Potential Mets free agents after the 2023 season

The New York Mets had virtually an entire rotation and bullpen to rebuild after winning 101 games. They had more free agents than I could count and are still not done reloading.

Next offseason, the list isn't quite as long but it does include many key pieces to what we all hope is a World Series-winning 2023 team.

Here're the players who could be entering free agency after the 2023 campaign.

1) Potential NY Mets free agents after the 2023 season: Max Scherzer

The hope is Max Scherzer enters free agency. I know that's not exactly what you want to hear, but hear me out.

Scherzer has a $43.3 million dollar player option for the 2024 campaign. If he pitches well, there's a very good chance he opts out and looks to earn more money. The Mets want him to pitch well enough so he opts out. Not because they want to lose him, but because they want him to be one of the best pitchers in baseball!

The 38-year-old had a fantastic debut season with the Mets but did deal with injury and had an abysmal playoff start. If he had the option at the end of last season to opt-out, my guess would be he wouldn't because he only made 23 starts and struggled at the end.

The Mets hope Scherzer can give them 30+ starts of ace production including another five or six in the postseason leading them to victory. If he doesn't opt out, it would've meant he wasn't as good or didn't stay healthy.