Let's Talk About Some Free Agent Guys

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Tonight at 5pm eastern, it’ll be dark outside, but MLB free agency will have officially begun. Sadly, it’s not like NBA or even NFL free agency where players are claimed almost immediately in an unruly frenzy. It’s usually a way too drawn out process, as most front offices are loath to spend any more money than they think they have to, while players want to get their respective bags. Adding to the intrigue of this offseason is the looming end of the current collective bargaining agreement, which expires at the conclusion of the 2026 season. Will some teams, like, say, the Mets, spend more money than they usually would in preparation for a potential salary cap? Beats me. 

It’s due time to look at the current state of the Mets roster - it’s a bit different if you take away all of the free agents - and the top free agents at each position of need, which is most of them. 

In parenthesis next to a player’s name is their age as of April 1, 2026. 

Catcher

The Mets currently have: Francisco Alvarez (24), Luis Torrens (29), Hayden Senger (28)

Top free agent possibilities: None that are relevant to this discussion. The Mets are set in this department.

First Base

The Mets currently have: Mark Vientos (26), Jeff McNeil (33), Jared Young (30), Ryan Clifford (22)

Top free agent possibilities: Pete Alonso (31), Josh Naylor (29), Cody Bellinger (30), Ryan O’Hearn (32), Carlos Santana (40), Luis Arraez (29), Munetaka Murakami (26), Kazuma Okamoto (30), Rhys Hoskins (33)

Big Meat Pete is the top first baseman on the free agent market this year, and there should be more competition for his services than there was last offseason. As I’ve written before, I’m all for a four or even five year deal at a reasonable price. Of course, he and Scott Boras are asking for a seven year contract to start. 

Josh Naylor impressed last year, especially with the Seattle Mariners. He swiped 30 bases in 32 attempts and had himself a 128 OPS+ season. Because he was traded during the season, there’s no qualifying offer penalty attached to him. He was clearly a sparkplug for Seattle during their playoff run, and some chutzpah was definitely missing from the Mets roster in 2025. 

If the Mets sign Cody Bellinger, I would imagine they’d stick him in center field. Luis Arraez is a very weird case - he’s all about batting average which nobody cares about anymore. However, you could get him on a one-year deal and give prospect Ryan Clifford more time to potentially develop into a big league first baseman. Kazuma Okamoto is essentially a safer, less strikeout prone version of Munetaka Murakami (who mostly plays third but would likely go to first in the States). Rhys Hoskins on the Mets might be a Jesse Winker 2.0 situation - he’s a jackass you would love if he were on your team. Old chums Dom Smith (31), Wilmer Flores (34), and Justin Turner (41) are also FAs.

Second Base

The Mets currently have: Jeff McNeil (33), Luisangel Acuña (24), Brett Baty (26), Ronny Mauricio (24), Nick Madrigal (29, Arbitration eligible), Jet!(t) Williams (22)

Top free agent possibilities: Gleyber Torres (29), Willi Castro (29), Jorge Polanco (32, has a player option), Bo Bichette (28)

Jeff McNeil has perpetually been on the trading block for years, and this one is no different. It’s not looking like Luisangel Acuña will be an everyday guy, Brett Baty is going to play third if he’s going to be anywhere, and Ronny Mauricio seemingly was more comfortable at the hot corner as well. If they don’t go the trade route, there isn’t much to choose from in free agency. Gleyber Torres had a good year, and he knows the deal when it comes to playing in New York, but he’s limited defensively and David Stearns wouldn’t shut up about “run prevention” when talking about future plans. Willi Castro didn’t play well after he was traded to the Cubs at the deadline this year, but that means he might take a one-year deal while Jet!(t) Williams gets a chance to take over at the keystone. Jorge Polanco will apparently be more of a designated hitter than a second baseman sooner rather than later. I put Bo Bichette last because I don’t know if he’d be willing to move to second base full-time to accommodate Lindor. If so, he rockets to the top of the list. 

