Welcome back to the Mets Beat newsletter! Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2007, including the past 16 seasons full-time on the beat. |
NEW YORK -- Since Steve Cohen purchased the team in 2020, every Mets offseason has proven full of intrigue. This one should be no different, with Pete Alonso and Edwin Díaz set to hit free agency, and New York looking to bolster what proved to be a flawed roster in 2025. Next week will mark the first official workweek of the offseason. Among the details to watch: Which players are free agents? Here’s the list of unrestricted free agents who ended the season on the 40-man roster: - OF Starling Marte
- OF Cedric Mullins
- DH Jesse Winker
- RHP Griffin Canning
- RHP Ryne Stanek
- RHP Ryan Helsley
- RHP Tyler Rogers
- LHP Gregory Soto
In addition to those eight, Alonso, Díaz, A.J. Minter and Frankie Montas have an opt-out clause in their contract. More on their situations below. Which players have an option, what’s the dollar figure and impact on payroll, and when does it need to be decided upon? - Díaz has two guaranteed years and $38 million remaining on his contract, with player options after this season and next.
- Alonso has a $24 million player option for 2026.
- Montas has a $17 million player option for 2026.
- Minter has an $11 million player option for 2026.
- Left-hander Brooks Raley has a $4.75 million team option for 2026.
- Right-hander Drew Smith has a $2 million team option for 2026.
Alonso has already stated his intention to opt out of his contract. Díaz hasn’t, but he is widely expected to do the same. Montas, who’s recovering from September Tommy John surgery, will not exercise his opt-out. Most likely neither will Minter, who lost most of the season to a left lat strain and is questionable for Opening Day. The Mets are sure to exercise Raley’s team option for 2026, after he finished this season with a 2.45 ERA over 30 appearances. Less certain is Smith, who spent all summer rehabbing from July 2024 Tommy John surgery but never made it back to Minor League games. (Smith should, however, be ready around the beginning of the season.) |
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Are any of the players above likely to receive a qualifying offer, and what is the deadline for that? Díaz will. He will of course reject it, given that the one-year, $22.025 million qualifying offer will be worth less than the contract he’s opting out of, but that process will guarantee the Mets Draft pick compensation should their closer sign elsewhere. Alonso is ineligible for the QO after receiving one last season. The Mets don’t have any other candidates for the QO, which must be made within five days of the World Series ending. Who might be a non-tender candidate, and when does the club have to make that decision? Non-tender candidates are typically arbitration-eligible players whose salaries start to climb higher than their production. Of the nine Mets eligible for arbitration this year, four are clearly in the team’s 2026 plans: David Peterson, Francisco Alvarez, Luis Torrens and Huascar Brazobán. Expect the club to tender a contract to all four. That leaves five players in murkier waters: Tyrone Taylor, Tylor Megill, Reed Garrett, Nick Madrigal and Max Kranick. Although Taylor has been a big piece for the Mets the past two seasons, he’s coming off a career-worst campaign in which he produced a .598 OPS while making $3.025 million. Outside of their No. 2 prospect (No. 21 overall in MLB) Carson Benge, the Mets don’t have an obvious in-house candidate to play center field, and the free-agent market is thin. Those are reasons for the club to take a long look at tendering Taylor -- but there are no guarantees for a player whose 2025 salary clearly outstripped his production. Megill, Garrett and Kranick are all in similar spots as arbitration-eligible players who just underwent major arm surgeries. Megill -- who will miss all of 2026 as he recovers from Tommy John surgery in September -- is under team control through ’27, but the Mets would need to pay him for two seasons in hopes of receiving one year of production. That makes him a non-tender candidate. Garrett (Tommy John surgery) is under control through 2029 and made less money than Megill last year, giving the Mets a bit more incentive to tender him. Same with Kranick (right flexor tendon surgery), who has three years of control left and is the best bet of the three to return at some point next season. Madrigal, meanwhile, is an obvious non-tender candidate after missing this entire season due to a major left shoulder injury. This year’s tender deadline is Nov. 21. |
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Who needs to be added to the 40-man roster this winter to avoid the Rule 5 Draft, and do the Mets have a crunch for roster spots? Given the high number of free agents coming off the roster, the Mets have no imminent crunch. Their most intriguing Rule 5-eligible player is outfielder Nick Morabito, the organization’s 16th-ranked prospect who’s currently raking in the Arizona Fall League. Also of note is catcher Kevin Parada, the Mets’ first-round pick in 2022 and a former Top 100 prospect whose stock has fallen precipitously in recent years. The Mets have room to add both if they want to. In any event, they’re at far less risk of being pillaged in the Rule 5 Draft than they were a year ago, when they lost pitchers Mike Vasil and Nate Lavender. What kind of help do they need, and will they be active in free agency? Who might they target? The Mets’ top priority will be either re-signing Alonso and Díaz … or figuring out how to replace them. Just because those two are priorities, though, doesn’t mean resolutions will happen quickly. Alonso in particular could linger on the market as his agent, Scott Boras, tries to drum up interest from other teams. Expect the Mets to consider adding a frontline starter to their rotation either via free agency or, perhaps more likely, the trade market. Among those rumored to be available are Tarik Skubal, Sandy Alcantara, Joe Ryan and Pablo López. Finally, the Mets need to flesh out their bullpen and bench. Among the priorities there will be finding a DH to replace the tandem of Marte and Winker. Who might they be willing to trade? By all accounts, president of baseball operations David Stearns was reluctant to trade any blue-chip prospects at the Deadline. It’s possible that could change this winter, with names like Brandon Sproat (Mets’ No. 5 prospect), Jonah Tong (Mets’ No. 4 prospect, No. 46 overall in MLB), Jett Williams (Mets’ No. 3, No. 30 overall) and A.J. Ewing (Mets’ No. 7) potentially available in the right deals. New York could also deal off its big league roster. Jeff McNeil’s name has been in trade talks for multiple offseasons in a row; this one should be no different. Mark Vientos likewise profiles as a change-of-scenery candidate if the Mets aren’t willing to commit to him as their DH. |
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MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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Who led the Mets in RBIs during the 1969 World Series? A) Tommie Agee B) Donn Clendenon C) Ed Kranepool D) Ron Swoboda |
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• The Mets hired another member of Carlos Mendoza’s revamped coaching staff this week: Troy Snitker, who will serve as hitting coach under director of hitting Jeff Albert. (Titles aside, Snitker and Albert will essentially replace Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes, who were co-hitting coaches last season.) • Díaz is likely to opt out of his contract in a matter of days. The Mets could very well re-sign their closer … but what if they don’t? We ran down a list of relievers who could potentially replace him. |
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B) Clendenon A midseason trade acquisition in 1969, Clendenon drove home a team-high four runs in four World Series games, including a crucial two-run homer in the clinching Game 5. |
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