Postseason baseball is in full swing, with some great games already in the books as the championship series begin.
For the Mets, however, it’s another long offseason at home, resting and gearing up after another disappointing season. It will be an offseason of reflection, but also one of change, as the Mets have a lot of work to do to get this team back on the right track.
Following the remainder of the playoffs — which the Mets, of course, will be watching from the comfort of their own homes — Major League Baseball will jump right into the BBWAA awards in early November.
Given the season they had, the Mets aren’t expected to be very well-represented. Jacob deGrom was the Cy Young frontrunner for about half the season, but he wound up not pitching enough innings to have a realistic shot at winning the award for the third time. He and Marcus Stroman should get some votes lower on the ballot, however. DeGrom finished third in Cy Young voting in the shortened 2020 season.
It seems like a distant memory at this point, but there was talk earlier in the season about Luis Rojas possibly taking home a Manager of the Year award. Now, not only are those chances out the window, but the Mets don’t even have a manager. Finding a replacement for Rojas will be an obvious task of the offseason — and, for that matter, a president of baseball operations. Over the last few years, the Mets have failed to find a manager and front office to stick with the club in the long term. Steve Cohen taking over the realms as owner was certainly a step in the right direction, but the Mets still have some important holes to fill.
On November 19, teams will have to add Rule 5-eligible minor leaguers to their 40-man rosters. Some interesting decisions lie ahead for the Mets, with players such as Ronny Mauricio, Mark Vientos, Carlos Cortes and Jose Butto all being eligible for the first time. Jacob Resnick of SNY has the full Mets offseason roster matrix.
Then the non-tender deadline comes on December 1, when teams will have to offer their pre-arbitration and arbitration-eligible players a contract by, otherwise they become free agents. Some of the Mets’ non-tender candidates include Trevor Williams, Jordan Yamamoto, Corey Oswalt and Jose Peraza.
The annual winter meetings arrive just a few days later, taking place from December 5-9 in San Diego this year. It concludes with the Rule 5 Draft on December 9, when eligible players can be taken and kept on the major league roster or be offered back to their original team. Prospects like the aforementioned quartet of Mauricio, Vientos, Cortes and Butto are essentially locks to be protected, but it will be interesting to see who else is protected and if anyone is taken.
Arbitration negotiations get going on January 14. Hearings for players that don’t reach agreements with their teams will then take place in mid-February. And before you know it, spring training games begin on February 26, and we do it all over again.
This offseason will obviously be a big one for the Mets. During this time, they’re going to have to make some notable roster moves, in the midst of finding a manager and a POBO. And rather than just finding someone to hold the fort in these positions, they’re going to need to find someone they can stick with for the foreseeable future. A lot of the blame for the Mets’ shortcomings can certainly be put on the players’ underperformance, but it can’t help that the Mets haven’t found any reliable, long-term solutions for their leadership roles.
Gear up, because this offseason is going to be an important one.
