Adrian Morejón, RP/SP

Position: RP B/T: L/L
Age: 27 (2/27/1999)
2026 Traditional Stats: 9-3, 2.83 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 86 IP, 107 SO, 28 BB, 3 SV, 28 HLD
2026 Advanced Stats: 145 ERA+, 30.4% K%, 8.0% BB%, 2.33 xERA, 2.37 FIP, 2.64 xFIP, 2.8 fWAR, 1.9 bWAR

Rundown

Adrian Morejón has been one of the best relievers in the game and likely will have a strong market, even if he has the qualifying offer attached. He likely will have multiple teams interested in him as their closer. He ran an incredible 33.7% whiff rate and 38.4% chase rate. His high-spin, 89.4 mile per hour slider is one of the best pitches in baseball. Batters hit only .176 off his fastball and .156 off his changeup. He threw as hard as 101.7 miles per hour in 2026, but could teams look at him in a different role, maybe one he hasn’t pitched in since 2023?

Morejón has all the hallmarks of a reliever who should be able to not only make the jump to being a starter, but to being a potential frontline starter.

  • Velocity: Morejón as a reliever averages just shy of 100 miles per hour on his sinker. Typically when a reliever becomes a starter and goes deeper into games, they lose up to three miles per hour of velocity. Morejon has the room to lose that and still have well above average velocity as a starter.
  • Pitch mix: Morejón already throws four pitches: a four-seam fastball, sinker, slider, and changeup. He has also thrown a curveball before. He has a starter’s repertoire as it is, which should help him see lineups multiple times through.
  • Ability to get both sides out: While he is better against left-handed hitters, Morejón does not have an issue facing right-handed or left-handed hitters. This means teams cannot just stack right-handed hitters against him in games to make him ineffective.
  • High ground ball rate: Morejón’s 58% ground ball rate in 2026 was in the 98th percentile. This means he can get quick outs allowing him to go deeper into games while also giving him another weapon to get hitters out that is not just via the swing and miss.
  • Inning Count: Morejón pitched 86 innings in 2026 after throwing 73 2/3 innings in 2025. This gives him a good floor to improve his inning count in 2027.
  • High spin rate: A big reason Morejón generates so much weak contact is because of his high spin rates. In 2026, he ran 2,881 RPM on his slider and over 2,400 RPM on his fastballs. This means when he does make a mistake, it is harder for batters to punish.
  • He has started before: Between the majors and minors, Morejon has started 59 games. He has gone through the routine and understands the role.

If all of this seems familiar, it is because these are largely the same traits that Clay Holmes had, which helped him become a good starting pitcher. If starting is something Morejon wants, he is a clear conversion candidate. Whether his future is in the bullpen or the rotation, he will instantly make any team he is on significantly better.

Contract

Spotrac lists his market value at three years and $36 million. Jim Bowden of the Athletic projected him at three years and $42 million, but both outlets have him as a reliever, not as a starter.

Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report projected Morejon to sign a five-year, $90 million contract. This is in line with what Josh Hader signed for as a free agent.

If the Mets were to look to convert him to a starter, a five-year deal at $18 million per year for his age 28-to-32 seasons would be a steal. If it does not work, that is still a fair contract for a reliever of his talent.

Recommendation: Sign as a Starter

Jarrett Siedler of Baseball Prospectus listed Morejón as one of his three starting pitcher conversion targets alongside Grant Taylor and Jonathan Bowlan. Siedler described Morejón as, “a pitcher with this talent and age who didn’t have a workload question would get $300 million-plus on the market, and Morejon will get perhaps a third that.”

The Mets have a good track record of converting relievers into starters. In addition to Holmes, Nolan McLean and Christian Scott were relievers before they were converted into starters. Morejón is likely to get elite closer contract offers, so if his conversion does not work, the Mets would have their closer of the future locked up at market rate.

Assuming the contract is not riddled with opt-outs, this is the type of player that is worth giving up qualifying offer penalties for. The Mets likely do not want their main pitching acquisition to be a reliever conversion no matter how good that reliever is, but as the second starter signing, this would be a slam dunk.