2025 MLB Free Agency Archives - Metsmerized

Top Remaining Free Agents According To Fangraphs WAR

James Villani — Sun, 04 Jan 2026 14:30:21 +0000

As seemingly has been the case the last few offseasons, Major League Baseball’s free agency has been crawling. With roughly 36 days until pitchers and catchers report on February 10, there are still several marquee free agents available on the market.

The below is a list of these remaining free agents organized by projected 2026 Fangraphs’ wins above replacement (WAR). All the position players are being projected at least 1.0 fWAR, all starters at least 1.0 fWAR, and all relief pitchers at least 0.3 fWAR.

Report: Josh Naylor Returning To Seattle On Five-Year Deal

James Villani — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 01:24:56 +0000

The first notable domino has fallen in the 2025 offseason. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Seattle Mariners are bringing back first baseman Josh Naylor. Naylor is reportedly signing a five-year deal to return to Seattle.

The specifics of the deal wasn’t revealed until a day after Passan’s report. Naylor signed for $92.5 million over five years ($18.5 million annually).

Naylor was projected to sign a five-year deal worth $90 million by MLB Trade Rumors and a four-year deal worth $80 million by Fangraph’s crowd-sourced projections. The details of his extension with Seattle have yet to be disclosed.

Naylor was brought to Seattle at the trade deadline from Arizona. The Mariners sent two top-20 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline, to Arizona to acquire the now 28-year-old.

The former Cleveland Guardian had a breakout in 2023 where he posted a career-best .308 average and 130 OPS+ across 452 at-bats. Then, the following year, he had a massive 31-homer season to go along with 108 RBIs. To top it off, in 2025 he hit 20 homers, drove in 92 runs, and posted the second-highest OPS of his career at .831. Over the last three seasons, Naylor has been one of the more prolific offensive first baseman in the league.

First base is of course an extremely important position for the New York Mets this offseason. With Pete Alonso on the open market, Naylor could have been a potential replacement. He was comfortably the third best option among free agent first baseman behind Alonso and Cody Bellinger. For reference, MLB Trade Rumors projects a $28 million annual salary for Bellinger and a $27.5 million annual salary for Alonso.

Naylor is really the first of many dominoes expected to fall in the coming weeks as far as free agency goes. The Mets, like many teams around the league, have a lot of work to do over the coming months. However, Seattle ultimately locked in one of the best first base options on the market early.

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Free Agent Profile: Griffin Canning, SP

James Villani — Sun, 09 Nov 2025 17:00:14 +0000

Griffin Canning

Player Data: Age: 29 (5/11/1996) B/T: R/R

Primary Stats: 16 GS, 7-3, 3.77 ERA, 1.376 WHIP, 76.1 IP, 70 SO, 35 BB

Advanced Stats: 107 ERA+, 21.3 K%, 10.7 BB%, 4.66 xERA, 4.04 FIP, 4.09 xFIP, 0.9 fWAR, 1.1 bWAR

Rundown

The New York Mets gave veteran starting pitcher Griffin Canning a one-year deal worth only $4.25 million in December of 2024. Canning was coming off a terrible season and the hope was this low-risk investment would see him develop into a pitcher that can be effective in the back-half of the Mets’ rotation. The outlook of that happening was grim as Canning was coming off a 2024 season where he owned the third-highest ERA in the majors among qualified pitchers at 5.19 despite making 32 appearances.

Well, it looked like president of baseball operations David Stearns and his staff may have struck gold as Canning had a 3.77 ERA deep into June; the lowest of his career. Unfortunately, a torn Achilles on June 26 ended his breakout season at 76 1/3 innings a 7-3 record and 70 strikeouts.

Up until last year, Canning’s best season came in 2023 when he posted a 4.32 ERA across 127 innings. He did have a season where he had a 3.99 ERA, however, it was only over a 56 1/3 inning sample size. In all, his career ERA sits at 4.65 and he owns a 4.68 FIP.

