3 former NY Mets players available in free agency whose best offer might be retirement

2) Jake Diekman

Some numbers almost don’t even do Jake Diekman justice. The 38-year-old as of today, January 21, 2025, held batters to a .202 batting average during his time with the Mets last year. It didn’t translate into much success. The .354 OBP and .447 slugging percentage against him show how many batters he walked and how far the ball tended to travel whenever he did actually find a piece of lumber.

Diekman wrapped up his season with the Mets pitching to a 5.63 ERA. Logging 32 innings in 43 appearances, there were many times where he wouldn’t even record a single out. His occasionally nasty stuff resulted in a whopping 11.3 strikeouts per 9 but came at the cost of 6.8 walks per 9 over the same span. What’s more, averaging 2 home runs per 9 made many of those walks far more damaging.

Parts of 13 years as a big league player under his belt, Diekman would theoretically have more incentive to keep playing. He hasn’t made nearly as much money as Martinez nor does he have a World Series ring. In fact, his team’s postseason record is a horrifying 1-5.

Based on Diekman staying away from any new minor league deal after he was released by the Mets in 2024, one can assume he’s not eager to take one now. At the very least, teams don’t view him as a project they can fix.