With a 40-man roster crunch ahead of them this offseason, the Mets cleared some space on Wednesday by outrighting five players off their 40-man roster: outfield prospect Wuilmer Becerra, pitchers Tyler Pill and Erik Goeddel, outfielder Travis Taijeron, and infielder Phillip Evans.
Pill, Taijeron, Evans, and Goeddel all spent some time with the major league team this year. Pill had a 5.32 ERA in 22.0 major league innings and three starts this season. Taijeron struggled in the 59 plate appearances he recieved, with a .173/.271/.269 line and a 51 wRC+. Evans posted a much more successful 113 wRC+ in 38 plate appearances, but he lacks much of a prospect pedigree.
Goeddel had major league stints in the Mets’ bullpen each of the last three seasons, including a fairly effective 2015 season. But elbow injuries have taken a huge hit on his career, and he had a 5.28 ERA this season. Meanwhile, Becerra was once considered a top prospect in the organization, even reaching #10 on Amazin’ Avenue’s 2016 prospect list. But an injury-shortened 2016 season and a poor 2017 season at High-A St. Lucie have significantly dampened the future outlook for the 23-year-old.
Becerra will be the only one of the five to remain under team control and be exposed to the Rule 5 draft in December, while the rest will become free agents. The Mets now have more roster space to add some players this offseason, as well as room to add David Wright, Steven Matz, and Zack Wheeler back to the 40-man roster after they ended the season on the 60-day disabled list.