As for his breakout with the Mets, despite the final numbers looking strong it was certainly and up-and-down year prior to injury. Canning had his season ERA down to a 2.36 mark after his May 11 start against the Chicago Cubs. However, since that point, and leading up to his injury on June 26, the numbers were trending down as he allowed 21 earned runs over 34 1/3 innings (5.50 ERA). This also included a stretch where he allowed 13 earned runs over three starts.

A deeper dive into Canning’s numbers painted a pitcher who had been benefitting greatly from a high ground-ball rate (51.6%; 87th percentile) despite not striking out a ton of batters (21.4%; 41st percentile), allowing hard contact (5th percentile average exit velocity, 11th percentile hard-hit rate), and walking a decent bit (10.4%; 16th percentile). It appeared that these cons to his game were catching up to him as regression was hitting prior to injury.

His 4.66 xERA and 4.04 FIP both indicated that the 3.77 ERA was deceiving. There was a real chance, if he remained healthy Canning’s numbers were slowly going to revert back closer to the aforementioned 4.65 career mark.

Contract

As mentioned, Canning only made $4.25 million prior to 2025. The ruptured Achilles in June means Canning can miss a portion of 2026 as well. Given this, any deal for the 29-year-old would almost certainly be a “prove-it” deal with potentially some type of team option in the second year. Bottom line, it would not cost much of anything to bring Canning in and give him a shot to seize a rotation rule when he is fully healthy sometime early on in 2026.

Recommendation: Stay Away

The looming regression that Canning seemingly had on the horizon before his injury in 2025 is concerning. You add this with a major injury and the chances he is able to merge into a legit rotation arm seems low. Not to mention, Canning’s overall career sample does leave a lot to be desired. The Mets would be much better served to look elsewhere in assembling their rotation.

Canning would not be awful as a No. 7 or 8 type option to have once the season starts and he is fully healthy. However, again, nothing is a given with how he will performance post-injury. For this reason, a reunion would not make much sense.

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What Are The Contract Projections Saying For Alonso, Díaz

James Villani — Sun, 09 Nov 2025 14:30:00 +0000

By far the two biggest names the New York Mets are seeing go to market from last year’s team are Pete Alonso and Edwin Díaz. Both Alonso and Díaz expectedly declined their options officially on Tuesday. As a result, each become free agents as of November 6. With that in mind, what are some of the early predictors on what a new contract may look like for each?

Pete Alonso

Alonso is coming off a two-year deal worth $54 million. He opted out of the second year of that deal after a massive 2025 season. Alonso will likely look for a more secure long-term deal this offseason.

Here are what some projections currently say:

MLB Trade Rumors: Four years, $110 million ($27.5 million AAV)
ESPN: Four years, $110 million ($27.5 million AAV)
Sportrac: Five years, $147,156,715 ($29,431,343 AAV)
Baseball America: Seven years, $175 million ($25 million AAV)
Athletic: Five years, $140 million ($28 million AAV)
Bleacher Report: Seven years, $210 million ($30 million AAV)

Edwin Díaz

Díaz signed a five-year, $102 million deal back in 2022. After missing a season due to a knee injury, he was superb, returning to the form of one of the best closers in baseball. Like Alonso, Díaz is hoping to cash in on a more secure deal.

Here are what some projections currently say:

MLB Trade Rumors: Four years, $82 million ($20.5 million)
ESPN: Four years, $60 million ($15 million AAV)
Sportrac: Four years, $73,352,620 ($18,338,155 annually)
Baseball America: Six years, $125 million ($20.83 million AAV)
Athletic: Four years, $84 million ($21 million AAV)
Bleacher Report: Four years, $88 million ($22 million AAV)

Takeaways

Rightfully, both Alonso and Díaz are due for longer deals with high annual average values. If you pull together the four projections above, it averages out roughly to the below projections for each player:

Alonso: Five years, $140 million ($28 million AAV)
Díaz: Four years, $80 million ($20 million AAV)

Alonso’s projections have him at an annual figure around where he signed for previously, despite having a much better season. However, it would give the 30-year-old first baseman some much deserved security as he ages into his 30s.

As for Díaz, his new deal will likely come in somewhere similarly to the original one he signed in 2022. It should forecast a slight increase annually over what he had remaining, plus add some additional years of security.

