatility of their roster.

When Lindor went down with an injury in 2024, Luisangel Acuña was there to fill the gap for the Mets. Acuña did great in that stint and was able to fill in when needed in 2025 (although that was only parts of seven games totaling 36 innings). With Acuña now gone, the Mets need other options at short. They have two players on the roster, Jorge Polanco and Bo Bichette who are shortstops, but they are also learning new positions. It feels unlikely, even with Lindor recovering from surgery right now, that the Mets will slide either of them over to short unless there is an unforeseen set back. The only other player on the roster who played innings at short in 2025 was Ronny Mauricio who played 22 innings over parts of five games there.

The Mets need a stop gap back up plan incase Lindor isn’t ready and Mauricio needs someone behind him. The short-term back-up shortstop/utility player will be one of the more competitive battles this spring. Jackson Cluff is one of several players batting for that spot.

Cluff was drafted in 2019 out of BYU by the Washington Nationals. Over 498 minor league games he has slashed .219/.324/.363. Cluff hit .279/.395/.382 his first season with BYU and then took two years off for a mission trip. He came back as a senior hitting .325/.458/.515.

His minor league career was interrupted early by a broken hamate bone (that sounds familiar!) and then by the covid lost season. Last season he played in Triple A Rochester slashing .242/.349/.422 over 103 games while being an average of 1.7 years older than the competition. Surprisingly, Cluff has never been younger than the average player age at any level in the minors.

Cluff was last listed as a top 30 prospect on the Nationals by MLB Pipeline back in 2022. He was ranked as their #22 prospect with an estimated major league debut of 2022 (something that still hasn’t happened yet for Cluff). After hitting only .214/.306/.289 across three levels in 2021, Cluff had a strong Arizona Fall league season slashing .342/.432/.456, which played a role in him landing on the Pipeline list. Even back then he was noted for his stellar defense, which is what the Mets are signing him for. He’s not going to hit the cover off the ball, but a great glove and some decent hitting could land him a spot on the roster.

We’ll be watching this spring to see how long he stays in camp, and how his playing time compares to other players who are trying to get that back up shortstop position. Let’s make a big assumption that Ronny Mauricio is the guy if the Mets need a shortstop for a week. The first player up on the 40-man is Vidal Bruján. NRI’s fighting for the spot include veteran Christian Arroyo, Grae Kessinger and Jackson Cluff. There’s a lot of competition!

Do your Yankee friends try to make fun of you because the Mets have added so many Yankees over the last two years? Wear it with pride and remind them at in addition to all the major league players who are playing in Queens, the Mets stole a player out of the Yankees farm system via the Rule 5 draft back in December.

Matt Turner signed a minor league contract with the Yankees in early December only to get snatched by the Mets less than a week later.

Turner was drafted by Cleveland in 2017 out of high school. Over seven minor league seasons he’s pitched in 130 games totaling 283 2/3 innings with a 4.79 ERA and 1.502 WHIP. He had a strong season before the pandemic, putting up a 2.81 ERA over 73 2/3 innings in 2019. Since then it’s been rough. In his last season with Cleveland he ha da 5.91 ERA over 35 innings across three different teams.

Matt Turner than signed with an independent league team and put up an impressive 2.44 ERA over 48 innings in 2024. He then pitched in the Mexican league with a 1.53 ERA over 17 2/3 innings. This lead the Rockies to take a chance with last season he pitched 56 innings with a 5.79 ERA and 1.661 WHIP.

Now the Mets will see what Matt Turner can do this spring. Turner is one five lefties in camp that are not on the 40-man roster yet. I’ll be watching spring games to get a sense of his pitch mix, it’s been difficult to find online. This scouting report was written when he was drafted. Back then he had a mid-80’s fastball, low-70’s changeup and low-70’s curveball.

Matt Turner is only one season removed from success in the independent leagues and in Mexico. Two organizations, the Yankees and the Mets, were interested in him this year. With the Mets recent track record with pitchers (using a record 46 pitchers in 2025 alone), there is a solid chance that if Matt Turner stays healthy, he’ll up for a cup of coffee at some point this season.

