Every season teams look for “buy-low” targets to add to their team. Sometimes they are looking for an established player coming off a down year or two primed for a bounce back like Ty France with the Padres, other times teams have planned changes like the Brewers with Jake Bauers, and other times teams look for former MLB players playing abroad as Stearns has done with Eric Thames and Jared Young.

What players on the current Mets 40-man roster would be viewed as buy low Mets targets if they were not already on the roster?

Jorge Polanco

Jorge Polanco had a truly dreadful and injury plagued 2026 season. It is hard to imagine a worse first season on a two-year contract. He is also a career .259/.326/.435/.761 hitter one year removed from a .821 OPS season. It is always possible with surgery a player will not bounce back, but at 33 if he were a free agent he would be on team shortlists as a clear bounce back candidate. Now, he would not get $20 million for that deal, but the expectation would be that gamble could lead to more than $20 million in production. Time will tell how he returns from surgery, but anywhere from a .740 to a .780 OPS is likely where pre-season projections will place Polanco.

Tobias Myers

Before coming to the Mets Tobias Myers had pitched to a 3.15 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. He did not have a regular role with the Mets continually getting stretched out, put back in single inning relief, sent to the minors, and then getting called back up without any level of consistency. When he was sent down to Triple-A in July Myers had a 6.26 ERA and 1.39 WHIP. Once sent down he started getting regular playing time in a straightforward role and across the remainder of the season pitched 35.1 innings to a 3.57 ERA between Triple-A and the majors. On top of that he got his fastball back up to 92 miles per hour, even touching 96 miles per hour at times. With elite movement at 20 iVB that fastball is a true weapon when he locates it up in the zone and he is able to utilize his 80 miles per hour splitter to generate whiff down in the zone. In September he ran a 33.8% whiff rate and 34.8% chase rate. He should probably have an opportunity to win a rotation spot out of spring training and at the least he should get regular playing time in the bullpen.

Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images

Devin Williams

Devin Williams did not end with a pretty ERA at 4.43, and most of his earned runs came in the first few weeks of his season when he had troubles with his delivery. The Mets coaching staff identified the issues and after he cleaned up his delivery across the rest of the season he put up a 3.21 ERA and 1.31 WHIP with 14 saves in 16 opportunities. Ideally, this carries over to 2027 and he looks like that across a full season. This also came off a 2.89 FIP with a 33.9% whiff rate and 39.8% chase rate so there are reasons to be optimistic he could be even better than a 3.21 ERA reliever.

Francisco Alvarez

The Mets would be unlikely to ever offer Francisco Alvarez at a discount due to his age and upside at a position that is typically very weak, but he is exactly the type of player teams look to buy-low on. His defense took a step back following both knee surgery and hamate surgery and his 99 WRC+ was his worst offensive season since his rookie year. He also showed big improvements defensively as the season went on and getting further removed from surgery it would not be surprising at all if he bounced back defensively. Offensively, while he struggled to make consistent contact in the zone, his 108 miles per hour exit velocity was in the 92nd percentile, his 14.6% barrel rate was in the 96th percentile and he ran an above average walk rate.

Brett Baty

Brett Baty has turned into the super utility player most Mets fans have asked for each year if he can keep his swing consistent for a full season. He can play across the infield with outfield flex and looks like a decent defender overall. Offensively, there is a lot to like when he is prioritizing doing damage over contact instead of the other way around. That change led to an .853 OPS in the second half, good for a 135 WRC+. Over the last two seasons Baty has been a .246/.312/.403/.715 hitter which is a 101 WRC+. If he can be that across a full season that is roughly a 2.5 WAR player. Baty likely should face mostly right-handed pitching and be used in a utility player role, but he is the exact type of player teams look to add on inexpensive deals to fill out their bench.

Jared Young

Jared Young completed his first full season in the majors in 2026 taking a big step forward putting up a .769 OPS and 111 WRC+. He also might be primed to take another step forward as he has a lot in his profile to work with and build off of. He ran just a .429 SLG with nine home runs despite good exit velocities, and he showed even more power across the 2025 season between the majors and Triple-A. It is possible he could be an intent change away from being a 20-25 home run bat or better. He is still in pre-arbitration and is exactly the type of low cost infielder with outfield flex teams look for when hoping for a breakout.

Conclusion

Each of these players could be viewed as strong bounce back candidates whether for the Mets, or potentially a new team should another organization view them highly. If they were free agents or in another organization, they would likely be towards the top of any buy-low list the Mets would be utilizing in their player acquisition. The benefit for the Mets is that all of these players are already on the 40-man roster.