How do the Mets proceed with their pending free agents? (Part 4)
Today, we take a look at Jose Iglesias, Ryne Stanek, Phil Maton, and Adam Ottavino
After the World Series, the Mets will have up to 13 of their currently rostered players file for free agency.
On Monday, I discussed Pete Alonso. On Tuesday, I evaluated Sean Manaea, JD Martínez, Jesse Winker and Luis Severino. Yesterday, I discussed Brooks Raley, Drew Smith, Jose Quintana and Harrison Bader.
Below are some notes and thoughts on the final four…
José Iglesias
It’s hard to believe Iglesias, who will be 35 on Opening Day, was buried in the minor leagues over the first two months of the season. It almost seems criminal.
He made his Mets debut on May 31, and the Mets were the best team in baseball from that date on. It’s no secret the value Iglesias provided both on and off the field for this club in 2024. He was a cultural sensation, he showed off his wizardry defensively, and he had nothing short of a career year at the plate, producing an .830 OPS and a .337 batting average over 291 plate appearances.
Now, it’s completely unfair to expect Iglesias to produce to that degree offensively in 2025, although his defense has immense value to this club, as he proved all year in 2024. We already saw some of his offense crack during the postseason when his chase rate skyrocketed and his plate discipline diminished resulting in absent at-bats, to a point where Mets manager Carlos Mendoza benched him in favor of Jeff McNeil in the latter stages of the NLCS.
Nevertheless, Iglesias has earned a major league deal and a major league roster spot for 2025. The Mets will need a utility infielder and they’d be hard pressed to find someone better defensively to fill this need. Plus, he’s a known quantity here, they know his clubhouse presence was immeasurably valuable for the success of the 2024 Mets, so it seems like a no brainer to find a place for Iglesias in 2025.
But the Mets should certainly not overpay for a 35-year-old utility infielder who had a career year, despite his influence on this franchise in 2024.
Ryne Stanek
On the surface, Stanek’s 2024 season was pretty ugly. He produced a 4.36 ERA in 46 appearances with the Mariners before the Mets acquired him at the deadline, at which point he produced a 6.06 ERA in 17 appearances down the stretch of the season.
His primary issue? Walks. He allowed 25 walks in 55 innings this season with both the Mariners and the Mets, 8 in 16.1 IP after the trade.
But here’s the thing about Stanek.
His track record and peripheral marks would suggest this season was an aberration.
Stanek has elite velocity, an elite chase rate, an elite swing-and-miss rate. His expected ERA was better than his actual ERA. Now, obviously his actual ERA reflects the actual result and that’s all that matters, but we could see how all of this began to correct itself in the latter stages of the season and in the postseason especially. And, outside of one blip when he made his Mets debut on July 28 and another on August 11, Stanek had ten scoreless appearances in 11 of his 17 appearances for the Mets. He ultimately became the primary setup man to Edwin Díaz in the postseason, which doesn’t necessarily say a whole lot considering how inconsistent the Mets bullpen was, but it was his swing-and-miss stuff which Mendoza was trusting throughout the postseason. And, it paid off in large measure in the playoffs.
The question is can Stanek be somewhere in between what he was in 2022 when he produced a 1.15 ERA as a setup guy in Houston and what he is today? The stuff is still there for that to happen and we definitely saw glimpses of it upon his arrival.
The Mets do need to evolve their bullpen into a more swing-and-miss brand, which in turn will help them to shorten games and expand their ability to get more outs in the middle and latter part of these games as-needed. Stanek can certainly be a high upside solution to the problem, and he expanded upon his high-leverage experience in the postseason with a good performance this fall for the Mets.
Considering how volatile this part of the roster is for every club, signing Stanek to a similar contract to the one he signed before the 2024 season might be a bargain to help solve this part of the equation for the club this winter. Even if he gets a smidge more, he can still potentially be a value add to the bullpen.
But it’s also easy to see the Mets moving on from Stanek as they seek more consistency from this roster spot, even if it comes with a higher cost.
Stanek signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Mariners before the 2024 season. He earned an additional $500,000 for reaching 60 appearances this past season and a $250,000 bonus upon being traded to the Mets, which allowed him to earn a total of $4.75 million in 2024.
Phil Maton
The Mets acquired Maton from the Rays on July 11 after 3 1/2 months of mostly poor trial and error with their bullpen anchored by a closer who admittedly lacked confidence. He signed a one-year, $6.25 million deal with Tampa Bay and the Mets hold a team option on him, which calls for him to earn $7.75 million in 2025 with a $250,000 buyout.
Maton, who will be 32 on Opening Day, was very good for the Mets during the regular season. He posted a 2.51 ERA over 31 appearances and really helped transform what was a piece meal bullpen into a sustainable, functional unit the rest of the way. He was walking way too many batters while with Tampa Bay earlier in the season, but Jeremy Hefner and his staff helped Maton make some adjustments upon his arrival, and his cut his walk rate down substantially which improved his effectiveness almost immediately.
Having said that, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza really had to go to the well a lot with Maton late in the year and then immediately in the Wild Card Series against the Brewers. That wear and tear showed almost immediately in the postseason, specifically with his breaking ball and he was a generally ineffective part for the Mets bullpen, which in turn did not perform adequately throughout the playoffs as a whole.
Because Maton’s breaking pitches were less effective than they had been in the past, he became a same speed pitcher with his sinker/cutter, and if he hangs those pitches with his below average velocity - as we saw in the playoffs - he just gets burned with it.
Still, at $7.75 million, it will be interesting to see if the Mets just exercise the option and bring Maton back. In this market, it seems like an easy thing for them to do. Hefner and co. worked their magic with him during the regular season and it seems like there was some cohesiveness there. And not everyone can be or needs to be a high octane arm to be an effective part of a championship bullpen, either.
They don’t need Maton to be an eighth inning reliever or a primary setup man to Edwin Díaz - that can be someone like Ryne Stanek and/or others they find in the free agent market.
Adam Ottavino
Ottavino, who will be 39 on opening day, got off to a good enough start with the Mets but saw his season go south pretty much when the Mets started turn things around at the end of May. He found himself relegated to mop up duty for this club, and off the postseason roster for the NLCS after not being used at all in the Wild Card or Division Series rounds.
Ottavino’s sweeper/sinker combination is still effective quantitatively, and both his strikeout rate and walk rate actually improved from 2023. His fielder independent ERA (FIP) was 3.67 compared to a season ERA of 4.36, which suggests there was quite a bit of bad luck built into Ottavino’s season in 2024.
Still, it’s hard to see the Mets and Ottavino go on another reunion tour for 2024. I don’t think it’s so much that Ottavino is a diminished pitcher as much as there’s just a need for this bullpen to evolve. If he was relegated to mop up duty and didn’t have a place in a shaky bullpen for the NLCS, logic would suggest they’re going to be moving on from Ottavino after what can only be considered as three very successful seasons with the club.
And if this is it for Ottavino, the Mets should strongly consider bringing him in as a coach or mentor for this organization. He has a lot to offer them intellectually, he is a New Yorker and he seems to like being a part of this organization.
Ottavino signed a one-year, $4.5 million contract with the Mets before the 2024 season.
Our series will conclude with a conversation about all of the Mets arbitration-eligible players and their non-tender candidacy tomorrow…