The Mets tore down the roster at the 2023 deadline, trading away stars and major league veterans who were going to be free agents after the season. Several years later, some of the smaller name trades the Mets made at the deadline look to be more notable than two big ones that involved Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. Mets prospects Jeremy Rodriguez, Marco Vargas and Ronald Hernandez were all acquired from trading Tommy Pham and David Robertson.

The biggest trade, at the time, was sending Max Scherzer to the Rangers for Luisangel Acuña, who was part of the trade package for Luis Robert Jr. this off-season. The next largest trade was sending Justin Verlander to the Astros for Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford. Drew Gilbert was traded in package of players for Tyler Rogers in the 2025 deadline.

Ryan Clifford is all that remains from the two big trades the Mets made in the 2023 deadline, and he’s back in camp with a non-roster invitation this spring. He’s coming off of a couple of successful seasons. He was previously blocked by Pete Alonso, now he’s blocked by Jorge Polanco on a two-year deal. He is almost ready for the majors, will the Mets have a spot for him?

Clifford was ranked the 86th prospect in baseball this month by Baseball Prospectus, who ranked seven players in the top 101. MLB Pipeline had Clifford as the sixth-best prospect in the Mets system at the end of 2025, with a projection that we’ll see the first basemen / outfielder at some point in 2026 with the Mets.

In 2024 Clifford hit .228/.372/.421 across Brooklyn and Binghamton. His power really popped once he got to Binghamton hitting 18 homers over 99 games with a 133 WRC+, which was third in the Eastern League that season. This continued last season as he slashed .237/.356/.470 across Binghamton and Syracuse, hitting 29 home runs and 23 doubles.

Clifford’s numbers fed into the Pete Alonso debate this off-season. Arguments against signing Pete Alonso to any deal longer than three years centered around the possibility of Ryan Clifford. After Alonso signed with the Orioles, Clifford’s name popped up as a possible solution (with Vientos) before the Mets signed Jorge Polanco. The Polanco contract takes the pressure off of Clifford right now.

That leaves Clifford with a few different paths to the majors, which are all contingent on him playing well in Syracuse this season. Clifford will only see significant playing time at first base in 2026 if there is an injury to Polanco that is significant enough to give Clifford major playing time. This is also contingent on Mark Vientos not working out at first. Clifford could be the starting first basemen for the Mets in 2027 if there is more shifting around the Mets infield. This feels unlikely though because even if the Mets lose Bo Bichette after one season, the Mets still have Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, and Ronny Mauricio who all could keep Jorge Polanco at first. The Mets could also be looking all the way to the 2027 trade deadline, trading Polanco with a couple of months left on his deal and starting Clifford’s time in the majors then.

Clifford’s other major path to the majors involves the outfield. When he wasn’t DH’ing, he played in the outfield about 40% of the time in 2025. The Mets prefer Carson Benge for the open right field spot right now, especially since the stop-gap plan seems to be Brett Baty and MJ Melendez. If Clifford gets off to a really hot start in Syracuse he could force himself in this conversation. This path seems less likely though than the infield.

Clifford is a prospect who will be ready to take that next step to the majors either this season or next season. With multiple players blocking his path, it’s difficult to see exactly where he fits in. A strong start in the minors could force his name into the conversation or make him into a trade piece for the July deadline.

Adbert Alzolay signed a two-year minor league contract with the Mets before the 2025 season while recovering from Tommy John. While there was an outside chance the Mets could have him pitch in the minors in 2025, they kept him off the mound the entire summer. He pitched a few innings in winter ball after the end of the season and now enters spring training healthy.

Alozlay had a breakout season in 2023 when the Cubs gave up trying to make him a starter. In 2023 he totaling 64 innings over 58 games with a 2.67 ERA, 3.02 FIP, 1.016 WHIP and a 160 ERA+. His Baseball Savant page was filled with red. He had a 3.63 xERA, good for the 74th percentile despite a high xBA at .242 (47th percentile). Here are some other notable stats and percentiles from 2023:

• Chase% 31.5% (79th percentile)
• Whiff% 28.1% (65th percentile)
• K% 26.5% (74th percentile)
• BB% 5.1% (92nd percentile)
• Barrel% 6.0% (81st percentile)

He totaled only 17 1/3 innings in 2024, and saw a notable slide back across most statistical categories before his injury.