Shortstop

The Mets currently have: Francisco Lindor (32), Luisangel Acuña (24), Nick Madrigal (29, Arbitration eligible)

Top free agent possibilities: Irrelevant. Lindor is the guy.

Third Base

The Mets currently have: Brett Baty (26), Mark Vientos (26), Ronny Mauricio (24)

Top free agent possibilities: Alex Bregman (32), Eugenio Suárez (34), Max Muncy (35, club option), Munetaka Murakami (26)

I know, I know - Baty earned the every day third baseman gig. But Tarik Skubal is about to win his second consecutive Cy Young, the Tigers might trade him away, and they’ve reportedly liked Brett Baty for a long time, so I have a wandering eye. I don’t think Swaggy V will be allowed near the left side of the infield ever again in a Met uniform, and I don’t see the Mets giving Mauricio regular time at the hot corner, as much as I wouldn’t totally hate that. With “run prevention” ringing in my ears, Alex Bregman and his glove could very much be a fit, but it would cost ya. Also, he missed 43 games with a quad injury in 2025 and slashed ​​.180/.273/.262 in his final 31 games, neither of which is great.

Left Field

The Mets currently have: Brandon Nimmo (33), Jeff McNeil (33), Jared Young (30)

Top free agent possibilities: Probably irrelevant. I can’t see Nimmo being moved anywhere even if the Mets wanted to. 

Center Field

The Mets currently have: Tyrone Taylor (32), Brandon Nimmo (33), Jeff McNeil (33), Luisangel Acuña (24), Carson Benge (23), Jet!(t) Williams (22)

Top free agent possibilities: Cody Bellinger (30), Harrison Bader (32), Trent Grisham (29)

As much as we love Double T, his bat isn’t reliable enough for him to be an everyday man. Nimmo played center in a pinch, but his time there should be over. The Mets seemingly regretted letting McNeil play center - even though he looked like he knew what he was doing out there they traded for Cedric Mullins instead of letting him continue. Acuña is getting center field reps in Winter Ball. Carson Benge, an Oklahoma State alum like Nolan McLean, is waiting in the wings in Triple-A. A Taylor-Benge platoon (Benge throws right-handed but hits lefty) wouldn’t be the worst thing, even if it might feel like settling. Cody Bellinger and his 5.1 bWAR would certainly play for a center fielder, even if he’d only be viable there for a few more years. I don’t see Belli coming to the Mets though. Bringing Harrison Bader back would be fun. He had a career year offensively, so you’d think he’d regress a bit. Still, he sure as hell prevents runs. 

Right Field

The Mets currently have: Juan Soto (27), Jeff McNeil (33), Jared Young (30)

Top free agent possibilities: Irrelevant. Soto isn’t going anywhere. For now. He’ll DH eventually.

Designated Hitter

The Mets currently have: Mark Vientos (26), Jared Young (30)

Top free agent possibilities: Kyle Schwarber (33), Marcell Ozuna (35, not a good guy), Joc Pederson (34, mutual option)

This is a complicated situation because if Pete Alonso comes back, he’ll presumably be taking turns at-bat in the DH spot more often, and Juan Soto is going to be DHing for the Mets by, I dunno, 2029?  Kyle Schwarber would be a helluva placeholder before Soto ends up there. The guy hit 56 bombs and netted 132 RBI last season for the Phillies. Imagine taking that away from Philadelphia and putting it in New York (NL). Juicy. 

Starting Pitcher

The Mets currently have: Clay Holmes (33), Sean Manaea (34), Nolan McLean (24), David Peterson (30), Kodai Senga (33), Brandon Sproat (25), Jonah Tong (22), Christian Scott (26), Brandon Waddell (31), Justin Hagenman (29), Jack Wenninger (24)

Top free agent possibilities: Framber Valdez (32), Dylan Cease (30), Ranger Suárez (30), Nick Martinez (35), Chris Bassitt (37), Michael King (31), Shota Imanaga (32), Zac Gallen (30), Merrill Kelly (37), Zack Littell (30), Tatsuya Imai (28), Cody Ponce (32)

