New York Mets Announce Six Cuts With Surprising Player Among Them
Teams across Major League Baseball are preparing to get their roster down to the 26-man threshold ahead of Opening Day and the New York Mets are no different.
With this seemingly being a transition year as the front office and coaching staff are prepared to evaluate the young talent that will be littered throughout the team this season, there were some questions about who would actually be included for Opening Day.
The established stars and veterans are certainly safe, but there are plenty of players and prospects who could have played their way onto the roster.
But, according to SNY, the Mets have decided to cut six of their players from contention, with one surprising name among them.
They report that pitchers Kyle Crick, Yacksel Rios, and Cole Sulser have been reassigned to their minor league camp, along with outfielders Ben Gamel and Trayce Thompson, and infielder Yolmer Sanchez.
The one that catches the eye out of this group is Thompson.
He's been one of New York's best performers throughout Spring Training, sitting tied for the lead in RBI with six, while also hitting two home runs and two doubles as part of his six overall hits across 24 at-bats.
The veteran outfielder had his best season with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2022 after they acquired him in a trade during that summer. He posted a slash line of .268/.364/.537 with 13 homers, 28 extra-base hits, and 39 RBI across 74 games.
However, he wasn't able to follow that up in 2023, performing poorly before being placed on the 60-day injured list and ultimately traded.
Still, Thompson seemed like he could be a prime candidate for a bench role based on his performance during spring.
But he likely found himself on the outside looking in because of Starling Marte's return, the trade for Tyrone Taylor this offseason, and the slugging power of DJ Stewart.