• xERA 6.64
• xBA .286
• Fastball Velocity 94.5 mph
• Chase% 29.1%
• Whiff% 22.9%
• K% 17.3%
• BB% 8.0%
• Barrel% 16.4%

Note: He didn’t throw enough to qualify for percentile ranks, but if you go to his page, you can see he would been average at best for a few areas, and well below-average in most stats.

The Mets would love to see he is 2023 again, which is why the they took a two-year gamble on him. As a pitching staff last season the Mets walked 556 batters, which was the 7th highest in major league baseball. They need relievers who aren’t giving out free passes and generating swings and misses. Alozay enters camp with no options left, so once he gets called up, he has to stay up or the Mets risk losing him to another team.

The focus this spring is to see what he looks likes on the mound. How many of six pitches does he throw the first time out? How quickly does he work his whole repertoire back into his arsenal. The Mets have one, maybe two spots in their bullpen open, but Alozay would first have to get on the 40-man, let alone the active roster. It feels like a safe bet if Alozay is healthy, he’ll see time on the major league roster at some point season.

José Ramos was almost a Met on paper only. The Mets signed the former Dodgers prospect at the end November, almost a week after the deadline to protect players from the Rule V draft. No one selected Ramos in the draft and now the intriguing prospect has a chance to make his major league debut with the Mets this summer!

Ramos was listed as the Dodgers #29 prospect heading into the 2024 season by MLB Pipeline, with an assumed major league debut in 2025. That didn’t happen and he was actually unranked last season. His power has been his calling card throughout the minors, slugging 25 bombs in 2022. He’s coming off of a successful campaign last season hitting 18 homers between Double A and Triple A slashing .251/.326/.456. Overall in the minors he has slashed .254/.338/.445 over 581 games with 92 homers.

The Mets will get a quick look at José Ramos over the next week or so before he heads off to play for Panama in the World Baseball Classic. Ramos has represented his home country multiple times in international competitions. In the 2023 WBC, Ramos went 5-for-16 with a home run and five strikeouts (.313/.353/.500). In 2024 he played in the Premier12 tournament and went 2-for-17 with a home run and 3 RBI’s. The World Baseball Classic is a huge opportunity for Ramos who should get a lot of playing time, probably more than if he stuck in Mets camp for the first round of the tournament.

Ramos will most likely make his major league debut at some point this season with the Mets. It is highly unlikely that he breaks camp with the Mets. The Mets currently have six outfielders on the 40-man roster (Soto, Robert Jr., Tyrone Taylor, MJ Melendez, Jared Young and Nick Morabito), plus Brett Baty may see time in right field due to all the infielders on the roster. They have four more outfielders outside of Ramos in camp on NRI’s (Ji Hwan Bae, Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing and Christian Pace).

Ramos’ path to majors will depend on a few things. If Benge is ready to go and there’s a path for him to play everyday, Benge will get the call. If Baty is hitting and playing passable defense, he will stay in right. If there is a short term need, there needs to a spot on 40-man and Ramos will still have to leap frog Jared Young. Ramos will also have to play better than Pache and Bae. All this is to say, the Mets outfield is crowded with current top-prospects and former top-prospects. Ramos has flashed potential before, especially in the World Baseball Classic where he should get plenty of playing time. He has a difficult path to the majors, but one he should make at some point this year.

Brandon Waddell has a non-roster invitation to Mets camp for a second straight season. Waddell signed with the Mets after the 2024 season after a stint with the Doosan Bears in the KBO.

Waddell first found himself with the Mets because of his success in the KBO (2022-24). In 2022 he had a 3.60 ERA over 65 innings and followed that with a 2.49 ERA over 104 2/3 innings (18 starts) in 2023. He then pitched an additional 71 innings with a 3.30 ERA for Rakuten in 2023. He only pitched with the Bears in 2024, putting up a 3.12 ERA over 75 innings.

