5 free agents the Mets should sign after giving Juan Soto $765 million

The New York Mets just signed Juan Soto to the largest deal in professional sports history. His 15-year, $765 million is both the longest and most expensive contract any pro sports franchise has ever signed one player to. That comes out to an AAV of $51 million. Once his signing bonus is accounted for, Soto will end up making over $800 million with his new contract.

But even though this is the biggest splash the Mets have ever made in the history of sports, they shouldn’t take the foot off the gas. Soto only solves one problem on the Mets’ depth chart. There is still work to be done and free agents the Mets should go after now that Juan Soto is signed for the next 15 years.

1) Sean Manaea

The Mets need some stability in their rotation. Last year, they had three starters make at least 31 starts, and put up an above average ERA. One of those three pitchers has already signed with another team, that being Luis Severino. But the Mets can still re-sign the best of that trio with Sean Manaea.

Manaea had a nice rebound season after two unimpressive seasons with the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants. Manaea pitched 181.2 innings, the most in his career, working to a 3.47 ERA, 3.83 FIP, and 1.08 WHIP. The veteran lefty struck out nearly a quarter of opponents with a 24.5% K% with a respectable 1.04 HR/9, and an 8.5% walk rate. 

The only downside is that the underlying numbers did not like Manaea as much as his ERA says. Manaea had a 3.75 xERA, 3.96 SIERA, and 4.05 xFIP. However, those are still solid numbers, especially considering Manaea is typically a durable starter. Plus, Manaea made a handful of changes last year, like lowering his arm angle and mixing up his pitch usage.

An arm like Manaea is the sort of rotation anchor this Mets’ starting five needs. The Mets are taking some risks by signing Frankie Montas and moving Clay Holmes into their starting rotation. Manaea is a good bet to make 30+ starts.

2) Pete Alonso

The Mets brought in one of the best hitters in baseball in Juan Soto. Now, it’s time to sign one of the best power hitters in the sport and re-sign Pete Alonso. Alonso has established himself as one of the best home run hitters in Mets’ history. Batting in the same line-up as Juan Soto, along with Francisco Lindor, would make this one of the most formidable line-ups the Mets have ever had.

Alonso had a down year by his usually lofty standard. He batted .243/.329/.459 with a .340 wOBA, and 122 wRC+. He hit fewer than 35 home runs with an ISO below .250 for the first time in his career (minus 2020). But he finished the season with 34 dingers and a .219 ISO. Alonso walked at a 10.1% rate with a K% of 24.7%. 

Since his debut in 2019, only one player in baseball has hit more home runs than Alonso. The Polar Bear has 226 long balls, while NY Yankees’ MVP outfielder Aaron Judge has 232. Only four Mets have hit 200 or more home runs. Alonso is only 26 away from breaking Darryl Strawberry’s franchise record, and so long as Alonso re-signs with the Mets and is healthy, he’ll shatter that record in 2025.

Alonso’s defense gets mixed reviews. In 2024, he had -3 defensive runs saved and -8 outs above average. But in 2023, he was considered a solid defensive 1B with +6 DRS and only -1 OAA. UZR/150 has always graded him out as a roughly average defender at -0.7 for his career. The Mets can also occasionally hide Alonso’s defense at designated hitter as well.

The most home runs the Mets have ever hit in a season is 242, which was set in 2019. Last year, the Mets hit 207. Re-signing Alonso, along with bringing in Soto, and with most of last year’s cast returning next year, it’s possible that the 2025 Mets could break that franchise record as well. The duo of Soto and Alonso next season could be the most potent duos and most dangerous 1-2 line-up punch in baseball.

3) Joc Pederson

The Mets still need a designated hitter. If the season started tomorrow, Starling Marte would be their answer at the position. Let’s add another power bat to the mix by going out and getting Joc Pederson. Pederson is coming off an outstanding season with the Arizona Diamondbacks and would platoon very well with Marte.

Pederson batted .275/.393/.515 with a .391 wOBA, and 151 wRC+ through 449 plate appearances. He went yard 23 times with an isolated slugging percentage of .240. Pederson walked at a healthy 12.2% BB%, which helped offset his unimpressive 23.4% strikeout rate. Pederson ended the season in the 90th percentile or better in multiple statistics on Baseball Savant, including expected numbers like xwOBA (.378), xSLG% (.480), and exit velo (92.3 MPH). He fell just short of the 90th percentile of barrel rate as well at 12.8% (87th percentile).

