MLBPA gives NY Mets rookies Carson Benge, Nolan McLean bulletin board material snub

The Major League Baseball Player’s Association (MLBPA) have their own awards separate from the MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year we’re used to voted on by journalists. The New York Mets left the 2026 season with two top Rookie of the Year candidates, Carson Benge and the sometimes overlooked Nolan McLean. Surely, with their peers voting and no media bias, at least one of them would get recognized for their work as a freshman in 2026.

Apparently, not.

The MLBPA announced finalists for their awards and neither Mets rookie was named as one of the last men standing for their version of the Rookie of the Year. Sal Stewart, JJ Wetherholt, and TJ Rumfield were the three NL rookies who finished with the most votes. All fine rookies in what was an impressive class of first-year players, one can’t help but feel as if there was some anti-Mets sentiment or a favoritism towards players on other teams.

Did those rookies really have better seasons than Mets Carson Benge or Nolan McLean?

It’s always difficult to measure pitchers versus hitters. McLean, with nearly enough innings to lose his rookie eligibility in 2025, might have been penalized in that regard. He hasn’t gotten much attention at all in terms of being a legitimate Rookie of the Year candidate despite having the 9th best ERA among all qualified NL pitchers, not just first-year guys.

Benge is more comparable to Stewart, Wetherholt, and Rumfield. With Stewart, he’s a traditional run-producing slugger. Wetherholt is maybe the most well-rounded of the bunch with defense possibly his best attribute. His .702 OPS isn’t outrageously good.

Then there’s Rumfield, a guy who has been somewhat overlooked because he played for the Colorado Rockies who were practically eliminated on Opening Day. His league-leading .390 OBP goes beyond just having 81 games to play at Coors Field. It’s never easy to measure a player in a hitter’s paradise like Denver.

If we’re keeping it simple and looking strictly at fWAR, the rookies rank as follows:

JJ Wetherholt - 4.6
Carson Benge - 4.3
Nolan McLean - 3.5
TJ Rumfield - 2.6
Sal Stewart - 2.0

The first basemen, Rumfield and Stewart, get punished a little bit while the defenders at more premium positions and the pitcher is rewarded. Rumfield and Stewart had the best at-a-glance rookie years while Wetherholt and Benge are beefier with the deeper analytics.

Players, at least a good majority of the more outspoken ones, don’t seem to care much about those deeper analytics. The war against front office nerds might’ve been enough to push players toward voting for Rumfield with a .300 average and .390 OBP as well as Stewart whose 32 home runs and 111 RBI were right there among the best in the league. He hit .263 on top of it all, proving he wasn’t just an all-or-nothing type of slugger.

Someone was going to inevitably get snubbed and it ended up being the Mets duo.

How will the baseball writers’ votes look? 

Most of us will remember how the actual Rookie of the Year finalists list looks like. Benge and McLean, on the other hand, might want to let this one marinate. A snub never hurt anyone if the end result is taking it personally and reacting.

Benge and McLean were named Gold Glove finalists alongside Luis Torrens. Helping to end that ongoing drought would be a helpful consolation prize.

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