Early MLB free agent power rankings reminds NY Mets of their upcoming dilemma

Trudging through an uneven start to the season, the last thing the New York Mets are focused on is next winter. The 2026 squad was torn down and rebuilt to compete this year, and that remains the organization's prime directive.

But, much like when you're reading a slow-moving murder mystery novel, it's hard not to peek ahead. The upcoming offseason is one that figures to be rife with long-term consequences as the league eyes a painful, elongated lockout during the next round of CBA negotiations, but it'll also prove to be an inflection point for the Mets.

Both Freddy Peralta and Bo Bichette (player option) can reach free agency in about seven months' time, which would free $50 million up from the team's payroll but also end their respective Mets tenures at just one year apiece.

With a very shallow free-agent class behind them, it appears that it'll be extensions-or-bust regarding their futures in Queens.

Mets will need to extend Freddy Peralta, Bo Bichette to keep them beyond 2026

The good news is that the Mets don't have the best free-agent-to-be; that distinction belongs to the Detroit Tigers, who are simply biding their time until two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal bolts for a record contract elsewhere.

The bad news is that Bichette and Peralta are inarguably the second- and third-best players in the class, even as they struggle to perform near their career averages this year. They'll both make a pretty penny on the open market if the Mets allow them to get that far.

Bichette, in particular, is by far the best position player set to reach free agency. Yes, he's only mustered an 83 wRC+ through 15 games, and it is technically possible that he could not exercise his player option if he keeps performing this poorly. But Bichette has historically always started slow, and it's likely just a matter of time before he starts giving the Mets their money's worth.

But even if he doesn't rebound completely, he'll probably still head back to the open waters to seek the $200 million contract he couldn't find this past offseason. The next-best position players projected to be available are Jazz Chisholm Jr., Daulton Varsho, and Randy Arozarena. Whoof.

Peralta's competition is a bit more steep -- Trevor Rogers, Tatsuya Imai, and Michael King make up the second-tier class of starting pitchers -- but he's been such a consistent frontline presence for years that his market should flow like water once Skubal signs his inevitable mega-contract.

We know extension talks between him and the Mets haven't gone anywhere during his own lukewarm start to 2026, but Peralta cost the team a pair of top prospects to bring in. Like Bichette, the Mets will have to make an early call on keeping him around for the long haul, lest they give the Dodgers another opportunity to steal more of their star players.