Multiple Mets projected for big salary bumps in arbitration

Several important New York Mets players are projected to make a large sum of money through the arbitration process this winter.

Don’t look at the New York Mets payroll right now and assume they have a lot of money to spend. This winter, several key players on the roster are projected to receive big salary bumps through the arbitration process.

Every year, MLB Trade Rumors puts together their list of arbitration-eligible players and what they expect them to earn. Nine members of the Mets are eligible for it with a total of $53.1 million projected to land on their paychecks.

The largest sum will go to Marcus Stroman who is in the last year before free agency. They project him to reach $11.8 million, more than $4 million more than he took home last year. This will be his first full calendar year taking home pay from the Mets. Let’s hope every dollar they pay him counts.

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The other final year of arbitration-eligible players on the team is Joe Panik. Expected to earn $5.1 million, I question if he’s even with the team next year. It’s quite large for a guy we won’t see start very often.

Michael Conforto has a chance to more than double his salary with a projected $9.2 million deal. Noah Syndergaard will fall shy of $10 million at $9.9 million.

Among those listed, I found the Edwin Diaz projection most questionable. In his first year of making big boy bucks, MLB Trade Rumors has him listed at $7 million! I’m not sure if his numbers from 2019 were studied enough if this was the final conclusion.

I understand Diaz performed well with the Seattle Mariners and this should take his career into account. However, I have a tough time believing he’ll earn more in his first year than guys like Conforto and Syndergaard.

If you remember, Diaz was hoping to make more than the league-minimum in 2019. He was reportedly disappointed the Mets didn’t give him an early bump. As I said at the time, I wanted him to prove himself in New York first. He failed to do so.

A more realistic number for Diaz is probably closer to $5 million. It’s a number rewarding him for what he did in Seattle, which does hurt a little bit if it prevents the team from going after other players. Otherwise, good for him.

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Even with Todd Frazier and Juan Lagares coming off the books, the Mets will shell out a lot of money to keep the roster together. MLB Trade Rumors does a fine job of accurately guessing these numbers. I have no doubt the final total of arbitration dollars will equal close to what their estimate is.