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.

If the Mets move on from Javier Baez, his replacement is likely already on the roster.

The Mets first acquired Javier Baez at this season’s trade deadline, in the hopes of him jump-starting the team’s offense in the hopes he could help lead them to the playoffs. Things, unfortunately, didn’t go as planned, but that’s not to say Baez didn’t perform well.

Appearing in a grand total of 47 games for New York, Baez posted very impressive numbers, hitting .299 with a .371 OBP over that span, hitting 9 home runs with 22 RBI. Beyond that, he also showed versatility in the field, able to play at both shortstop and second base in the infield.

The Mets certainly got a lot out of the former All-Star during his stint in Queens, however as previously stated, his efforts weren’t enough to get them to the post-season, and he’ll now be hitting free agency for the first time in his career.

Baez has been compared very closely to fellow Met Francisco Lindor for much of his career in terms of production, and the Mets handed Lindor a 10 year $341 million extension last off-season, so we can only assume Baez will want something similar…which is a problem.

While the Mets’ owner is a billionaire, that doesn’t mean the Mets have an unlimited payroll. As stated, Lindor already commands a large salary, and something many are forgetting is fellow infielder Robinson Cano is set to return from his suspension in 2022.

The Mets will be paying Cano $48 million over the next 2 years, all fully guaranteed, so in the unlikely event the Mets can find a way to trade him away without eating the bulk of his salary, the Mets already are committing $58.1 million between Lindor and Cano next season, so at that point, resigning Baez does not make financial sense.

Baez also does have some issues in terms of his ability at the plate that should be concerning. While he is a big power hitter, he strikes out a lot and has a very low OBP of just .307. While he played very well for the Mets over his 47 games, based on his career track record, he likely will not maintain that same productivity over the long term.

Beyond that, with no DH in the National League, and All-Stars Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil at 1st and 3rd base respectively, there is not additional room to scuffle around the infield, so unless some blockbuster trade can be made to open up a spot, it appears the Mets’ best option is to let Baez go.

As for replacing him, Robinson Cano will most likely shift right back into his old spot at second base. While he missed all of the 2021 season, in 2020 he was the Mets’ top hitter, posting a .316 average with a .352 OBP. He most likely will not hit at that same level in 2022 after missing an entire season, but if the Mets are playing him, he may as well play.

In the event Cano is unable to play for whatever reason, the Mets can always shift McNeil back over to second base and plug in JD Davis at third base, so nevertheless, replacing Baez with “in-house” options appears to be the way to go.

Javier Baez performed very admirably during his time in Queens, but as the Mets look to be competitors in 2022, unless some blockbuster trade can be made to free up both positions and salary, the Mets best move may be going both parties going their separate ways.