David Stearns and company are entering a crucial offseason for a New York Mets franchise that underwhelmed in 2025, failing to make the playoffs. One of the many things Stearns will have to figure out is which of the tied-for-league-high 11 free agents the Mets will bring back.
Pete Alonso During the 2025 All-Star Game. Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Pete Alonso, 1B
Might as well kick this off with potentially the toughest decision Stearns is facing. Last offseason, Stearns played the Alonso market well, and Pete returned to the Mets on a two-year, $54 million deal with an opt-out after the first year. Alonso, after mashing 38 home runs, knocking in 126 runs, posting a 141 wRC+ and setting the Mets franchise home run record, opted out of his deal that would’ve paid him $24 million for 2026.
Alonso, who will turn 31 years old during the Winter Meetings, will certainly be looking for a multi-year deal after his bounce-back 2025 season. I’m sure the Mets would love to have the offense that Alonso provided this season back in the fold. However, Stearns preached run prevention during his end-of-year press conference, and Alonso is a below-average defender (-9 outs above average in 2025) at first base.
All of that said, the Mets have struggled over recent years to get production from the designated hitter spot, and Alonso would be a perfect fit there. The questions become: will Pete be willing to accept that type of role to start his next contract, and how many years will the Mets be willing to guarantee a player they likely see as a DH for the entirety of the contract?
Recommendation: Re-sign. With the caveat that the Mets also acquire a first baseman, so Alonso is playing a majority of his time as the DH.
Griffin Canning, RHP
Often overlooked is how important Canning’s injury was to when the Mets’ 2025 season started going awry. After Canning signed a modest one-year, $4.25 million deal with the Mets the expectations for the former Angels pitcher were pretty low. When healthy, he certainly exceeded those with a 3.77 ERA over 16 starts. That said, Canning had allowed 13 runs in the three previous starts before suffering his season-ending ruptured Achilles.
While the Mets’ top of the rotation needs work, one could argue that, thanks to the development of their top pitching prospects, their depth heading into the 2026 season is stronger than last. There are certainly worse ways to spend $4 million if you want to bring back Canning as a seventh or eighth starter depth.
Recommendation: If he’s still available around the time camp starts, bring him back as depth. Otherwise, let him walk.
Edwin Diaz (39)Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Edwin Díaz, RHP
Despite seeing a slight dip in velocity and strikeouts, Díaz was one of the best relievers in baseball with a 1.63 ERA and 28 saves for the Mets. His xERA (2.45), xBA (.170), whiff% % (41.5%), and K% % (38.0%) were all in the 99th percentile. He posted a career-best 48.1 groundball percentage while using the lowest arm angle of his career (19 degrees).
To give you an idea of how thin the Mets’ bullpen is heading into the offseason, Roster Resource has A.J. Minter, Adbert Alzolay, and Brooks Raley currently projected to be the Mets’ top three relievers on the depth chart.
Recommendation: Bring back. Look, the Mets’ bullpen stinks, and Díaz has already shown he can pitch in big spots in New York. It won’t be cheap, but the Mets need to keep their closer.
Ryan Helsley, RHP
This convo is very different than the one we just had about a closer. Helsley was brutal for the Mets after coming over at the trade deadline. He posted a 7.20 ERA and gave up four home runs in 20 innings with the Mets down the stretch. On the positive side, the former Cardinals closer rebounded nicely to toss seven scoreless innings to close out the 2025 season. And that’s after being relentlessly booed by Mets fans.
As I mentioned above, even if the Mets do re-sign Díaz, they need to add bullpen help. The price tag for Helsley clearly took a hit with how he pitched overall with the Mets, but I would still expect a team to pay him like a closer.
Recommendation: Let walk
Starling Marte, DH/OF
We’ve seen multiple reports indicating that Marte is a team leader. We also know he’s friends with Juan Soto. We even saw him post a .745 OPS this season, his best since 2022.
However, he was limited to 12 games defensively in 2025 and, for the first time in his career, didn’t steal double-digit bases (7 in 2025). The 37-year-old’s expected offensive stats also show a less rosy outlook at what he might provide going forward.
Recommendation: Let walk
Cedric Mullins II, OF
The trade clearly didn’t work out with Mullins posting a .565 OPS in 42 games with the Mets. The Mets don’t have a clear short-term answer in center field– though David Stearns said prospect Carson Benge could battle for the spot in spring training during the GM Meetings this week— but Mullins already had his chance to fix that issue.
Recommendation: Let walk
Photo Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
Tyler Rogers, RHP
Of the three bullpen arms Stearns acquired during the trade deadline, Rogers fared the best with a 2.30 ERA with the Mets and had a 1.98 ERA in 77 1/3 overall innings. He’s not going to strike out a ton of folks (16.1 K% in 2025), but he’s elite at limiting hard contact (95th percentile), and his 62.1 ground ball rate was sixth in the majors.
Successful bullpens typically have a diverse group of arms/reportoires, and that’s exactly what Rogers brings to the table with his submarine delivery. The 34-year-old made $5.2 million in 2025 and will likely sign a short-term deal around the same per year.
Recommendation: Bring back
Drew Smith, RHP
In February this year, the Mets signed Smith to a one-year deal with a team option for 2026, though the right-hander was expected to miss the entire season following Tommy John surgery. Earlier this month, the Mets decided to decline their $2 million option for Smith.
The Mets sent slugger Lucas Duda to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2017 for Smith, and he’s spent his entire career since the deal in New York. The 32-year-old has a 3.48 ERA in 191 games over six seasons with the Mets. As mentioned above, and as you will hear a lot this offseason, the Mets need to focus on building a successful bullpen. Smith, as depth, on a split contract would make a ton of sense for the Mets.
Recommendation: Bring back
Gregory Soto, LHP
Stearns tried to get an early jump on the trade deadline on July 25 when he sent pitching prospects Wellington Aracena and Cameron Foster to the Orioles for Soto. The lefty was having a fine season with the Orioles, posting a 3.96 ERA and striking out 27.5% of batters.
Soto didn’t fare as well with the Mets, posting a 4.50 ERA and only striking out 21.8% of hitters. He also saw his WHIP balloon from 1.29 to 1.63 from his time with the Orioles to the Mets. The Mets will have lefty Brooks Raley healthy headed into the 2026 season and A.J. Minter could be ready for spring training coming off lat surgery. Not sure the Mets want to have three lefties on the active roster.
Recommendation: Let walk
Ryne Stanek, RHP
I’m honestly a little surprised Stanek made it through the entire season on the Mets roster. It was a constant struggle for the right-hander as he posted a 5.30 ERA, walked 32 batters, and gave up the exact same amount of hits (52) as innings (52) pitched.
Recommendation: Let walk
Jesse Winker, DH/OF
The Mets brought back Winker after he flourished in the 2024 postseason for them with a 1.168 OPS in 10 games. Unfortunately, a back injury limited Winker t0 only 26 games for the 2025 season. He tried to return to action in July, but played in only two games before the injury flared up again.
Recommendation: Let walk
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