New York Mets non-tender candidates to watch for this winter

Mets non-tender candidate Robert Gsellman

Robert Gsellman is someone Mets fans are much more familiar with than Heredia. He has been with the club since 2016. This past season could potentially be his last calling Citi Field home.

The projected salary arbitration for him is $1.2-1.4 million. It’s not much at all for a pitcher that can come into the game as a starter or reliever. However, given his poor performance, I’m not so sure he’s worth even keeping around on the roster.

Gsellman showed promise early on in his career. Like many Mets pitchers in 2016, he was fantastic.

In the years since Gsellman has settled into more of a relief role. He started off pitching well in 2018 but eventually saw his numbers decline. He finished the year with a 4.28 ERA which isn’t bad but it’s also not very good.

Ideally, I would keep Gsellman around as the mop-up man out of the bullpen. When the Mets are getting blown out, he’s a good candidate to give them three or four innings. He could even give them a frame or two in games where they are way ahead of the other team.

Finally, Gsellman could give the Mets an arm to start in an emergency situation. I wouldn’t be too confident in his abilities. At least it’s better than some of the other options we have seen take the mound for the Mets in recent years.

If MLB Trade Rumors’ prediction is accurate, I do think Gsellman stays with the club in 2021. He’s not hurting the payroll and still has some youth on his side to maybe develop further. He’ll need some of the coaching staff to vouch on his behalf, though.

Mets non-tender candidate Steven Matz

Last but not least we have the biggest name on this list, Steven Matz. What the club does with him this winter and possibly next year intrigues me. They can non-tender him and eliminate all of those future decisions.

Or they could bring Matz back and try to see what role is best for him.

Matz is expected to make $5-5.3 million in 2021. It’s a lot more than he showed he’s worth in 2020. Unless the team actually wants to use him as a starting pitcher or has faith in him as a reliever, I’m not sure he’s worth nearly that much.

Matz was dreadful this past year. In six starts and three relief appearances, the longtime Mets lefty was 0-5 with a 9.68 ERA. This year was his chance to step up and really provide the Mets with some good starts. I’m not sure things could have gone worse.

Nearing 30, the Mets need to realize Matz is never going to become the stud starter they once believed he could become—at least not with them. There’s always the possibility weighing that he figures it out somewhere else. That’s out of their control, though. If he gives them the Travis d’Arnaud treatment, he’s going to do it regardless if he’s back in 2021 or not.

The only hope we have of seeing Matz return to the club in 2021 is if they have faith he can pitch well as a reliever. He hasn’t shown it and I’m not confident he can make the transition in such a short period of time.

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Given the choice between Matz in relief and a $5 million per year experienced reliever, I’ll take the latter.