What’s up with the Mets? 🍎
Former Met and World Champion Jerry Koosman passed away at the age of 83 on Sunday (Mets)
RHP Nolan McLean won the National League Gold Glove Award for pitchers - its the first time a Met has won a Gold Glove since OF Juan Lagares did so in 2014 (MLB.com)
Jerry Koosman - 1943-2026 😢
The Mets lost a franchise icon over the weekend when the club announced LHP Jerry Koosman had passed away at the age of 83 at his home in Osceola, WI.
Koosman was originally signed by the Mets in 1964 while pitching for the Army. A two-time All-Star with the Mets in 1968 and 1969, Koosman finally made it to the major leagues and ultimately became the winningest left-handed pitcher in Mets history, amassing 140 wins between 1967–1978 before being traded to the Twins. He posted a 3.09 ERA in 376 career appearances over his 12-year tenure with the club, the sixth-best ERA in club history. He ranks second in starts (346), complete games (108), innings pitched (2,544.2) and shutouts (26), third in strikeouts (1,799). He was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 1989 and had his number retired by the club in 2021.
“Kooz was one of the greatest pitchers in team history and a beloved member of the Mets family,” said Mets Owners Steve and Alex Cohen. “The 1969 Miracle Mets were filled with heroes, and the special southpaw from Appleton, Minnesota, was central to their success. He was a fierce competitor on the field and a respected teammate in the clubhouse. His legendary performance in the World Series helped the Mets secure their first Championship in team history. On behalf of the entire Mets organization, we extend our heartfelt condolences to Jerry’s family, friends, former teammates, and all who loved him.”
Koosman was on the mound at Shea Stadium in 1969 when the Mets defeated the Orioles in five games for their first World Championship. That year, he went 17–9 with a 2.28 ERA with 68 walks, and 180 strikeouts in 241 innings, and went 2–0 with a 2.04 ERA against Baltimore in that iconic World Series.
Off-Season Outlook 📈
This winter, the Mets have no players with unconditional expiring contracts, and only one where a player option may or may not be considered. The club has no team options to consider, but will need to decide whether or not to tender contracts to ten different arbitration-eligible players by mid-November.
In addition, the Mets could choose to non-tender players who are pre-arbitration eligible if they no longer have any minor league options available.
The Mets could also attempt to trade any such player they’re considering not tendering a contract to before the mid-November deadline.
PENDING FREE AGENTS
None
TEAM OPTIONS
None
PLAYER OPTIONS
None
ARBITRATION ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
Francisco Álvarez
Brett Baty
Reed Garrett
Tylor Megill
Christopher Morel
Dedniel Núñez
Cristian Pache
Cionel Perez
Mark Vientos
Austin Warren
PLAYERS KNOWN TO HAVE NO MINOR LEAGUE OPTIONS LEFT
Mark Vientos
Christopher Morel
Cristian Pache (designated for assignment 10/29)
Daniel Duarte
Tobias Myers
Austin Warren
Robert Stock
Chayce McDermott
Ronny Mauricio
MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS ELIGIBLE FOR RULE 5 DRAFT EXPOSURE
Catchers: Chris Suero, Kevin Parada, Ronald Hernandez
Infielders: Ryan Clifford, Randy Guzman, Estarling Mercado, Jefferson Rojas, Jacob Reimer, Nick Lorusso, Marco Vargas
Outfielders: D’Andre Smith, Yohairo Cuevas
SPs: Gary Gill Hill, Jack Wenninger, Irving Cota, Noah Hall, Dakota Hawkins, Joel Díaz, Jose Chirinos, Jonathan Jimenez, Wyatt Hudepohl
RPs: Zach Franklin, Ben Simon, Felipe De La Cruz, Douglas Orellana, Calvin Ziegler, Saul Garcia, Luis R. Rodriguez, Bryce Jenkins, Cristofer Gomez, Ryan Ammons, Juan Arnaud, Ernesto Mercedes, Gregori Louis, Austin Troesser
Key Off-Season Dates 📅
Players from the 60-day IL must be reinstated, 40-man rosters must be set - November 2
Free agency begins - November 3
Deadline for qualifying offer to free agents - November 3
GM/Industry Meetings, Las Vegas - November 9-12
Owners meetings, New York - November 17-19
Non-tender deadline - November 20
December 1 - expiration of current collective bargaining agreement
MLB Winter Meetings, Orlando - December 7-9
MLB Draft Lottery - December 8
Rule 5 draft - December 9
The Just Mets Podcast 🎙️
ICYMI: On the latest edition of the Just Mets Podcast, Rich flew solo to discuss Bo Bichette opting into his $42 million contract for the 2027 season.
SUBSCRIBE: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Thoughts on Kooz, Nolan McLean’s stellar year, and Teruaki Sato ✍️
It was a difficult Sunday for the Mets, even if baseball wasn’t even close to being played. They lost one of their all-time greats in Jerry Koosman, the winningest left-handed pitcher they’ve ever had and easily a top 2 or 3 pitcher in club history.
Now, I wasn’t alive when the Mets won the World Series in 1969. But I did get to meet Jerry a few times over the course of my life, and what I could say in those brief interactions was that he was a kind, humble, and generally normal person to be around who happened to do something legendary for the New York Mets 57 years ago and have one of the best non-Hall of Fame careers the sport has ever had.