These two players, and what the outcome are with them, will have a huge impact on how the Mets approach the remainder of the offseason. The last time they signed their respective deals, Díaz got his done before free agency in 2022 while Alonso waited throughout the offseason to finally come to terms with New York last season. It will surely be an interesting offseason, to say the least.

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Three Potential External First Base Free Agent Options If Alonso Leaves

James Villani — Sun, 02 Nov 2025 18:00:41 +0000

Arguably the most important part of the 2025 offseason for the New York Mets is what happens with slugger Pete Alonso. Alonso has a player option for 2026 that he already confirmed he would, unsurprisingly, exercise the right to opt-out of.

Of course, this does not mean Alonso won’t re-sign with the Mets, and that should be New York’s priority as the external options will not bring anywhere near the offensive production the career-long Met has brought. However, if he does move on, the below are three options, all of which will be cheaper than Alonso, that are currently set to hit the open market come free agency.

Note, this list only includes players who were in Major League Baseball last year.

Josh Naylor

The left-handed Canadian has made his rounds through his first seven years in the major leagues. Josh Naylor has played for four different teams and three different clubs over the last two seasons. He had a breakout in 2023 where he posted a career-best .308 average and 130 OPS+ across 452 at-bats. Then, the following year, he had a massive 31-homer season to go along with 108 RBIs. Lastly, in 2025 he hit 20 homers, drove in 92 runs, and posted the second-highest OPS of his career at .831. Over the last three seasons, Naylor has been one of the more prolific offensive first baseman in the league.

One of the more notable develops for Naylor has been his ability to hit left-handed pitching better. One of the reasons he was limited to 452 at-bats in his career-year in 2023 was due to his struggles against lefties. In 2025 he had a .759 OPS which is much higher than the career .694 OPS. His OPS against lefties in 2024 was also improved; above the .700 mark and well above his career average.

Defensively, he would be an upgrade over Alonso. Outside of a poor defensive 2024 (negative-six defensive runs saved), he has a positive defensive runs saved every other season put 2025 (negative-one). As far as outs above average goes, he has posted a positive figure every year in the league. This includes 2025 where his plus-two rating ranked in the league’s 80th percentile.

Contract-wise, he is one of the more expensive replacements for Alonso, but would still save the Mets some money. Sportstrac projects a three-year deal worth $15.1 million annually. This would come in at sixth among first baseman. Meanwhile, the Athletic projects a four-year deal worth $90 million.

Regardless of the notable different in projections, Naylor’s most likely outcome would still come below whatever Alonso’s new deal; in both average annual value and length. Not to mention, Naylor would be an upgrade defensively and is a couple years younger than Alonso.

Ryan O’Hearn. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

Ryan O’Hearn

The 32-year-old Ryan O’Hearn reinitialized his career after leaving Kansas City. Since joining Baltimore in 2023, O’Hearn posted OPS seasons of .801, .761, and .803, respectively, over the last three seasons.

His best year was this past season, splitting time between the Orioles and San Diego Padres, where he slashed .281/.366/.437 with 17 homers and 63 RBIs. The underlying metrics in 2024 and 2025 tell a very similar story; O’Hearn walks at an above-average, doesn’t swing-and-miss a ton, and makes strong contact. All has contributed to a huge turnaround for a player that posted a negative wins above replacement in in four of his five seasons with Kansas City.

One of the issues with O’Hearn is his issues against left-handed pitching. He has only had between 340 and 475 at-bats the last three seasons due in large part to his inability to hit lefties. His career OPS against southpaws is .642, and in 2024 was barely above the .600 mark. However, an extremely interesting development that happened in 2025, and the reason why he set a career-high in at-bats, is he posted a career-best .832 OPS against lefties which was even higher than the .795 mark he had against right-handed pitchers.

Given the larger sample size, one would assume that success is not sustainable, but, you never know. Given that, if you bring O’Hearn in, it would probably be wise to house an option that can play first base and play against lefties if O’Hearn results to his previous left-handed hitting self.

Defensively, O’Hearns plus-five outs above average in 2025 was in the league’s 89th percentile. Over the last five seasons his fielding run value has been negative only once. So he would be an upgrade defensively over Alonso.

