Mets Free Agents: Predicting who goes and who comes back for 2021

What does the future hold for this upcoming New York Mets free agents? We make some way too early predictions.

Regardless of what happens with the 2020 MLB season, the New York Mets are going to have a boatload of free agents next winter. From behind the plate, to the mound, to the outfield, and to the IL, there’s a man on an expiring contract getting paid by this team.

Plenty can change between now and next winter. An unexpectedly awesome year from one of these free agents could lead to a change in opinion. Maybe an excellent year even ups the expected salary and he slips away from the club a little easier.

To keep things simple, we’ll only dive into the guys who could have significant time on the big league roster. So if you came here for Erasmo Ramirez content, look elsewhere.

Wilson Ramos

Let’s talk Wilson Ramos. Although he’s not an official free agent at the end of 2020, there is a team option on his contract. After seeing what he did for the club in 2019, I’m prone to believe the Mets pick it up and bring him back for another year.

The Mets could always get adventurous and target someone like J.T. Realmuto in free agency next winter. However, I think he ends up staying in Philadelphia. In case you haven’t noticed, the former clients Van Wagenen has brought in are all well past their prime and not the best at their position like him.

This isn’t a cause for alarm. Ramos’ last year with the Mets will happen in 2021. By that point, he’ll be nearer to the twilight of his career when we begin to see an obvious decline.

Ramos will have a job in baseball after leaving the Mets, but it may be as a part-timer with a left-handed hitting catcher taking on a large number of starts. As far as the orange and blue should be concerned, they only need to worry about what he can give them in 2020 and 2021.

I believe the Buffalo has something left to offer and the Mets realize it, too.

Yoenis Cespedes

Ask 100 Mets fans what they want his future to be with the club and I think a good portion would prefer to thank him for his time and offer to send an Uber his way. It has been frustrating to watch Yoenis Cespedes sit on the sidelines for most of his time with the club after 2016.

Even some miraculous year in 2020 wouldn’t sway too many opinions. Could it convince the front office differently?

Because Cespedes did have his contract restricted due to the infamous bore situation, I don’t think there’s much love left between the two parties. Cespedes probably understands he made a mistake, but I don’t think it’ll lead to him have much desire to return in 2021.

Fortunately for this relationship, I can’t imagine how it would be possible.

Cespedes would be a free agent at 35 with years of injuries built up. His negative locker room reputation wouldn’t help matters much either.

Not even a DH in the National League should lead to a reunion between Cespedes and the Mets. If that were to happen, the team would be far wiser to move Pete Alonso there and hold onto Dominic Smith.

For me, Cespedes is a goner. For many, I think this is good news. Maybe we see him again in interleague play.

Jed Lowrie

Jed Lowrie’s fate with the Mets has been sealed for some time. Beyond a small number of pinch-hitting appearances in late 2019, he has never actually played for the club.

There’s little to debate about Lowrie and his standing with the franchise. Unlike Cespedes, he never had the chance to make some memorable moments. There’s no attachment to this guy other than the fact that he is a former client of the general manager.

While a veteran infielder like Lowrie could be valuable to many teams, the Mets just don’t need him. Amazingly, they never really did.

I won’t waste your time any further on Lowrie. I predict his career is over after 2020. If not officially, he soon finds out when he does get some playing time on a Triple-A ball club in 2021.

Marcus Stroman

Maybe the free agent fans want to return most, Marcus Stroman is a different kind of starting pitcher than we’re used to seeing on this club acquired via trade. Many of the recent stars in the rotation have been homegrown. Not Stroman.

After the loss of Zack Wheeler in free agency and uncertainty with Noah Syndergaard’s future, it makes a lot more sense for the Mets to extend or re-sign Stroman. He’s about as ideal of a number two starter as the club could use.

In his best seasons, Stroman may even look more like a number one.

Unfortunately, all of these good things I have to say about Stroman will lead him out of town. Well, maybe not out of town. Just away from Flushing.

As one of the best free agent pitchers available next winter, there will be plenty of phone calls his agents’ way. Bidding for Stroman will go high. Unless the Mets are willing to go to a level they rarely do, he’ll play baseball in 2021 wearing another team’s uniform.

Sadly, I don’t see him wearing orange and blue beyond 2020.

Justin Wilson

Older than Betances by a year, Justin Wilson would have to settle on a team-friendly deal for any shot at staying with the Mets in 2021. I really appreciated what he did for the club in 2019. The southpaw gave them a 2.54 ERA across 45 games and plenty of promise for a successful year two.

Despite age not being on his side, I have a hard time believing Wilson can parlay any performance in 2020 into more than the $5 million per year he signed up for when he first joined the Mets. In fact, because of his age, we could see him on a bigger discount.

Every team needs a lefty reliever. The Mets don’t have any answers in that spot of the bullpen once Wilson is removed.

An important consideration I take with any prediction involving the future of the Mets is how Van Wagenen behaves. He likes “his guys” to do well. Wilson, while not a former client of BVW’s, is someone the general manager signed.

A longer relationship between Wilson and the blue and orange squad feels like a real possibility even if it lasts just another year with the option for 2022. I do expect Wilson to test free agency. It’s up to the Mets to make him the highest offer they can.

Jake Marisnick

There is very little reason for the Mets to retain Jake Marisnick beyond 2020. He was a mercenary brought in to provide the club with some depth and defense in the outfield, specifically up the middle in center.

With another free agent class to access and potential trades or free agent signings to make, I would prefer the Mets do the wise thing and legitimately upgrade the starting position in center field. It’s not always easy to do. Center fielders aren’t always as well-rounded as we would like. When they are, teams tend to hold onto them for a lifetime.

The only factor that could lead the Mets to rethink their position on Marisnick is the fact that they traded away prospects to get him. Whether or not those minor leaguers accomplish anything doesn’t matter. The fact is, the Mets gave up some youngsters to get him. There’s no winning this trade unless Marisnick succeeds in New York.

Rather than return to Flushing for 2021, I think Marisnick gets a platoon gig in another city.

Matt Adams and Eduardo Nunez

In our honorable mention category, we need to mention Matt Adams and Eduardo Nunez. Both were expected to compete for a roster spot this spring. Only one of them was likely to make it.

It’s difficult to predict where a veteran player on a minor leaguer may end up in the future. An explosive season from either could land them a longer deal with the ball club they play for. A more forgettable one usually leads to a change of scenery.

For these two, I don’t think it really matters. Adams is blocked at first base by Pete Alonso and Dominic Smith for regular playing time. Nunez fits in a little more for the Mets, but he’s also already 32. Rather than re-up him, I would prefer to see what a guy like Luis Guillorme can do on a regular basis as the primary infield utility player.

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Which future free agents do you expect to see stay with the Mets for the 2021 season?