NY Mets: Options to replace New York’s big free agents in 2022

The New York Mets offseason has officially begun, and this one looks to be one of the most eventful in recent history, with may big decisions to make as we begin the road to the 2022 MLB season.

As of now, the Mets are still searching for a new President of Baseball Operations to help run the team, as well as a new manager for their major league club.

However, arguably what’s most important to any baseball team is its quality of players, and the Mets need to deal with addressing each of their pending free agent’s futures with the team.

The Mets have several major players set to become free agents this off-season, many for the first time in their careers, and only a limited window to sign them to a new contract before they hit the open markets.

Specifically, the Mets have four “big names” who’s status with the franchise will need to be addressed in the not too distant future. These four players in question are pitchers Noah Syndergaard and Marcus Stroman, infielder Javier Baez and outfielder Michael Conforto.

While in an ideal world the Mets would be able to retain some of if not all of these players, there are several factors that need to be considered when offering players new contracts, such as the salary amount, length of the deal, the player’s past performance, age, and injury status.

With that being said, the truth in baseball is that there is no guarantee that the Mets will be able to resign any of these players, or that they necessarily desire to given the free agent market in the MLB.

As such, the Mets need to be prepared to find potential replacements for their big free agents for the 2022 season

New York could have alternate options already in the organization, either at the major league level or in the minors to fill these players’ positions, or look to free agency to find replacements to round out the roster.

Focusing specifically on the needs the Mets could have for starting pitching, as well as a starting infielder and corner outfielder, here are a few options for each that New York could pursue this offseason if the need arises.

Both Noah Syndergaard or Marcus Stroman’s futures with the Mets are uncertain, but there are plenty of replacements available.

Regarding the futures of both Noah Syndergaard and Marcus Stroman as members of the New York Mets going forwards, there are several factors to consider, namely, their past productivity, potential, age and injury history.

Starting off with Noah, he has one of the most naturally gifted arms in the MLB, sitting amongst the league leaders in terms of fastball velocity along with very good “off-speed” pitches. Syndergaard has been a fixture in the Mets rotation since he debut for the team in 2015, but the past 2 years have been very rough for him.

Prior to the 2020 season, Syndergaard underwent Tommy John surgery, causing him to miss the 2020 season and the vast majority of the 2021 season due to his rehab and recovery. He managed to make 2 starts to end the year, going one inning a piece in both of them, compiling a 9.00 ERA over 2 innings.

These stats are merely a small sample size that don’t show Syndergaard’s effectiveness as a pitcher over his career prior to his injury. Still, not everyone performs the same after Tommy John surgery, which could very well make the Mets hesitant to sign Noah long term on the gamble he returns to his old form.

As for Marcus Stroman, after sitting out the 2020 season, he returned to the Mets on a one-year deal and had a career year for himself. Starting 33 games for New York, Stroman pitched a grand total of 179.0 innings while posting a 3.02 ERA.

That ERA was a career-best for Stroman, and the Mets would certainly love to have him back in the rotation next year, especially considering their recent pitching woes, however, there are a few concerns with him. Firstly, he averaged only 5.1 innings per start in 2021, which is far from an All-Star level average.

Despite that, he is coming off the best season of his career statistically and could demand a lot of money on the open market, and while the Mets need good players if they hope to make the post-season, they need to be careful to not overspend, especially on players who to this point have been considered “average.”

Given the Mets’ current depth at starting pitcher, the Mets will definitely need to dip into free agency if they are unable to retain either Syndergaard or Stroman.

There are several big names on the market the Mets could pursue who would likely perform more consistently than those two for the money they would command, such as Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, or Corey Kluber. They could also look into signing a steady hand like Rich Hill or Wade Miley at a more reasonable rate as well.

In an ideal world, the Mets would be able to retain Syndergaard on a short one year deal as he attempts a full season in the majors before signing a longer contract, and sign Stroman to a 3-4 year contract at a reasonable rate, but that is all easier said than done, and the Mets need to be prepared to move on without them in 2022 should they wish to move on from use.

The Mets letting Michael Conforto walk could be a gamble, but not one they cant recover from.

One of the main-stays of the Mets lineup for the past several seasons, just like all the other entries on this list, the Mets fan favorite Michael Conforto is set to become a free agent for the first time in his career.

Arguably from the 2017-2020 seasons, Conforto was the anchor of the New York Mets’ lineup, consistently hitting at the top of the order, slugging for both average and power, consistently ending his years at or near the top of the Mets’ hitters consistently.

The 2021 season however was a very different story for Michael, as he took a massive step back in terms of productivity, in a year where the Mets really needed him to lead the way.

For the year. Conforto finished the season with a .232 batting average with only 14 home runs and 55 RBI over 125 games. He did still consistently draw walks, finishing the year with a .344 OBP, but in a year where Conforto was expected to hit close to 30 home runs, he fell well short of expectations.

Michael will be a free agent, and his situation in particular leaves the Mets in a tricky spot. We still don’t know if 2021 was an “off-year” or a sign of things to come for Conforto. They could offer him a “team friendly” deal to return, but based off of his prior success in previous years, he no doubt will attract a lot of attention from other teams who could sign him away.

Depending on the money Conforto could command on the open market, the Mets need to be prepared for a legitimate contingency to replace him if need be. One option in-house could be to shift Jeff McNeil from third base to right field, which is a position he has played in the past, and have JD Davis take over at third base full time.

Another solution could be to shift Brandon Nimmo from center field to right, and find a better defensive center fielder on the free agent market to help improve the Mets defensively. Prominent free agents who could fill this role are Starling Marte and Joc Pederson, or they could take a big swing at one of the top free agents in this year’s talent pool in Kris Bryant.

Michael Conforto is arguably the most intriguing decision the Mets have to make this off-season, as he has big shoes to fill in the Mets lineup, but it is unknown if he can even fill them himself. While they shouldn’t overpay to keep him, it would be a shame for him to go to another team and tear it up there.

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Regardless, it is going to be a very interesting off-season for the Mets in who they decide to keep and who they decide to let go, but one thing is for certain. If New York hopes to compete in 2022, they better be prepared to find suitable replacements for all of them if our worst fears come to pass.