THE FOUR-FRONT OF MET PLANS
Twhichhe Mets have important decisions looming on four key free agents, and it remains unclear direction the team will go with so much uncertainty at the top of its baseball operations department.
While this piece will focus solely on free agents Michael Conforto, Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman and Javy Baez, the Mets in total have a large haul of players ready to hit the open market. Aaron Loup, Jeurys Familia, Jonathan Villar, Rich Hill, Dellin Betances, Brad Hand and Heath Hembree are also impending free agents. The club is expected to look completely different next year.
As we’ve discussed, the Mets will look to hire a president of baseball operations and solidify their front-office structure before deciding on the futures of these key free agents. But team president
Sandy Alderson, who has been calling the shots since the end of September but wants to eventually be less involved in day-to-day operations, indicated last month he will have to make some transactions for the club before completing front-office hires due to timing issues.
Conforto and Syndergaard are subject to qualifying offers, and teams have five days after the final game of the World Series to extend that offer to eligible players. After that, players have 10 days to accept or decline the qualifying offer, during which time they can negotiate with other teams to survey their market value.
If Conforto or Syndergaard accept, they will be signed for the 2022 season at the mean salary of the league’s 125 highest-paid players. For 2022, that amount is expected to be around $19-20 million. If they reject the offer, players are free to explore free agency.
So, let’s get into it. Which of these four Mets free agents are likely to stay in Queens, and which are likely to hit the market and take their chances for a bigger payday?
CONFORTO
Alderson spoke at length a week before the 2021 Mets season ended with a sub-.500 record for the 10th time in the past 13 years. Throughout his 50-minute postmortem, Alderson was passionate about two free agents who he felt are key pieces in the Mets franchise.
The first player was Conforto, who Alderson helped draft in 2014 in the Mets’ first round. In 2015, Conforto earned a spot on the playoff roster and excelled, cranking three home runs, including two in Game 4 of the World Series against the Royals. He again showed promise in his All-Star 2017 season, slashing .279/.384/.555 with 27 home runs and flashing a 148 OPS+.
But Conforto was unable to build off his successful pandemic season (.927 OPS in 54 games) and he struggled significantly this year, his seventh season as a Met. He looked lost at the plate, particularly in the first half, and missed time with an oblique injury. He refused to say that his impending free agency was impacting his performance, but it was clear his future was weighing heavily on his mind.
He batted .232 with 14 home runs, 55 RBI and a .729 OPS in what played out like his final year with the Mets.
“Michael Conforto has been a stalwart for us over many years,” Alderson said in September. “Drafted by the Mets and had an immediate impact during 2015, ‘16. I think very highly of Michael and that’s a decision that we will have to make. Obviously Michael has not had the year that he would’ve liked, but his career speaks for itself.”
Conforto will likely receive a qualifying offer from the Mets, but a source familiar with the situation said he and his agent, Scott Boras, are expected to decline. In his final games of the season, the Mets outfielder certainly spoke and behaved like his days in orange and blue were over. The Mets will need to pick up at least a couple of outfield additions this winter.
SYNDERGAARD
Alderson was not as impassioned when speaking about Thor as he was about Conforto. Syndergaard is most likely to accept the Mets’ qualifying offer (he said last month he would be grateful to receive one) simply because of the time he lost in his walk year.
The right-hander battled back from Tommy John surgery in March 2020, experiencing multiple setbacks along his rehab journey, before finally making his 2021 debut with a week of games remaining on the schedule. It was important for Syndergaard to pitch a pair of one-inning outings if only to prove to himself he can still compete at the big-league level, but also to show the Mets his once-nasty stuff.
“It was nice to see Noah on the mound,” Alderson said. “It’s been a long journey for him, roughly two years that he didn’t pitch competitively at the major-league level and we were encouraged by what we saw. On the other hand, it was one inning. It’s nice to see he’s back, healthy and pitching as he was capable of in the past.”
When asked if he was already in talks with Syndergaard and his agency, CAA Sports, to work out a deal, Alderson declined to answer. As much as Syndergaard’s health and effectiveness will be a question mark next year, it is hard to imagine the Mets compiling a strong rotation without him. Syndergaard has said Mets fans and New York City mean a lot to him, and both will become factors in his eventual decision.
If he accepts the qualifying offer, Syndergaard will have a year to build up his resume in hopes of earning a bigger paycheck after the 2022 season. The following freeagent-to-be took that route, and it worked in his favor.
Quartet of free agents will be priority for team’s new baseball ops department
STROMAN
The ground-ball pitcher was the ace in the Mets rotation after Jacob deGrom went down with a partial tear of his right elbow in July. Stroman recorded a career-best 3.02 ERA with at least 19 starts made in a season. He led the major leagues with 33 starts in 2021, accompanied by a 1.145 WHIP and 158 strikeouts in 179 innings. Stroman didn’t compete last year, citing concerns about playing during the COVID-19 pandemic. He went from zero innings pitched in 2020, accepted the Mets qualifying offer in the offseason, and bounced back for a successful 2021 season in Queens.
Besides Conforto, Alderson was most passionate about Stroman returning to the Mets next year. Stroman has maintained that he’s open to anything this offseason, and he’s likely to earn the biggest contract out of all the Mets free agents heading into next year. Alderson’s comments certainly made it sound like the Mets and billionaire owner
Steve Cohen will go to great lengths to give him the contract he deserves.
“Marcus Stroman, who probably on balance had the best record over the course of this season as a starting pitcher, in part because of his effectiveness but in part because he was able to pitch the entire season,” Alderson said. “Given the fact that he didn’t pitch at all last year, it’s sort of a remarkable achievement that he was able to stay as healthy as he has been over the course of the year. We very highly value Marcus and we’ll be looking forward to the possibility of talking to him.”
BAEZ
That leaves Baez, the Mets trade-deadline acquisition who will always be remembered for his thumbs-down-at-the-fans fiasco. Emotions for the Mets fan base aside, Baez was exceptional for the Amazin’s in a terrific second half that had all the shades of Yoenis Cespedes circa 2015. In the end, his savvy baserunning, heads-up
defense and nine home runs in 47 games were not enough to lead the Mets into the postseason due to the rest of the team’s underperforming offense.
Baez impacts the game in a variety of ways. He’s also shortstop Francisco Lindor’s childhood friend. Baez and Lindor grew up playing together in Puerto Rico and showed off their smooth infield skills at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. They put on similar such performances up the middle for the Mets in the second half, and it was easy to see the double-play duo making plays on both sides of the ball for years to come.
But Baez will demand a large contract after his successful 2021 season, split between the Cubs and Mets. Reports indicate he’s looking for a long-term deal in the $150-200 million range. If Alderson’s thinking is any indication of the Mets direction, he was less certain Baez will remain in Queens for years.
“Is it possible? Yes,” Alderson said if the Mets would re-sign Baez. “Is it realistic? Maybe. It’s hard for me to put odds on it. Does Javy want to be here? Did he enjoy his stay? What can be expected from him over the next several years? A lot of things go into any free-agent decision. But to say, ‘No, there’s absolutely no way Javy Baez can be part of the Mets next year,’ I wouldn’t be prepared to say that at this point.”