(Jacob Resnick/Mets Minors)
Barring late changes, 20 Mets minor leaguers will be declared free agents at 5 p.m. ET on the fifth day following the conclusion of the World Series (Sunday, October 31). Two players (Ryan Cordell and Hunter Strickland) have already hit the open market, a luxury afforded to them because they were outrighted off the 40-man roster this past season for the second time in their careers.
A player reaches minor league free agency (in accordance with Rule 55) after spending seven seasons on a minor league roster or injured list or after signing a minor league free agent contract and reaching his seventh professional season.
Most years, this is straightforward. Nothing, however, is normal in 2020. Without a minor league season, would free agency be delayed by a year for players in their final season?
According to Baseball America, 2020 will be treated as a normal season. So, organizations ultimately received six seasons of service instead of seven from this year’s group of first-time free agents.
Here are the 20 who are scheduled to leave the Mets via free agency on Sunday if not added to the 40-man roster by 5 p.m.:
RHP Matt Blackham
INF Luis Carpio
OF Johneshwy Fargas
RHP Harol Gonzalez
INF Jake Hager
RHP Carlos Hernandez
LHP Joel Huertas
OF Braxton Lee
C Bruce Maxwell
OF Hansel Moreno
RHP Jose Moreno
INF Max Moroff
OF Jarrett Parker
RHP Darwin Ramos
C Natanael Ramos
RHP Francisco Rios
RHP Luc Rennie (previously released by BAL)
C David Rodriguez
RHP Peter Tago
RHP Adonis Uceta
The names above are easier to digest when broken down into two groups: veterans who were just passing through and the players whose original minor league contracts have reached their natural end.
Maxwell, Moroff, and Parker, who all joined the Mets after brief MLB tenures, spent their entire Mets careers at the Alternate Training Site. Also present were minor league veterans Fargas, Hager, Rios, and Rodriguez.
Carpio was briefly ranked as a top ten prospect in the organization, slotting in at No. 7 on Baseball America’s list and at No. 3 on Baseball Prospectus’ list prior to the 2016 season. Carpio, an 18-year-old shortstop at the time, underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder shortly after, limiting his profile to second base from there on out.
Blackham, a hard-throwing reliever, was invited to Spring Training and the Alternate Site this year, but as a 27-year-old career minor leaguer he was unable to break through the cracks. He’ll leave the organization with a 2.22 ERA since returning from 2016 elbow fracture surgery.
To keep any of these players from reaching free agency, the Mets must add them to the 40-man roster or agree to a 2021 minor league successor contract by 5 p.m. It’s a rare roster move (if the player hasn’t reached the majors by their seventh season it’s probably for a reason), but the Mets added Blake Taylor before the deadline last year before trading him to the Houston Astros in January. They also agreed to successor contracts with Uceta and Jason Krizan; the latter was selected by the Oakland A’s in the minor league phase of last year’s Rule 5 Draft.