For those who were, for those who were able to skip school, ditch work to be able to watch or listen to that historic game, and for those there at Shea Stadium on that gray October afternoon when they did something that seemed impossible just eight months before, I am sure the last 24 hours or so for you have been both difficult and nostalgic. He’s a key figure in New York sports history, and the memory of him jumping into Jerry Grote’s arms after Cleon Jones secured the last out of the year in 1969 will forever be etched into sports history.
There was also some good news over the weekend when MLB announced their Gold Glove Award winners, and that Nolan McLean had won for National League pitchers.
When it was announced he was a finalist along with Carson Benge and Luis Torrens, I honestly didn’t realize how superb McLean was defensively, and how much that contributed to his success over the course of 2026. He had a fielder’s run value of eight and had four defensive runs saved from the mound with 24 assists and only three errors committed.
McLean is the first Met to win a Gold Glove since Juan Lagares did so in 2014, which marked the end of the second-longest drought for a team to win a Gold Glove in the game. That seems a little ridiculous, but also when you look back on the teams the Mets have fielded since— including their four postseason clubs— I suppose it’s not terribly surprising. It’s not as if the Mets of the 2010s emphasized defense, especially when you consider Wilmer Flores, Daniel Murphy, and Lucas Duda specifically were starting around the infield for the Mets in their championship run in 2015.
Then of course there was 2026, and LOL!
Anyway, good for McLean, even if I am a little disappointed neither Torrens (not totally surprised) nor Benge were able to bring one home (a little surprised, but not terribly).
I have wondered recently about McLean’s candidacy for rookie of the year, even though Benge was making most of the noise about it for the Mets down the stretch. He had been, in fact, the best rookie pitcher in the National League by a wide margin if fWAR is used as the primary metric, until Chase Burns qualified for the ERA title by innings pitched late in the year. In the end, Burns finished with a 4.3 fWAR while McLean had a 3.5 fWAR, so there is a significant gap there which will make it harder for McLean’s case to fly. Then, of course, there’s Benge, JJ Wetherholt, Sal Stewart, and TJ Rumfeld with very, very strong cases of their own for the award.
So, we will see. Of course, I am rooting for both McLean and Benge to win it, but the field is tight and it’s hard to really argue against any of the aforementioned candidates to win the NL Rookie of the Year award.
As for the start of the off-season, not a lot has happened yet. There have been a few roster moves here and there around the league, some minor trades, some general positioning ahead of the non-tender deadline later this month. There’s some buzz around the league that things are going to start to pick up relatively quickly as free agency begins over the next day or so. That’s not to say there’s going to be an immediate spending spree— I actually expect that to take place, if it happens at all, towards the end of the month if there is no momentum being built between the MLBPA and the league office on a new collective bargaining agreement.
As a reminder, the Mets need a first baseman, all sorts of pitching, some coaches, and to figure out how they’re going to handle second base going forward. Perhaps they will look overseas at 2026 Triple Crown winner and MVP winner in the NPB in Teruaki Sato? He might be a better fit for the Yankees, to be honest, since he’s a natural third baseman and the Mets would have to shift him over to first base, but he’s a very interesting piece for the Mets to look at in international free agency this winter.
I know there’s a lot of trepidation out there about hitters from overseas, but these days, there is so much information out there about all of those players, especially the metrics which clubs have come to learn how they would translate from one professional league to the other. Now, it’s by no means an exact science, but exit velocity is exit velocity, and hand speed is hand speed (among other plots on the chart), regardless of where a player plays, and while there are things that players who come from the NPB over to the big leagues must learn and adjust to, clubs can better project how players might be here versus there.
The point is, today’s metrics and sports sciences better factor into their risk assessment than they did in the past. That doesn’t mean Sato is the next Shohei Ohtani, but the consensus out there is Sato would certainly be a value add in this league if he can make those adjustments.
The 27-year-old Sato does have a statistical red flag, of course. He had a 26.7 strikeout rate in 2026 in a softer pitching league (164 strikeouts, 614 PA). But Munetaka Murakami also struck out a ton before joining the White Sox last year, and he fit in nicely on the south side, to say the least. And, strikeouts are de-emphasized to an extent in today’s game. As long as a lineup doesn’t contain multiple high swing-and-miss bats like that, that power would always be welcomed, especially with the Mets who need an injection of power for the middle of their lineup.
We will see how this one plays out. The options are not great at first base for the Mets on the free agent market, so a little creativity might be required there.
Around the League 🚩
RHP Garrett Whitlock had his $8.25 million option exercised by the Red Sox (ESPN)
LHP Drew Rasmussen had his $20 million option picked up by the Rays (ESPN)
INF Miguel Andújar and RHPs Griffin Canning and Lucas Giolito have become free agents after the Padres announced they’ve declined their 2027 options
Former Met RHP Ryne Stanek had his 2027 option declined by the Cardinals (St. Louis Post Dispatch)
Koosman a quiet gem behind Seaver. Saw him pitch at Shea many times. RIP
Congratulations to McClean. Glad to see Torrens and Benge recognized at least in the running for Gold Glove.