Every Mets roster decision the team or the players made yesterday

It was a very active Election Day Eve for the New York Mets. Major League Baseball as a whole had a productive day with deadlines galore.

The Mets greeted some new additions to the organization. They said farewell to others. Along with the Mabuhay of saying hello and goodbye to certain players, they also had to make some decisions with the qualifying offer.

Two notable Mets elected free agency

Joey Lucchesi and DJ Stewart won’t be coming back next year. Was there ever any doubt? Buried on the depth chart this past year, their lack of minor league options heading into 2025 made them non-tender candidates if they hadn’t chosen to walk away from the Mets.

Stewart had a much bigger role on the Mets. A regular at the DH spot even after J.D. Martinez made his Mets debut, he leaves the Mets looking for a more certain opportunity for some big league playing time. The same goes for Lucchesi who never quite managed to wiggle his way into any significant appearances for the Mets. We still thank him for starting Game 162 and saving an already tired bullpen from throwing too many more pitches.

Two Mets waiver claim additions

The Mets made some smaller additions to the organization. The day began when they added Kevin Herget via waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers.

Herget grew up a Mets fan and pitched well in a small sample last season for the Brewers. David Stearns believers were quick to point out what a clever move this is thanks to a 2.27 ERA in Triple-A. Perhaps if he wasn’t turning 34 next April and had more than 42.2 innings of work in the majors it would be worth getting more excited about.

In addition to Herget, the Mets added infielder Luis De Los Santos from the Toronto Blue Jays.

What’s there to say about him that we didn’t already gripe about with Zack Short last year? He’ll be a versatile defender to stash in Triple-A. Consider him a new version of Pablo Reyes.

Three Mets players received a qualifying offer

Two no-brainers and one slight surprise, the Mets decided to extend the qualifying offer to Sean Manaea, Pete Alonso, and Luis Severino.

The first two were locks to receive one. In Severino’s case, it’s viable he actually does accept and remains with the organization. It’s a smart power play by David Stearns for a couple of reasons. It incentives Severino to return for another season while also making him less attractive to other teams because of the penalties that come with signing a player who rejected the QO. Teams interested in Manaea or Alonso would probably accept whatever penalty they’d get (it varies based on payroll from the previous years). Maybe not so much with Severino.