5 Mets players still on the roster who will be non-tendered

2) Elieser Hernandez

The Mets acquired Elieser Hernandez in an offseason trade with the Marlins with hopes that he'd fill the Trevor Williams role from 2022. Williams was extremely effective shuttling back and forth between the rotation and long relief. A bonus with Hernandez was that he had options, meaning the Mets could send him down without passing him through waivers.

The right-hander was expected to begin the year in the minors as a starting option for the already badly-beaten Mets rotation, but wound up going onto the IL instead. Hernandez battled through injury most of the season and was limited to just 9.1 innings pitched overall.

While Hernandez has had some MLB success in the past, when last seen on a big league mound for the Marlins in 2022 he had a 6.35 ERA in 20 appearances (10 starts). The right-hander is entering his final year of team control and frankly did nothing to show the Mets he was worthy of sticking around.

The Mets do need pitching depth, but they've got guys like David Peterson, Tylor Megill, Jose Butto, and Joey Lucchesi who'd rank above him. The Mets need starters to rank ahead of those guys, and Hernandez certainly is not that. It's unfortunate that he really never got a chance to prove he was worth anything to the Mets because of his injuries, but that's how this one went.