6 most important Mets players who won't be back next season

A noticeable and maybe forgotten impact David Stearns had on the New York Mets was the roster turnover when he took the job. Multiple players were non-tendered rather than held onto for the 2024 season. The first year President of Baseball Operations wanted to put his stamp on the franchise. Because the Mets sold at the 2023 trade deadline, there wasn’t much debate about bringing any of their free agents back. Most holdovers were easy to part with.

It’s an entirely different situation this time. The Mets bought and added many more upcoming free agents into the mix. They went from having a medium-sized class to a much larger one.

After coming up short, we should expect Stearns to build a team closer to the image he wanted them to be all along. This includes letting some free agents go. These are the six most important ones from the 2024 regular season who won’t be back.

1) Pete Alonso

The big guy. Homegrown. Powerful. Lovable. Gone? Discussion about the future of Pete Alonso in Flushing has been rampant for well over a year. That’s what happens when a player of his magnitude reaches free agency for the first time.

The will he or won’t he of Alonso’s return to the Mets will remain up for debate until the moment he has a new deal. Frustrated fans with his performance in 2024 will pay the Uber to send him to the airport (Newark, too!) if it means getting him out of town. Others can agree he’ll be difficult to replace. Despite the down year, small moments in clutch situations, and everything else that went into his 2024 season, bringing him back should be among the offseason priorities.

Alonso won’t have a plethora of suitors, however, someone will be willing to give him a short-term deal worth a lot of money. Those types of deals other Scott Boras clients received where he can opt out after a year or two will be what Alonso gets. It’ll come from someone other than the Mets because they have alternatives already on their roster. There’s also a mega free agent they’ll sign to ease the pain.

Some big clutch playoff home runs certainly help his free agent case, but shouldn’t do much to move the needle in terms of the dollar amount or years. Something in my heart tells me Alonso will be gone in 2025 but return to the Mets within a year or two after an opt out in his contract.

TLDR Version: The Mets will successfully sign Juan Soto and then pivot to making Mark Vientos the primary first baseman.

3) Jesse Winker

For a brief period, you could have convinced most fans to re-sign Jesse Winker. The lone bat added at the trade deadline fit in nicely as a corner outfielder and DH. His walk-off home run against the Baltimore Orioles helped them flex ahead of their strong showing right before a make or break road trip that saw them slap around teams directly above them in the NL Wild Card standings.

Winker wasn’t quite the same in September. He batted .071/.250/.143 versus the .343/.357/.508 the month prior. The playoffs were a different story. He did more than smash his helmet into the ground after scoring the insurance run against the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3. Winker was routinely at the epicenter of the Mets offense (when he played) and gave them a whole lot of energy throughout. Bringing him back isn’t preposterous.

TLDR Version: Great energy guy. Disappeared for too long in the regular season. There are more consistent options available in free agency. The Mets need to save room for the youngsters, too.

4) J.D. Martinez

Remember the excitement when the Mets stunned us all by signing J.D. Martinez? The season was days away and we suddenly went from a year of seeing Mark Vientos platoon with DJ Stewart at the DH spot to having a chance to experience one of the best sluggers of his generation to wear a Mets uniform. The thing is, Martinez’s generation peaked in the 2010s. His incredibly powerful year with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2023 was left in Hollywood. He wasn’t quite the same for the Mets.

Boos from fans when he started over Winker in the playoffs won’t be the reason why the Mets let him walk away. The insistence on starting Martinez isn’t some sort of déjà vu like it was with Billy Eppler’s instance on starting Daniel Vogelbach. It seems the Mets truly believed he was the better choice over Winker.

Martinez kind of fell into their laps and to insist on bringing him back would be strange. With the way he performed late and the birth of his daughter in September, it wouldn’t be so nuts for him to hang up his cleats entirely. The grind of a 162 season is tough. Try having a newborn around.

TLDR Version: J.D. Martinez should go enjoy being a father and not even entertain swinging a bat professionally in 2025.

5) Sean Manaea

This is the prediction that comes with the most sadness. Even if his final regular season start was more Tom Glavine than Al Leiter, Sean Manaea is someone the Mets would benefit greatly from bringing back. They couldn’t have asked for much more from him this season. Not always viewed incredibly favorably because of his lack of control, he seemed to figure it all out and put together one of the best years of a one-and-done player in Mets history; that’s if he is only one-and-done.

Another Scott Boras client, it’s not his agent that’ll scare the Mets off from re-signing him. Instead, it’ll be Manaea’s contract request and the abundance of alternatives out there for them to sign instead. Manaea isn’t a young free agent. Even with the benefit of familiarity and a possible qualifying offer he’ll have to deal with, someone will be willing to give Manaea a better off than what the Mets throw his way.

The Mets are in a similar situation with Luis Severino. Another one-year rental (Manaea is a one-year guy because he’ll opt out), Severino is someone I do see coming back to the Mets. His success this year seems more sustainable. But watch Manaea rip our hearts out in an Atlanta Braves uniform for the next four seasons.

TLDR Version: Would love to have him back even with the dud finale in the NLCS. Unfortunately, he’s going to price himself too high and end up somewhere else.

6) Harrison Bader

Of all the free agent signings the Mets made in the offseason, the one I was least open minded about was Harrison Bader. He proved me wrong for a very long time. Bader was consistently hitting from the bottom of the order and even received a few chances near the top. His great glove, good speed, and ability to come up with a clutch hit helped make him a fan favorite. It wasn’t much of a shock. Bader was, if nothing else, an exciting and gutsy player. We knew this. What we didn’t know was how much his offense was going to fall off.

The regular season ended with Bader slashing .236/.284/.373 with 12 home runs and 17 stolen bases. These aren’t ridiculously bad numbers. For his career, he is a .242/.306/.392 hitter. He was only a little below that. What hurt his season most was batting only .167/.230/.283 in the second half. In the playoffs, he was merely a defensive replacement late in games.

Bader becomes unnecessary for the Mets with Tyrone Taylor under team control and several younger players capable of playing center field coming up. None quite match his defense although one could argue Taylor is more than close enough.

Between Drew Gilbert, Jett Williams, and even Luisangel Acuna, the Mets have enough rookie center field options on top of Brandon Nimmo and Taylor. Bader will land somewhere as a part-time player and do what he typically does: steal runs with his glove, knock in some big ones, and go cold for a long stretch.

TDLR Version: Great fit but the mistake with Harrison Bader was to ever believe he’d be able to produce all year long. He’s not necessary to bring back with Tyrone Taylor around.