As far as what a deal may look like, O’Hearn would bring vast savings compared to Alonso. The Athletic projects a two-year, $24 million deal ($12 million annually) while Sportstrac only projects a two-year deal worth $11.5 million annually. This would also allow you to sign some left-handed pitching insurance to platoon with O’Hearn if needs be and still save money compared to if Alonso was re-signed.

Ty France

By far the least tantalizing player on this list is 31-year-old Ty France. However, France turned in a Gold Glove caliber season out of nowhere in 2025. Something that will certainly appeal to president of baseball operations David Stearns. France posted a monster plus-nine defensive runs saved and plus-10 outs above average at first base between two teams. These two numbers rivaled only Matt Olson as the best among first baseman this season. As a result, he was nominated for the Gold Glove award in the American League.

Offensively, since a run from 2020 through 2022, it has been a struggle and the reason why he has bounced around between several teams. Since 2024, France has played for Seattle, Cincinnati, Minnesota, and Toronto. The highest OPS he has had since his All-Star 2022 season was a .703 mark in 2023. In 2025, despite the strong defensive year, he still had a sub-.700 OPS at .681 to go along with only seven home runs across 444 at-bats.

Some of the encouraging aspects of France’s game is his ability to hit both left-handed and right-handed pitching pretty evenly. He has a career .731 OPS against righties and a .743 OPS against lefties. Additionally, his offensive analytics in 2025 were as strong as they’ve been in a while.

Both his wxOBA and xBA were above the 59th percentile. Additionally, his whiff and stakeout rates were above the 70th percentile. If the offensive numbers can slightly regress closer to these expected figures, while keeping up the elite defense, he can be a valuable piece in 2025.

France being included on this list is almost solely due to his defensive season. That will likely steer Stearns and his staff toward him if Alonso were to depart. Relying solely on France at first would be a risky endeavor, so some insurance would also likely have to be signed. However, bringing in France would cost next to nothing contract-wise.

Final Thoughts

As mentioned above, the main priority for the Mets should be to re-sign Alonso. There is no one on the open free agent market that comes close to his abilities. However, age, plus his defensive abilities will rightfully result in New York being careful to not break the bank in re-signing the organization’s all-time home run leader. If a deal is not reached, the above three are just a few names the team may consider that would provide a financial relief from re-signing Alonso and give them an ability to pour assets into the starting rotation, which desperately needs help.

Of course, there is also the trade market. As well as some foreign free agents from the NPB who can also be considered. Regardless, first base will be an extremely interesting position to watch for the Mets throughout the offseason.

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Key 2025-2026 Offseason Dates

Patrick Glynn — Sun, 02 Nov 2025 14:00:44 +0000

Though most of the league has started its offseason already, teams can’t really start making any roster moves until the World Series is over. With the Dodgers beating the Blue Jays in Game 7 Saturday, the Fall Classic has officially concluded, bringing us to the brink of the offseason.

The Mets will have plenty to make and have spent the playoffs so far shedding most of their coaching staff and starting to replace that said staff.

Here are the key dates for the Mets for the rest of the offseason.

Pete Alonso. (Roberto Carlo)

The Day After The World Series

Eligible free agents are able to officially become free agents with the conclusion of the World Series. The following Mets will become free agents:

Five Days After the World Series

Five days after the World Series, contract options must be picked up or declined. Additionally, players on the market can officially start signing with new teams.

The following players have options in their contracts:

Edwin Díaz (player, two years and $37 million)
Pete Alonso (player, $24 million)
Frankie Montas (player, $17 million)
A.J. Minter (player, $11 million)
Drew Smith (team, $2 million)

Alonso and Díaz will certainly decline their options and become free agents. Montas will miss all of 2026 and pick up his, and Minter, coming off a season-ending injury, will likely pick up his. Drew Smith, given his rehab from UCL internal brace surgery, is more of a question mark, but we can assume the Mets will pick up the cheap option.

Of all their free agents, the Mets must decide who they’ll extend a qualifying offer to (among eligible players). Díaz is the only eligible one who will likely get extended the qualifying offer (QO).

