The Mets have 12 true free agents and two players with team or player options for 2025 – meaning, in theory, more than a third of their 40-man roster could turn over this winter.
Pete Alonso is of course the biggest name of the bunch, but four other key position players – J.D. Martinez, Jose Iglesias, Harrison Bader, and Jesse Winker – are also coming off the books.
None of those four was a Met at this time last year, and three weren’t even on the squad when Spring Training opened – but one of them, at least, isn’t sweating what could be this winter.
“If it happens, it happens, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t" Martinez said of returning to Queens. "I love hitting baseballs, but I’m not going to come back because I'm begging to come back. Obviously, they have some big decisions to make with the free agents, to fill the holes that are going to be missing next year. I wouldn't be surprised if they do that and the team is back [in the NLCS] next year."
Martinez, who was with the Dodgers in 2023, didn’t sign until late-March, netting a $12 million deal. But, after hitting just .235 with 16 homers, being basically platooned in October, and turning 37 in August, will his value be more to a team needing a veteran presence, or will the Mets look in another direction, possibly an outfield slugger (hello, Juan Soto) as Starling Marte also turns another year older and closer to free agency?
Like Alonso, Martinez is a Scott Boras client, and so is Sean Manaea, who has an opt-out clause in his deal that can allow him to forego a $13.5 million salary and test free agency.
He was arguably the Mets’ best starter overall by the numbers, even as he admittedly hit a wall in October, but someone who threw 181 2/3 innings with a 3.47 ERA could be in line for a big payday – once that Manaea, who turns 33 in February, could be forgiven for wanting to cash in on.
But will he?
“I have no control over that right now and I’m not really thinking about it, but I’ve loved my time here. I love New York, the organization and all the people here, so I’d definitely love to be back,” an emotional Manaea said after he lasted just two innings in Game 6. “I’m proud of everything we’ve accomplished and everyone here. It’s meant everything to me.
Definitely the best year of my career both on and off the field, I’m really just super proud of this year as a whole.”
Opting in would forego that payday, but give stability to a Mets rotation that will see its top three playoff starters – Manaea, Jose Quintana, and Luis Severino – all enter the market, all in different places.
Severino, who got a one-year deal after his five-year extension in the Bronx netted three lost seasons and two injury-addled ones, looked closer to his 2018 self and, at age 30, could be in for a nice deal. He’s somewhere in the middle of Manaea and Quintana, who had another nice season but turns 36 in January and may be a one or two-year deal candidate, similar to the one he signed with the Mets before 2023.
"I'm healthy. I feel good. I want to try one more time to win a championship,” Quintana, who rebounded to make 31 starts after missing most of 2023 injured, said. “This was the closest I've been in my career. One day I'm going to get the opportunity."
Add in a key October bullpen piece in Ryne Stanek, veteran Adam Ottavino, and a couple of injured arms in Drew Smith and Brooks Raley, and they may need half a bullpen, too.
Steve Cohen will spend, but the question is, who’s willing to be bought?