Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Sure, MLB’s postseason is officially in full swing, but for all the teams not playing October baseball, the focus continues to be on preparing for next year. Unfortunately, that’s where the New York Mets’ focus is at these days (you know, along with trying to fill out their front office and the coaching staff for 2022).

The Mets have 16 players who are eligible for arbitration this winter, and while there are some obvious no-brainer decisions, there were will be a few interesting ones to be made. MLB Trade Rumors released their yearly projections for these situations across the league, with old friend Jacob Resnick singling out the Mets-specific projections for us on the Twitter machine:

(The above picture doesn’t show Pete Alonso‘s $7.3 million projection or Luis Guillorme‘s $700K projection.)

As Resnick states himself, the dudes on the bubble heading into the offseason include Robert Gsellman, Miguel Castro, Trevor Williams, Joey Lucchesi, José Peraza, and José Martínez. Of course, New York could cut ties with any of them and re-engage on a new contract once they officially become a free agent.

It will be interesting to see which non-tender candidates actually find themselves on the open market when the time comes. After a disappointing season in which New York spent 103 days in first place before finishing with yet another losing record, there’s an expectation that lots of changes will take place this winter. What the Mets decide to do with some of their arbitration-eligible players could be a good indicator for just how much turnover we could expect prior to pitchers and catchers reporting to Port St. Lucie in February.

Which of the players on the bubble do you think will be back in Flushing next year?