November Meetings

The annual general managers meeting is November 10 through 13, and the owners’ meeting is November 18 through 20.

Qualifying Offers and Rule 5 Deadline

Players must accept or decline their qualifying offer by November 18, 2025. Additionally, teams also must add any Rule 5 eligible players to their 40-man roster by November 18 to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft in December.

Tender Deadline

Teams must tender arbitration-eligible players a contract by November 21, 2025. The Mets have nine arbitration-eligible players, such as Francisco Alvarez and David Peterson. Players like Tylor Megill, Nick Madrigal, and Max Kranick could be non-tendered.

Francisco Alvarez. (David Banks-Imagn Images)

Winter Meetings & Rule 5 Draft

The 2025 Winter Meetings will take place from December 8 through 11.

There, the MLB lottery takes place on December 9. The Mets have a 0.67% chance at the top pick, and if they somehow end up with a top-six pick, they’ll get to stay where they are. If they land outside the top-six, their first-round pick will move down 10 spots for exceeding the second competitive balance tax threshold again.

The Rule 5 Draft occurs on December 10.

Other Offseason Dates

Sometime in January 2026, the 2026 Hall of Fame Class is announced. David Wright will be on the ballot for the third year. Meanwhile, SNY announcer Gary Cohen is a finalist for the Ford Frick Award.
On January 15, 2026, the international free agent signing period starts.
Also, at some point in January, teams and arbitration-eligible players must agree on a contract or head to arbitration hearings a month later.

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Free Agent Profile: Jalen Beeks, RP

James Villani — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 19:30:41 +0000

Jalen Beeks

Position: RP B/T: L/L
Age: 32 (07/10/1993)

2025 Traditional Stats: 61 G, 57.1 IP, 3.77 ERA, 1.081 WHIP, 47 SO, 20 BB
2025 Advanced Stats: 115 ERA+, 20.3 K%, 8.7 BB%, 3.87 xERA, 4.01 FIP, 4.29 xFIP, 0.2 fWAR, 0.9 bWAR

Rundown

Jalen Beeks is once again on the open market. He signed a late deal in March with the Arizona Diamondbacks and turned in the best season of his career since 2022.

In 2025, the left-handed reliever appeared in 61 games throwing 57 1/3 innings with a 3.77 ERA. He once again relied on inducing soft contact (69th percentile average exit velocity) on the ground (72nd percentile ground-ball rate). In doing so, he was able to work around a subpar strikeout rate (32nd percentile) and some walk issues (38th percentile).

Beeks’ most important asset, being a left-handed pitcher, is getting the opposing lefties out. Last season, lefties slashed .218/.266/.345 (.611 OPS) against Beeks. For his career, lefties own a .697 OPS against him. This is important given how many touch lefties the Mets face in the National League East and the National League as a whole.

The seven-year veteran relies on a three-pitch mix. He throws his four-seam fastball the most, around 53% of the time over the last two seasons. That pitch usually sits in the 94-95 mph range. He also relies on a changeup and cutter. Last season, the changeup was an elite pitch for him, as the opposition only hit .067 against it. The 11 pitching run value the pitch carried last season ranked fourth among 309 qualified pitchers.

Across his seven-year career with five teams, Beeks has a career 4.31 ERA. However, he has a xERA below 3.85 in each of his last four seasons. Since 2022, as he missed all of 2021 (Tommy John surgery), he has thrown at least 42 1/3 innings in each as a reliever.

Contract

As mentioned, Beeks scored a one-year deal very late last offseason. The Diamondbacks only gave the veteran $1.25 million and he provided terrific value on that said deal. Despite turning in a decent season, any pay increase Beeks gets this offseason likely won’t be too much. A one or two-year deal worth around $5 million annually would likely get it done.

Recommendation

As it stands, the Mets only have one reliable left-handed reliever in their bullpen on their projected roster for next season (Brooks Raley). A.J. Minter, who is coming off season-ending lat surgery, has a player option as well. However, there is no guarantee he will return to his pre-surgery self nor that he’ll be 100% ready to go by the beginning of the season. The original timetable given was 10-to-12 months. The surgery was completed in May.