It was a career year for Pederson. In seasons where he has had at least 400 plate appearances, he set career bests in OPS, OBP, wOBA, and wRC+. It is also the first time since his 2016 sophomore season he has had at least +3.0 fWAR. Pederson made all of his appearances as a designated hitter as well.

The veteran slugger is also a good platoon-mate for Marte. 407 of Pederson’s 449 plate appearances were against right-handed pitching. Pederson batted .291/.391/.531 when facing opposite-handed hurlers. Meanwhile, Marte hit .310/.384/.460 in 113 PAs when he faced a lefty but had a sub-.700 OPS when he stepped into the box against right-handed pitchers.

Adding Joc to this already stacked line-up would simply be unfair, especially against right-handed pitchers. Pederson would add yet another bat with 20+ home run potential. But he’d be an affordable piece who would complement fellow veteran Starling Marte very well at designated hitter.

4) Hoby Milner

The Mets still need to find some help in the bullpen, especially when it comes to lefty arms. Danny Young is their only LHRP on the 40-man roster. One player who might be a huge bargain and still a free agent is Hoby Milner. Milner put up a sub-2.00 ERA in 2023 and a 4.73 ERA in 2024, leading to the Milwaukee Brewers non-tendering him.

But his ERA is deceptive. Milner had a 23.9% K%, 5.2% walk rate, and 0.84 HR/9 in 2024. Those were nearly identical to his 23.4% K%, 5.2% BB%, and 0.70 HR/9 in 2023. Milner induces a ton of soft contact, which did not change in 2024. He held opponents to just an 87.7 MPH exit velocity, which was in the 78th percentile of pitchers this past season. But his 2.7% barrel rate was in the 99th percentile. There were only two relievers with 50+ innings pitched out of the bullpen with a lower barrel percentage: Aaron Bummer and Tim Hill.

Milner’s underlying ERA estimators were as good as ever before. He had a 3.15 xERA and xFIP, with a 3.08 SIERA. Both his xFIP and SIERA were better than they were in 2023 at 3.66 and 3.43, respectively. However, his biggest and most dramatic improvement was his overall ability. His Stuff+ rating went from just 74 in ‘23 to 103 last year.

While Milner is older and entering his age-34 campaign, there’s no doubt the sidearm Southpaw has a ton of rebound potential. It’s surprising that the Brewers even non-tendered Milner to start with. The Mets could definitely use another left-handed bullpen arm, and Milner could be quite effective in 2025.

5) Tommy Kahnle

Milner adds a decent left-handed arm to the Mets’ bullpen, but they could still benefit from another right-handed reliever. One of the better veterans left who won’t break the bank is Tommy Kahnle. The veteran has spent most of his career with the crosstown rival New York Yankees. While Kahnle has missed parts of the last two seasons because of injury, he has remained effective nonetheless.

Kahnle has pitched 83.1 innings since the start of the 2023 campaign, working to a 2.38 ERA, 3.99 FIP, and 1.13 WHIP. Kahnle’s 11% walk rate isn’t great, but his 27.3% strikeout rate is. He has also not allowed many home runs, with a HR/9 rate of 1.08. Kahnle is great at limiting hard contact as well. He has held opponents to just an 86.5 MPH exit velo and 5.3% barrel rate.

Kahnle would also likely benefit from a move out of Yankee Stadium. He is much more home run prone, with a 1.58 HR/9 when playing at Yankee Stadium the last two years. But when he is on the road, that drops to just 0.48-per-9 innings. That’s not entirely surprising, given that the Yaankees’ home park is the 3rd most home run-friendly park, according to Baseball Savant’s park factors. Meanwhile, Citi Field is only the 15th most homer-friendly park.

Kahnle is 35 but would nicely complement Edwin Diaz in the back-end of the bullpen. He’d immediately become the Mets’ go-to right-handed set-up man, as he has recorded over a dozen holds during each of the last two years. Kahnle should be one of the Mets’ top right-handed relief options to pursue.