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3 Mets free agents who won’t be back next season and why
The New York Mets have a huge class of free agents after this season is over. They even added a couple more at the trade deadline but those guys not under contract beyond this season should be viewed exclusively as rentals anyway.
It’s those guys who opened the year with the Mets that have a far greater chance of sticking around. Names who probably could be back next year include Edwin Diaz, Brandon Nimmo, and of course Jacob deGrom. Any of those three and several others could always flee and end up somewhere else. There’s too much uncertainty right now with all of them.
There are, however, three notable Mets free agents who already seem bound to leave.
1) NY Mets free agent Taijuan Walker won’t be back next season
The Mets rotation next season could end up looking very much the same or entirely different. Along with deGrom, there is Chris Bassitt on a mutual option and Taijuan Walker on a player option. Bassitt seems like a candidate to sign a shorter deal with the Mets. Walker, who is a few years younger, seems destined to get a longer contract from someone.
The Mets won’t just let Walker leave without pitching him a contract. However, he doesn’t seem quite in the wheelhouse of what it is they will be looking to retain. They managed to snatch him up in free agency ahead of the 2021 season on a deal that looked somewhat favorable for the team—until his 2021 second half.
Walker is going to have many suitors who view him as a youngish pitcher on the rise. Injuries have been one of this biggest weaknesses but if he stays healthy this year he’ll be able to get himself a nice new contract in the offseason.
Clearly not an ace, Walker would be a guy to fit in nicely on a team like the San Diego Padres who already have plenty of free agent starting pitchers of their own. Perhaps even the Chicago Cubs, who signed former Mets pitcher Marcus Stroman last winter, hope to ink another guy to secure a more stable rotation. They won’t be able to win next year but maybe the following season.
Let’s also not rule out the Baltimore Orioles who have been a couple of good starting pitchers away from contending this season. The point is: Walker is going to be popular. The Mets have other holes to fill and some solutions already on the roster if he does leave. Namely, Tylor Megill or David Peterson could get a more permanent spot in the rotation.
2) NY Mets free agent Seth Lugo won’t be back next season
The bitterness between Seth Lugo and the Mets for moving him to the bullpen years ago and not really giving him much of a chance to start might linger only a little bit. But after he had his chance in 2020 and didn’t do well, his destiny to sign elsewhere is more about the two sides just needing to move on from each other.
Is it completely unfathomable to imagine Lugo converting back to a starter after leaving New York? Not really. Braden Looper did it. Funnier things have happened.
More likely, Lugo remains a relief pitcher in some capacity. The Mets haven’t used him in a multi-inning role this year so to add innings to his arm at this point in his career seems a little less likely.
Relief pitchers tend to change teams more frequently than any other position or role on a team. Even backup catchers tend to stick around longer. Not relievers. They live in a van down by the river one season then move it to a van down by a different river the next.
Guessing where Lugo could land is impossible because every team with the need for a right-handed reliever would be in the mix. For some reason, the Los Angeles Dodgers immediately come to mind. So do the Houston Astros. Why is it that those two teams always seem to land a veteran then get the most of him at a more advanced age?
3) NY Mets free agent Trevor Williams won’t be back next season
Trevor Williams is going to look to get some starting pitcher money this offseason. He’d be foolish not to. He did enough with the Mets this year to show off that he can indeed be a decent enough back-of-the-rotation arm. Even if no one is willing to trust him in that role, his agent can market him as an ideal long man out of the bullpen.
Someone is guying to pay Williams to be one of those. The Mets can but it just doesn’t seem like it will be the focus. They are going to invest a lot into Diaz and hope to secure at least one high-leverage reliever to put in the back of the bullpen.
The Mets already have more affordable long man options anyway. Those guys fall out of the sky sometimes. Call up any pitcher from Syracuse right now and he can do it.
What has made Williams more special this year, however, has been the ability to move from the bullpen to the rotation. It’s hard to price. It’s even harder to predict how other teams view this strength.
Williams could do everything from become a long man in the bullpen for the Boston Red Sox to have a reunion with the Pittsburgh Pirates to give their rotation some sort of credibility. Whatever contract he gets, it probably wouldn’t be for more than two years. The Mets would be wise to at least seek a reunion. However, with the way teams are always searching for starting pitcher options, Williams should be attractive enough to someone to get a starting pitcher role. It’ll be an offer he cannot refuse.
NEXT STORY: Top 5 rivals in New York Mets history