The only 4 potential NY Mets free agents the team should even consider re-signing

4) Griffin Canning

You might have forgotten about this guy. Griffin Canning wasn’t signed in the offseason to be anything more than a rotation flier whose role with the team could have easily had him slotting in as a long man in the bullpen. The overcrowded pitching staff created a battle that Canning won by default. The club lost a lot of pitchers before even going to war.

Canning wasn’t spectacular, but he did play better than anyone would have realistically predicted. A 3.77 ERA in 16 starts and 50.2% ground ball rate (10% better than his career total) had many wondering if he was indeed a Mets pitching lab success story.

A late June start was the last we saw of Canning. A ruptured Achilles tore apart what was trending toward being the savviest offseason of all by Stearns. At just $4.25 million for the 2025 season, he turned out to be a major bargain and was on his way to being a useful rotation asset for the full season.

Coming off of an injury, there is some uncertainty with Canning. Would a similar contract be something he’d be amenable to? He probably earned himself a slight bump in salary. It’s not as if his injury was the result of anything other than a fluke. Although major and potentially career-altering, it’s a reunion to heavily consider.