The Golden Goose is Tarik Skubal, but he would come via trade (or free agency in a year, maybe). Someone on BlueSky insists there are rumors that Framber Valdez is going to the Mets, though I haven’t seen any of the sort personally. Anyway, he is a workhorse, and a quality one at that. He might have, um, an issue or two, but man could the Mets use him. He’ll be getting at least five years, which would most certainly give David Stearns pause. Signing Michael King seems like the thing Stearns is most inclined to do. While 2025 was injury-marred and he didn’t perform as well as he did in his excellent 2024 campaign, his velo and stuff metrics were the same. Cody Ponce, who was great pitching in South Korea last year, also seems Stearns-coded. I also would not mind Zac Gallen. 

Relief Pitcher

The Mets currently have: Huascar Brazobán (36), A.J. Minter (32), Brooks Raley (37), Dedniel Nuñez (29, had Tommy John in July), Max Kranick (28), Richard Lovelady (30), Alex Carrillo (28), Joey Gerber (28), Jonathan Pintaro (28), Dylan Ross (25), Austin Warren (30), Danny Young (31, had Tommy John in May), Adbert Alzolay (31)

Top free agent possibilities: Edwin Díaz (32), Robert Suarez (35), Raisel Iglesias (36), Shawn Armstrong (35), Kenley Jansen (38), Tyler Rogers (35), Tyler Yates (39), David Robertson (41), Pete Fairbanks (32, club option), Devin Williams (31), Ryan Helsley (31)

Bring back Sugar. Full stop. Tyler Rogers proved to be valuable late last season. Devin Williams did better than Yankee fans will tell you he did, although I guess he wouldn’t be inclined to sign back up to play in New York. The same goes for Ryan Helsley. Getting Díaz back and Padres closer Robert Suarez would be amazing - and super unlikely to happen.

So, Atlanta added a new pitching coach and first base coach. Their names are Jeremy Hefner and Antoan Richardson, respectively. The Hefner hiring isn’t a big deal, considering that the Mets let him go a few weeks ago. The Richardson poaching on the other hand…

According to Richardson, it all came down to money. Mike Puma tweeted that Richardson was initially offered a contract by the Mets with a pension plan. When he came back to them later on to see if the Mets would match the money offered by Atlanta, the Mets could no longer offer him the pension. Why? It turns out that according to the Collective Bargaining Agreement,  teams can only give seven coaches pension plan benefits. Three have to be the manager, the head athletic trainer, and the assistant athletic trainer. The other four are up to the Mets to decide. While Richardson was negotiating with other teams (or just Atlanta), the Mets gave out their one remaining benefits package with the pension plan to new bench coach Kai Correa, director of hitting Jeff Albert, hitting coach Troy Snitker, or to heavily reported new pitching coach Justin Willard. It’s for sure a stupid rule, but this is not a good look for the Mets. One of their star players (Juan Soto) spoke very highly of Richardson and a divisional rival hired him away in a lateral move. 

A three-game LIDOM series that was supposed to be played at Citi Field this weekend was cancelled for unclear reasons. Some Reddit users think it’s related to concerns about ICE. Others believe ticket sales were poor because they were too expensive. 

The Mets and MLB finally released next year’s spring training schedule. The first ST game will be held on Saturday, February 21st against the Marlins at Port St. Lucie. That’s a mere 107 days away.

This year’s MetsGiving Food Drive benefitting City Harvest will take place on Thursday, November 13th from 10 AM- 6 PM at the Mets team store. If you donate 10 or more non-perishable items you get a voucher for two tickets to “select 2026 home games.”

In Arizona Fall League action, the Scottsdale Scorpions defeated the Surprise Saguaros 7-3. DH Chris Suero went 1 for 4 with a home run, two runs scored, an RBI, a walk, and a strikeout. RHP Ernesto Mercedes allowed two earned runs on three hits in two thirds of an inning, walking two and striking out nobody. 

On this day five years ago, Steve Cohen’s purchase of the New York Mets was completed.