4 NY Mets offseason decisions we didn't expect would look so good by Memorial Day

4) Keeping Max Kranick on the 40-man roster

The Mets have shown a lot of loyalty and confidence in Max Kranick. The right-hander made a brief cameo with the Pittsburgh Pirates back in 2021-2022, pitching a combined 43.1 innings but only posting a 5.56 ERA, 4.49 FIP, and 1.65 WHIP. Kranick missed most of 2022 and the following year due to Tommy John surgery. Eventually, he would be placed on waivers and picked up by the Mets. Kranick then spent all of 2025 at Triple-A Syracuse, where he had a 3.57 ERA but a 5.41 FIP and 1.22 WHIP in 70.2 innings.

Despite relatively pedestrian numbers at Syracuse, the Mets chose to put him on their Wild Card roster in favor of Tylor Megill, who would not be available for the series. There were a lot of different players the Mets could have picked, but they chose Kranick. While he didn't appear in a Postseason game for the Mets, he was kept on the team's 40-man roster throughout the entire offseason and given an opportunity to secure a roster spot in spring training.

After firing off 12.1 strong innings in the preseason, Kranick was given an Opening Day roster spot and has run away with it. He's been a quality multi-inning reliever, tossing 32.1 innings in 21 appearances while working to a 3.34 ERA, 3.27 FIP, and microscopic 0.96 WHIP. While he has a poor 16.5% K%, his 2.4% walk rate ranks top five among all relievers this year. He also has just a 0.84 HR/9 ratio. It's a nice breakout story for a pitcher who was never a top prospect but grew up a Mets fan and whose favorite player was David Wright, and has gotten an opportunity to prove himself, going beyond the call of duty and giving the Mets a pitcher they can rely on out of the pen this season.