The non-tender deadline was on Monday, with the free agent market seeing an influx of over 50 players to the pool. It’s important to remember that there’s value to be had from some players that are non-tendered, those decisions aren’t solely made on talent, but salary and roster spot as well.
Just last offseason, Wilmer Flores, Mike Fiers, Avisail Garcia, Jonathan Schoop, Aristides Aquino, and James McCann were all non-tendered, and yet, they went on to have productive 2019 seasons.
The Mets have been quiet so far this winter (signed LHP Chasen Shreve, INF Max Moroff, OF Jarrett Parker, claimed LHP Stephen Gonsalves and acquired OF Jake Marisnick) while looking to improve the team for 2020 with what could be a very limited spending budget.
Let’s take a look at recently non-tendered players that could help the Mets.
Blake Treinen, RHP
This one has been talked about quite a bit with the Mets showing interest in acquiring the right-handed reliever even before he was non-tendered. There’s no denying that Treinen struggled in 2019, he posted a 4.91 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, and a 1.59 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He struck out 59, but allowed 58 hits and walked 37 in 58 2/3 innings for Oakland.
There’s also no denying there’s intrigue with Treinen as well as he was one of the best pitchers in baseball during the 2018 season. He had 100 strikeouts, 0.78 ERA, 1.82 FIP, 0.83 WHIP, and allowed only two home runs in 80 innings as the A’s closer.
He did see dips in velocity from 97.4 MPH on his fastball in 2018 to 96.7 MPH in 2019 and 89.0 MPH with his slider in 2018 down to 88.4 MPH this past season.
Kevin Gausman, RHP
This former first-round pick is a perfect example of what I was talking about in the first paragraph, if not for a high estimated salary through arbitration ($10.6 million), he wouldn’t be in the free agent pool.
Much like Drew Pomeranz (who got a nice 4 yr., $34 million deal), Gausman broke out after a late season shift to the bullpen with a new team in 2019. Not to the same extent as Pomeranz, but the right-hander posted a 3.10 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 5.40 K/BB, and had 27 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings of relief for the Reds.
The former starter had seen his velocity dip to 93.5 MPH on his fastball in July as a starter for the Braves, but that number jumped to 94.3 and 94.6 as a reliever.
Gausman’s splitter (which he throws around 40% of the time) was hugely successful out of the bullpen, hitters had just a .184 average and .237 slugging percentage against the pitch.
Yimi Garcia, RHP
The former Dodgers right-hander pitched to a 3.61 ERA, impressive 0.87 WHIP, 5.8 H/9, and had 66 strikeouts compared to only 14 walks in 62 1/3 innings in 2019. The biggest worry with Garcia is that he allowed a whopping 15 homers in that span.
The 29-year-old made only $710,000 in 2019. He has a career 3.66 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and a 5.53 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Garcia’s xwOBA was .257 last season, which ranked tied for 21st out of 523 pitchers. For reference, Seth Lugo‘s was .234 and Jacob deGrom‘s was .253 during the 2019 season.
Stuff wise, Garcia’s fastball spin is in the 98th percentile and his curveball is 89th percentile.
Taijuan Walker, RHP
The 27-year-old didn’t pitch until the final game of the 2019 season when he threw a scoreless inning for the Diamondbacks. He was recovering from Tommy John surgery that he had in April of 2018.
Obviously, there’s very little sample size for Walker’s stuff in 2019, but his fastball was at 93.5 MPH (94 MPH in 2017 and 2018), slider at 88 MPH (same as 2018), and his splitter was 88 MPH (89 in 2018).
The last time that Walker was fully healthy was back in 2017 when he had a 3.49 ERA, 4.04 FIP, and 1.33 WHIP in 157 1/3 innings over 28 starts for Arizona. He had 146 strikeouts, issued 61 walks, and allowed 148 hits.
Travis Shaw, INF
No getting around it, Shaw was terrible in 2019 with the Brewers. He hit .157/.281/.270 with five doubles and seven home runs in 270 plate appearances. The left-handed hitter struggled to start the season, was hit by a pitch on the hand that sent him to the IL, and then he lost his job to top prospect Keston Hiura.
Quite a change of Shaw from his combined .258/.347.497 slash line from 2017 and 2018. Both seasons he hit at least 30 homers and averaged 4.0 WAR.
Defensively, Shaw played third base, second base, and first base the last two seasons for the Brewers. He’s been above average at third base (26 DRS/4.3 UZR in 3,500 career innings) and respectable at second (-1 DRS, -.15 UZR) given his limited experience.
Center fielder Kevin Pillar was a name that made sense before the Mets’ acquisition of Jake Marisncik.
Former Phillies infielder Cesar Hernandez is still a valuable player (2.5 WAR in 2019), though I don’t see the fit with Robinson Cano locked into second base for years to come.
Other players that could be worth taking a look at are RHP Aaron Sanchez, RHP Jason Adam, UT Charlie Culberson, C/P Kevin Plawecki, and LHP Ryan Buchter.
