So there it is. Carlos Mendoza today said he’d give up the No. 28 that reminded him of fleeting moments of youthful glory as a ballplayer so that JD Martinez will feel comfortable in his new home. Mendoza is switching to 64, which I fear is a little too undignified for a big-league manager. It also means third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh will need to find another number. 50 is theoretically available as its Phil Bickford whose been designated for assignment by the Mets to make room for Martinez on the 40.
Mendoza it should go without saying is the first No. 64 to manage the Mets and wearer of the highest-ever number among managers, knocking Frank Howard and Joe Frazier from the lead. Behold the sacred list.
| Manager | Years | Number |
| 1. Casey Stengel | 1962-65 | 37 |
| 2. Wes Westrum | 1965-67 | 9 |
| 3. Salty Parker | 1967 | 54 |
| 4. Gil Hodges | 1968-71 | 14 |
| 5. Yogi Berra | 1972-75 | 8 |
| 6. Roy McMillan | 1975 | 51 |
| 7. Joe Frazier | 1976-77 | 55 |
| 8. Joe Torre | 1977-81 | 9 |
| 9. George Bamberger | 1982-83 | 31 |
| 10. Frank Howard | 1983 | 55 |
| 11. Davey Johnson | 1984-1990 | 5 |
| 12. Bud Harrelson | 1990-91 | 3 |
| 13. Mike Cubbage | 1991 | 4 |
| 14. Jeff Torborg | 1992-93 | 10 |
| 15. Dallas Green | 1993-96 | 46 |
| 16. Bobby Valentine | 1996-2002 | 2 |
| 17. Art Howe | 2003-2004 | 18 |
| 18. Willie Randolph | 2005-2008 | 12 |
| 19. Jerry Manuel | 2008-2010 | 53 |
| 20. Terry Collins | 2011-2017 | 10 |
| 21. Mickey Callaway | 2018-2019 | 36/26* |
| 22. Carlos Beltran | 2020** | 15 |
| 23. Luis Rojas | 2020-2021 | 19 |
| 24. Buck Showalter | 2022-2023 | 11 |
| 25. Carlos Mendoza | 2024 | 64*** |
*-Switched to 26 upon announcement of Jerry Koosman retirement, 9/24/19
**-Did not appear in a game.
***-switched from 28 before the season
It’s not even go time but Carlos Mendoza is faced with a tough managerial decision. Does he give up No. 28 to newly arriving DH JD Martinez?
Martinez reportedly signed last night; he’s worn 28 most of his career including at his last three playing addresses. I never heard exactly why Mendoza preferred 28 but he could easily step aside and into one of the numbers opening up as he cuts minor leaguers. He could in fact cut Zack Short should he want to wear 74. Gotta view every move suspiciously from here on out.
So you may as well junk the post below, it contained little that wasn’t contradicted by the numerical roster dropped today by the club. Here’s your Spring roster, countdown style, or count up, if you prefer.
The news here as I see it is Luis Severino taking over Drew Smith‘s No. 40, forcing Smith into 33 and membership in the three-number club. (He was also 62 you may recall). Also noting that our friend Dr. Grant Hartwig has moved down in the world, from 93 all the way to 56. Sean Manaea takes 59, Adrian Houser 35 and Harrison Bader 44.
Tyrone Taylor appears to be issued No. 15. He’s the speedy reserve outfielder we picked up from Milwaukee along with pitcher Adrian Houser, for Coleman Crow, one of the guys we got from the Angels in the Eduardo Escobar trade. I’m getting a Collin Cowgill vibe from Tyrone, hopefully his results are better.
Free-agent infielder Joey Wendle is shown with 18, his number with Miami. Give the Mets’ plans to retire 18 for Darryl Strawberry this summer, it’s a good bet this doesn’t last.
The Mets will be the 9th team for journeyman lefty sidearmer Jake Diekman, who appears to be bound for No. 35. He signed a 1-year+option deal with the Mets.
You know the roster is unreliable when there’s huge swaths of unclaimed digits but two guys assigned the same number. That’s what’s going on with No. 48 where two free agents–outfielder Harrison Bader and reliever Jorge Lopez— both have a claim. Lopez wore 48 with Minnesota and Baltimore. Bader wore 48 with St. Louis. Either guy would be the Mets first 48 since Jacob deGrom.
Free agent reliever Michael Tonkin is listed in 59. I suppose he’s the Mets’ answer to losing Luis Guillorme to the Braves.
Manaea has worn 55 most often in his career and that would appear to be available here. Severino was 40 with the Yankees; that belongs to Drew Smith now.
Headlining the data is a change for Drew Smith, who appears to be surrendering No. 62 to new arrival Jose Quintana and moving to No. 40 vacated recently by Chris Bassitt. Quintana we noted has been a 62 for most of his career.
Then there’s a few guys who hadn’t been listed with numbers now having them. Lefty Brooks Raley is 25; that number belonged most recently to Tyler Naquin. Omar Narvaez is taking the 2 formerly with Dom Smith. (Dom appears to be going back to No. 22 with Washington, if their roster is to be trusted).
Then there’s info on a few guys who appear to be retaining whatever they wore last year and shouldn’t necessarily be trusted. Pitcher Jeff Brigham is 43, same as he was in Florida; the number is vacant so we’ll go with it. But I doubt Danny Mendick keeps to No. 20 he’s listed in, so you gotta take this info with a grain of salt until camp opens.
You can probably search the archives of this site and find me advocating to move Jeff 
Barring injuries, Nimmo will no doubt overtake Todd Hundley as the club’s most prolific No. 9 of all time–he’s still about 1 season’s worth of games and at-bats behind Hundley and already leads all 9s in on-base percentage and runs scored.
As I tend do when these questions come in I check to see what guidance the Mets’ official roster would provide and the answer is often inconclusive. But in this case it’s also weird. The 
The Mets also added veteran reliever David Robertson to a 1-year deal, shoring up a bullpen that appears to be losing Trevor May, Seth Lugo and maybe also Adam Ottavino though it doesn’t appear that any of those palookas have a deal with someone else yet. But Trevor Williams just signed with Washington. Drew Smith will be back.
Also on the 40 are brief visitors from last season Bryce Montes de Oca (63), Yoan Lopez (44), and Stephen Nogosek (85). Plus new guys awaiting number assignments: Jeff Brigham, Zach Greene (pinched from the Yankees in Rule 5), Stephen Ridings (waiver claim from the Yankees); Brooks Raley (trade with Tampa Bay), Tayler Saucedo (waiver claim from Toronto), and William Woods (waiver claim from Atlanta).
The Mets already list Robertson as No. 30–that’s been his figure for most of his career and supersedes what we were discussing below about Raley taking 30. As pointed out in the below comments, Raley is now listed in 43, most recently belonging to unforgettable infielder Yolmer Sanchez.
I confess to being somewhat ignorant of the 11-year career of Jose Quintana other than his involvement in a big trade between the White Sox (where he was an All-Star in 2016) and the Cubs, who coughed up the then big prospect Eloy Jimenez to get him. He’s a lefty from Columbia who’s worn 62 or 63 throughout his career which included subsequent stops with the Angels, Giants, Pirates and most recently, the 2022 Cardinals where he wore 62 and 63, not certain in which order. Here’s a fun fact: He was originally signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets. Now he’s essentially Taijuan Walker‘s replacement. I liked Walker, now he’s a Philly. Diabolical.