Evaluating the Mets free agents, Pt. 1
Some decisions are out of their hands, but the Mets have to evaluate other players who will soon become free agents
The following Mets from the 2025 roster can be free agents after the World Series:
Pete Alonso
Edwin Díaz
Starling Marte
Frankie Montas (player option)
AJ Minter (player option)
Cedric Mullins
Ryan Helsley
Jesse Winker
Gregory Soto
Ryne Stanek
Tyler Rogers
Griffin Canning
Brooks Raley (club option)
Drew Smith (club option)
Chris Devenski
Richard Lovelady
We’ve already discussed Alonso, Díaz, Marte, Mullins, Helsley, Soto and Rogers in previous posts. So over the next two days, I’ll discuss the rest.
FRANKIE MONTAS
Montas holds a $17 million player option for 2026 as part of a two-year, $34 million contract he signed with the Mets last November. He recently underwent Tommy John Surgery and will miss the entire 2027 season after what can only be considered a disastrous 2025 campaign for Montas.
Things started off poorly for Montas, who was diagnosed with a significant lat strain in spring training that sidelined him until mid-June. He was ineffective in his ramp up during his minor league rehab assignment, leading to serious concerns about how those results would translate to the big leagues.
Those concerns proved valid, as he was essentially non-competitive for the Mets in four of the eight starts he made before they removed him from the rotation and put him in the bullpen in mid-August. He made one relief appearance on August 15 and was never seen again as he went down with an elbow strain which turned into surgery.
He will not pitch in 2026, but you can count on him opting in for $17 million. He will likely spend the entire season in Port St. Lucie rehabbing. In other words, the Mets will be paying Montas $34 million for eight starts and a 6.28 ERA through next season.
AJ MINTER
I discussed Minter briefly yesterday, but he holds an $11 million club option for the 2026 season. He had lat surgery in May which cost him most of the season, so like with Montas, Minter can be expected to exercise his option and return to the Mets next season, at which point he will be healthy.
He just needs to stay healthy after two straight years of debilitating injuries which has cost him a significant amount of time.
Minter was in fact great when he was pitching for the Mets this season. He had a 1.64 ERA in 13 appearances with 14 strikeouts over 11 innings. He still has great swing-and-miss stuff, strikes out a lot of batters, and induces a lot of ground balls, ie everything the Mets would want in a reliever.
Again, he just needs to stay healthy. A function of that will be David Stearns’ ability to fortify the bullpen and strengthen it around Minter so to not lead to overuse and misuse.
JESSE WINKER
Winker had just 81 plate appearances in what turned out to be an injury-plagued season for him. He dealt with an oblique injury in early May that kept him out for two months. Upon returning, he injured his back and never made it back despite a strong effort to return.
He signed a one-year, $7.5 million contract with the Mets in January after joining the Mets at the trade deadline in July, 2024. His presence alone helped stimulate what was already a strong culture with that club, he’s a popular player among his teammates and the fans, they needed a left-handed power bat, and so it made too much sense to have Winker in the mix for 2025.
Unfortunately, he was absent for most of the season, and I believe the club missed his presence on and off the field.
There’s always room for high character, high energy players in a clubhouse, especially in this area of the roster which isn’t very expensive. He adds value on and off the field and can be a quiet, left-handed weapon if he can stay healthy.
My guess is he can be had again for a year and anywhere between $6-8 million, which should be pretty easy unless the Mets think they can do better, which is hard to see given what Winker brings to the table.
RYNE STANEK
The Mets re-signed Stanek for $4.5 million at the end of January. He was a mess during the regular season for the Mets after they acquired him ahead of the 2024 trade deadline, was pretty good for them in seven relief appearances in the playoffs, but to say he was inconsistent for the Mets in 2025 is probably putting it nicely.
Now, he was arguably another victim of the team’s poor defense this season as indicated by his 4.40 FIP compared to his 5.30 ERA. But his walk rate was way up, his strikeout rate was way down and while he still throws 100 mph, nobody cares how hard you throw ball four, that which was a major problem for the Mets pitching staff as a whole.
All told, if the Mets intend to improve their bullpen, they need to reimagine it as well. Yes, they need swing-and-miss and Stanek is swing and miss, but his flaws at this point are too plentiful so its probably time to look elsewhere for this roster spot.
Tomorrow, I will discuss the free agencies for Griffin Canning, Brooks Raley, Drew Smith, Chris Devenski, and Richard Lovelady.
I see Winker as more of a 2m guarantee with incentives. At that price I'd consider a reunion.
I doubt we bring Winker back. Back injuries are tricky and I wouldn’t trust his health. I do like his attitude and emotion - it’s something this team lacks - but I think I’d pass.