6 once beloved former NY Mets players still without a job as spring training nears

Spring training is quickly approaching. The countdown for pitchers and catchers reporting can already begin. A somewhat slow-moving free agency period which stalled over the holidays in late December and early January, continues on. Remaining in the pool of available players are several once beloved former New York Mets players still hoping to find a job.

Excluded from this list are players who were on the Mets last season. Many of them remain options to return to Queens. High-profile players like Pete Alonso downward to a reliever like Ryne Stanek, their free agent candidacy has been discussed plenty by fans. What about these others who, in some cases briefly, were beloved ex-Mets?

1) Max Scherzer

The reflection of Max Scherzer ended up with a $15 million, one-year deal to pitch for the San Francisco Giants next year. That reflection, of course, being named Justin Verlander. It’s easy to mix the two up. They’ve essentially accomplished all of the same goals in their MLB careers. In this winter’s free agent market, there isn’t a real benefit to adding one over the other. Each missed significant time last year. Working in Scherzer’s favor is a better albeit shorter season in 2025.

Now 40, Scherzer is coming off of a 2-4, 3.95 ERA performance with the Texas Rangers. He made only 9 starts, tossing 43.1 innings for the defending champions whose fight to retain their title ended even before game 162 was played.

A one year mercenary is all Scherzer is at this point. When the Mets landed him prior to 2022, they were willing to go much longer, offering him a third season and over $100 million. Circumstances have changed. A deal similar to what Verlander got is all Scherzer should hope for.

Beloved by Mets fans more for what he represented, his reputation in Queens diminished upon a weak finish in 2022 and then his openness to waiving his no-trade clause in the middle of 2023. We should actually thank him for doing so. The Mets are in a much better spot now than they would have been with him hanging around in 2024.