With that being said, the Mets should certainly add another left-handed reliever sometime in the offseason. Beeks would be a perfect low-priced investment that should bring back a great return. The Mets will surely want to allocate a majority of their funds toward starting pitching, a move like Beeks would help save funds elsewhere while filling a big need.

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2025 Report Card: Pete Alonso, 1B

Evan Mazza — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 13:30:51 +0000

Pete Alonso

Player Data: 30 (12/7/1994) B/T: R/R

Primary Stats: .272/.347/.524/.871, 38 HR, 126 RBI, 87 R, 170 H, 42 2B, 1 3B, 1 SB, 61 BB, 162 SO, 709 PA, 162 G

Advanced Stats: 144 OPS+, 132 wRC+. 22.8& K%, 8.6% BB%, .305 BABIP, .368 xwOBA, 3.6 fWAR,

Grade: A

2025 Review

While he hit one of the most memorable home runs in New York Mets history last year in the playoffs, Pete Alonso entered 2025 with a lot of questions. 2024 was a down year for Alonso. He only drove in 88 RBIs and hit .240 with a .788 OPS. The offseason for Alonso saw him re-sign with the Mets with an opt-out after 2025. He bet on himself again, and this time, it paid off with what might’ve been his finest season as a Met at the plate. It also might get him the contract he wants this offseason.

In a year where the Mets struggled with runners in scoring position, it was Alonso who always seemed to come through from April all the way to September in terms of driving in runs. Whenever the Mets needed a big hit in 2025, Alonso was there. Alonso notched 126 RBI in 2025, which was second in all of baseball, only behind Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies. He once again got over 30 home runs (38). In every full 162-game season, Alonso has notched well over 30 home runs. He was third in baseball in doubles (41), fifth in extra-base hits (80), and seventh in the National League in hits (170).

Overall, Alonso batted a career-high .272, a vast improvement over the .240 and .217 marks of the previous two seasons. He had a .347 OBP, .524 slugging percentage, a 3.7 fWAR while playing all 162 games. He also seemed to benefit a lot from hitting behind Juan Soto. Thanks to Soto’s propensity for getting on base, Alonso used it to drive in runs. Even still, in a lineup that featured Soto, Francisco Lindor, and Brandon Nimmo, Alonso was the big standout.

Defensively, it was another mixed bag season for Alonso. He graded at a fielding run value (FRV) of negative-8 and a negative-9 outs above average (OAA). For every nice scoop and dive plays that Alonso did make on defense, there was the errors and bad throws. Such examples were his throwing error to home plate at Yankee Stadium and his bad lob to pitcher Kodai Senga where Senga had to leap up to catch the ball and then landed badly. Hurting his hamstring in the process. Alonso works hard to try and get better as a defensive first baseman. However, at soon to be 31-years old and with free agency, it’s fair to wonder if the next team who signs him prefers him as a designated hitter in the future.

2026 Overview

Alonso played on his two-year deal with an opt out in 2025, and he will exercise that opt-out this offseason. Whether the Mets can sign him back like last offseason is anyone’s guess. Alonso’s market may be the most polarizing in baseball. The market for first baseman is tougher than it was years ago when Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder got contracts. Unless it’s Freddie Freeman, teams won’t overpay at the position.

President of baseball operations David Stearns and owner Steve Cohen might play the same card they did last offseason with Alonso. However, will his market be better this time now that he’s coming off a much better season than in 2024? If it is, will the Mets pay up for a player who has been with the franchise his whole career. Only Alonso knows what his future holds in 2026 and beyond. Whether it’s in a Mets uniform or not is anyone’s guess.

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An Early Look At Key Free Agents Around The League

James Villani — Sun, 05 Oct 2025 16:00:16 +0000

Playoff baseball is well underway. However, before you know it the offseason will be here. Free agency in Major League Baseball is slated to kick off five days after the conclusion of the 2025 World Series. Let’s get an early look at what are some names at each position slated to be on the open market.

Note, the “*” symbol below denotes that said player has some type of option or opt-out clause that can allow them to be a free agent.