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4 free agents who will be back next season and why
The New York Mets have a roster assembled that can win the World Series. They just took two of three and won the season series against the Dodgers who are currently the best team in baseball. They have a winning record against virtually every team in contention.
Things are looking really good in Queens, but looking past this season into the offseason, things become more interesting. There are a slew of upcoming free agents on this team including some of the best players on the roster.
Guys like Taijuan Walker and Trevor May I'm not really convinced the Mets bring back. However, there are plenty of guys the Mets can and should bring back.
1) NY Mets free agent who will be back next season: Chris Bassitt
The Mets traded for Chris Bassitt this past offseason to be a reliable third starter. Outside of a couple rough starts out west, he's been just that.
Bassitt has completed six innings or more in all but five of his 25 starts this season. He takes the ball every fifth day and gives the Mets a chance to win. That kind of consistency is unbelievable from a third starter and is very needed in a rotation that has dealt with injuries from every other Opening Day starter including major ones to the team's top two pitchers in Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer.
Max Scherzer is the only member of this rotation who is guaranteed to be under contract for next season. Guys like David Peterson and Tylor Megill have team control as well but aren't guaranteed spots by any means. With that being said, the 33-year-old should be high on the Mets priority list for players to bring back.
Bassitt has a mutual option worth $19 million dollars for the 2023 season. I assume he will decline and search for a multi-year deal with the season he has had and the Mets should give it to him. A three or four year deal at around that AAV makes a lot of sense to me.
2) NY Mets free agent who will be back next season: Brandon Nimmo
Brandon Nimmo has done something this season that he hadn't done since 2018. He's played in over 100 games. Nimmo has dealt with a couple of minor injuries but has only missed nine games. This is remarkable considering how injury prone he was in the past.
We all knew the impact he had on the team when he was on the field in the past, it's great to now see it happen. Nimmo leads off every single game with a productive at bat that often leads to the Mets getting an early advantage that they don't relinquish.
Nimmo's walks are down this season but that's in large part due to him seeing more strikes. He's hit for decent power and has come up with several clutch hits for this Mets team.
The most important development in Nimmo's game is his defense. He's turned into an elite defender in center field, something I never thought I'd be able to say.
Nimmo's inability to stay on the field is all that was holding him back from getting extended, and now the fact that he's done it means he's earned a big pay day.
Nimmo is set to hit free agency this offseason and he is a guy the Mets have expressed interest in retaining. Nimmo has said numerous times how much he loves the Mets so with this interest being confirmed by the man himself, I'd be shocked if he didn't remain with the club.
The kind of contract he gets remains to be seen, but he is probably going to be worth whatever he gets. I can't imagine the Mets letting him walk seeing how vital he is to everything they do offensively and defensively.
3) NY Mets free agent who will be back next season: Edwin Diaz
Edwin Diaz is a guy who's completely transformed his reputation in a short timetable. Despite back to back solid seasons as the closer, I still was reading articles online saying the Mets should trade Edwin Diaz because he could not be trusted. Thankfully this did not happen.
After arriving in Flushing in 2019, Diaz had the worst introduction to Mets fans imaginable. He was blowing saves, pointing at home runs, and is a big reason why they didn't make the playoffs that season.
Since then, Diaz had been improving each season and is now better than ever. He has an elite warmup song and the fan base has fallen in love. He's had one of the best seasons a Mets reliever has ever had and is doing it while having a ton of fun.
Even with how good Jeurys Familia was in 2015 and 2016, I never felt nearly as comfortable with him closing games as I do with Edwin right now. Will he be as good in the future as he has been this year? Doubtful. But the Mets can't afford to let him walk.
Virtually the entire Mets bullpen with the exception of Drew Smith and Joely Rodriguez will be hitting free agency this offseason. Even with the potential of Edwin being the first $100 million dollar closer looming, Steve Cohen must bring him back and I believe he will.
The trumpets will be in Flushing for many years after this one.
4) NY Mets free agent who will be back next season: Jacob deGrom
Jacob deGrom is in a very interesting situation. He has barely pitched, but has said numerous times that he is going to opt out. He's proven in the short time that he's been back that he's just as good as he was before being shut down in the middle of the 2021 season, and is still the best pitcher in baseball. It's time for him to be paid like it.
With his teammate Max Scherzer making upwards of $40 million dollars annually, it's not crazy to think that deGrom will ask for $50 million annually.
deGrom is not from the northeast and some speculate that he might want to pitch closer to home. I've seen teams like the Braves and Rangers mentioned. What the Mets have and those teams don't have is the money to make him the highest paid pitcher in baseball history.
Steve Cohen can and should do whatever it takes to keep deGrom in Flushing. He's been a Met his entire career and should retire as one. He's said despite opting out that he loves being a Met and has remained with the club before after being a free agent.
It might not make the most sense business wise to give a guy with such massive injury risk the money he is going to ask for, but it just has to happen. The Mets having deGrom and Scherzer in the same rotation is what makes them true World Series contenders. With him proving that he is still the best in the game, it's really a no-brainer if you ask me.
Next. Ranking the 10 worst contracts in the National League East. dark