The Mets are set to add six players on August 4, and Jeffrey Yan is among the group headed back to the active roster. Nate Lavender, who has spent this year at Triple-A Syracuse after returning from UCL surgery, must be selected to the 40-man roster before he can make his major league debut.
Will Sammon of The Athletic reported that Cristian Pache, Dedniel Núñez, Yan, Lavender, Chayce McDermott and Xzavion Curry will fill the openings created by the Mets’ deadline selling. The club has four 40-man vacancies and five open spots on the active roster, which is why one player may still need to be optioned to clear space for all six additions.
Yan’s move is a recall because he is already on the 40-man roster, while Pache and Lavender need to be selected and Núñez requires a 40-man spot because he is on the 60-day injured list. McDermott and Curry are also already on the 40-man roster, so they can return without extra maneuvering. MLBTR had previously covered Yan’s first MLB promotion, but this return comes as the Mets try to patch together a roster that was thinned by their trade-deadline selloff.
Lavender’s path makes this a little more than a routine shuffle. He did not pitch in any official capacity in 2024 after undergoing UCL surgery in May of 2024, then went to the Rays in the Rule 5 draft in November of 2024 before being given back to the Mets after the season. Since then, he has thrown 43 innings at Triple-A this year, posting a 3.77 earned runs per nine mark with a 40.2% strikeout rate, a 9.2% walk rate and a 42.7% ground ball rate.
The one thing not yet spelled out is how the Mets will make room if all six additions stick. One player may be optioned, but the club has not said who, and that leaves August 4 as less of a finish line than a test of how much roster juggling remains for a team playing out the string.
