New York Mets: Final Predictions for Each Key Spring Position Battle

It's crunch time in camps across the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues. Opening Day is rapidly approaching, which means tough roster decisions must be made.

The New York Mets, playoff hopefuls in the National League East, are no exception. While their roster isn't as unsettled as some, the Amazin's have a few key position skirmishes to sort out before the games begin to count.

Let's examine them and offer predictions based on stats, the latest rumblings and a dollop of old-fashioned gut feeling.

Fifth Starter

The battle for the fifth-starter job behind Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey and Steven Matz comes down to Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo, with Zack Wheeler tossed in as a wild card.

The 23-year-old Gsellman owns a 2.25 ERA in 12 exhibition innings and appears to be the nominal favorite.

Lugo, meanwhile, has spent much of his spring pitching for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images

The 27-year-old showed flashes in the tournament, but he surrendered four earned runs in four innings in Wednesday night's 8-0 championship loss to the United States.

Wheeler remains a tantalizing possibility as he works his way back from 2015 Tommy John surgery. He's gotten into the Grapefruit League with mixed results, coughing up nine hits and seven earned runs in 7.1 innings but flashing his plus fastball.

"It's a great problem to have," manager Terry Collins said, per Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News. "We came into this camp knowing we had depth in the rotation. We didn't know where Zack was going to be but we felt with the other four guys we and with Robert and Seth we had some depth here."

Prediction: Gsellman wins the job, with Lugo heading to the bullpen or Triple-A, and Wheeler to extended spring training. 

Bullpen

With closer Jeurys Familia facing a likely suspension under MLB's domestic violence policy, the Mets have multiple openings in the pen.

Addison Reed, Fernando Salas, Jerry Blevins and Hansel Robles are in, leaving up to three spots.

Left-hander Josh Smoker has a 1.74 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 10 innings this spring. Fellow lefty Josh Edgin has surrendered four earned runs in 8.1 innings but has fanned nine.

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Submarine righty Ben Rowen posted a 1.93 ERA in 9.1 frames but was reassigned Wednesday, per Betsy Helfand of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Non-roster invitee Paul Sewald has also turned heads, as Abbey Mastracco of NJ Advance Media outlined. 

Then there's Wheeler, who could theoretically work his way back into fighting shape as a middle-inning power arm. Lugo, too, could be used as a long man.

Prediction: Smoker and Edgin, who is out of options, should get spots, as should Lugo assuming he loses the fifth-starter battle.

Outfield/Final Bench Spot

New York is set (stuck?) in the outfield with the veteran combination of Yoenis Cespedes, Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce. 

None of the above is a true center fielder, which means Juan Lagares has the inside track on the fourth outfielder gig.

That could leave Michael Conforto out in the cold. 

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The 24-year-old owns 21 homers over 165 big league games and has hit .348 this spring. But with Lagares, catcher Rene Rivera and infielders Wilmer Flores and T.J. Rivera all in line for bench slots along with utilityman Ty Kelly, Conforto appears ticketed for the minors.

The same goes for 23-year-old outfielder Brandon Nimmo and his .476 spring average.

"It would be disappointing," Conforto said of a possible demotion, per Ackert. "I think that's the way I should feel." 

Prediction: Conforto and Nimmo open the season at Triple-A, while the Mets sort through their veteran outfield jumble.

All statistics current as of Wednesday and courtesy of MLB.com and Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.