3 offseason NY Mets rumors we should be glad didn't come true

The New York Mets' 2024-2025 offseason was a memorable one. They signed the largest contract in professional sports history, with Juan Soto receiving a 15-year, $765 million deal. They also went out and re-signed left-hander Sean Manaea, brought Frankie Montas in, and made a handful of other notable moves. But the Mets missed out on their fair share of free agents this winter. However, in some cases, they're likely glad they didn't end up signing them.

1) Joc Pederson

Heading into this offseason, the Mets needed to figure out what they were going to do at designated hitter. J.D. Martinez hadn't worked out in 2024, leaving the Mets with only Starling Marte to fill the gap. However, one player the Mets showed interest in, who was coming off an outstanding 2024, was Joc Pederson.

Pederson was coming off a one-year contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he slashed .275/.393/.515 with a .391 wOBA, and 151 wRC+ in 449 plate appearances. Pederson provided his typical high-level power, smacking 23 home runs and posting a .240 isolated slugging percentage. His 23.4% K% wasn't horrible, but he drew walks in 12.2% of his plate appearances. Pederson punished the ball, ranking in the 93rd percentile of exit velocity at 92.4 MPH, and in the 87th percentile of barrel rate at 12.2%. 

The only downside is that Pederson mostly faced just right-handed pitching. Over 400 of his trips to the dish were against RHP. He received less than 50 plate appearances against same-handed pitching. But this was about the only criticism you could have made at the time about Pederson's game.

The Texas Rangers ended up picking up the designated hitter to a two-year, $37 million deal. While the Rangers were likely expecting a middle-of-the-order slugger, Pederson has been anything but. He's only batting .130/.259/.243 with a .239 wOBA, and 50 wRC+ in 137 plate appearances. While he's still above-average in both exit velocity and barrel rate at 91.4 MPH and 9% respectively, they're both massive steps back from 2024. Pederson also went from the 95th percentile of xwOBA to just the 31st percentile. But arguably the biggest reason he has fallen off is because his launch angle sweet spot rate went from 34.2% in 2024 to just 23.6%. The league average rate is about 33%.

The only thing Pederson has gotten better at is increasing his walk rate to 13.2%, and lowering his K% to 19.1%. But that's about it. He's struggled mightily, and even though the Mets could still use some more production out of the designated hitter role, Pederson would have only compounded those problems.