The prospects the Mets need to decide on before 40-man roster deadline — with a lockout wrinkle

The Mets face a Tuesday deadline to decide which prospects to add to their 40-man roster, protecting them from the Rule 5 Draft. The decision is complicated by a looming lockout: the draft is scheduled for 9 December, but the expected work stoppage begins on 2 December and would freeze major league rosters.

A similar situation arose in 2021-22, when the Mets protected Ronny Mauricio, Mark Vientos, José Butto and Adam Oller before the lockout, only for the draft to be cancelled after a labour agreement was reached. The article says this year’s draft is unlikely to go ahead as scheduled, leaving teams to weigh the cost of using roster spots now against the chance that the draft is later abandoned or squeezed out by other work.