Last season was a chaotic one for the Mets bullpen and Waddell was called to the majors multiple times pitching 31 1/3 innings over 11 games, including four starts with a 3.45 ERA, 4.54 FIP, 1.277 WHIP and a 118 ERA+. Waddell had some great outings, like holding the Pirates to one hit and no runs over 3 innings on June 28th, or holding the Marlins scoreless over 4 1/3 innings on August 31st. He also had some rough starts like he he allowed four runs over five innings from seven hits and a walk against the White Sox at the end of May.

Baseball Savant wasn’t enthused by his short time with the Mets in 2025. His xERA of 5.59 and xBA of .281 puts him basically at the bottom of the league. He was in the bottom quartile for Chase% (26.3%) and Barrel% (a staggering 10.0%).

Over his 31 1/3 innings he used his high-70’s sweeper 23.6%, a pitch that he added in 2023 while overseas. He tossed his low-90’s fastball 22.7% of the time and his sinker 21.7%. Rounding out his repertoire is a mid-80’s slider and changeup.

Brandon Waddell had a successful 2025, almost becoming a regular in the Mets bullpen throughout the summer. The Mets went ahead and resigned him to a one-year major league contract at the start of November. In mid-December the Mets signed Drew Romo for catching depth and had to DFA Waddell to make room on the 40-man roster. Waddell passed through waivers and was outrighted to Triple A. Romo was later placed on waivers by the Mets and was claimed by the White Sox.

Brandon Waddell had options in 2025, which is part of why he was up and down so much. This upcoming season he doesn’t have any remaining options. He will probably be up with the Mets at some point in 2025 because of the lack of lefty relief on the Mets and the way the Mets have burned through bullpen arms the last couple of seasons. The question is what happens after the Mets need him off the active roster for another player. The more effective Waddell is, the more likely it is another team will try to claim him when the Mets try to send him back to the minors.

The Mets off-season strategy in 2026 was to collect all the infielders. There are nine players on the Mets 40-man roster that can play infield. On top of that, there are six non-roster players in camp who primarily play in the infield. Christian Arroyo is one of those players who the Mets signed for infield depth, and he has a lot of competition to make the Mets roster this season.

Arroyo was a first round draft pick by the Giants back in 2013 and would make his major league debut with the Giants in 2017. In December of 2017 he was one of four prospects sent to the Rays for Evan Longoria. After a couple of years with the Rays he was traded to Cleveland at the 2019 trade deadline. Since then he’s been with the Red Sox, Brewers, Phillies and now the Mets. For immaculate grid players, he never played in the majors with the Brewers and Phillies.

Arroyo has played in 295 major league games with 992 plate appearances slashing .252/.299/.394 with a 2.1 bWAR. His two most productive seasons were in 2021 and 2022 with the Red Sox:

• 2021: 1.5 bWAR, 57 G, 181 PA, .262/.324/.445, 103 OPS+
• 2022: 0.7 bWAR, 87 G, 300 PA, .286/.322/.414, 103 OPS+

Between 2021 and 2023 with the Red Sox Arroyo played mostly second base with time at short, first, third and right field. He even pitched an inning of relief in 2021.

His playing time in the majors, including a couple of years with an OPS+ above 100, puts him at an advantage compared to some other infielders fighting for a roster spot. In case of an emergency, the Mets could add him to the roster for a short stint if they need another player on the bench.

Last season he played 45 games with the Lehigh Valley Pigs (Phillies AAA affiliate) hitting a solid .301/.367/.457 over 207 PA’s. That plays when you need an emergency bat and don’t want to call up a prospect to fill the gap!

We can make a lot of jokes about the shear amount of infielders the Mets are carrying this season. With multiple players learning new positions (Bichette, Polanco, etc), having a utility infielder that can play any where without messing up another player’s development is a luxury. Unless Arroyo tears up the International League, his most likely route to seeing playing time with the Mets this season is to fill a positional or bench need in a short-term emergency.