3 questions the Mets can ask to make a decision on their non-tender candidates

Are there better options not on the 40-man roster?

Before completely scoping out what else is available, the Mets should look inward. Find their third eye, fall into child's pose, and take a look around to see if there are better options not on the 40-man roster to replace ones who are.

Out of necessity, the Mets will have already added players to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. The decision to tender players or not and who they choose to add to their protected list are connected.

Once those selections are out of the way, the Mets can start thinking about the external upgrades.

The Mets are currently in a position where their best prospects aren’t quite MLB-ready. Some might be better choices for the 2024 season than players currently on the 40-man roster and arbitration eligible. There aren’t any true standouts at the moment.

This year’s group of arbitration eligible Mets players look like they’ll be eliminated either due to a lack of talent or minor league options. Two of more impactful ones, Trevor Gott and Daniel Vogelbach, aren’t good enough for the Mets to keep but a justification can be made. Vogelbach’s issue is more obvious in that he doesn’t play the field whereas Gott can at least get outs—maybe not as frequently as we’d like.

The final two months of the season included a lot of names we won’t see return in 2024. We’ll see multiple roster purges as the front office begins with some of those easier decisions after answering the above questions.