Today is the deadline to tender a contract to arbitration eligible players, of which the Mets have ten: Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Lucas Duda, Rene Rivera, Addison Reed, Jeurys Familia, Josh Edgin, Travis d’Arnaud, and Wilmer Flores. Most of those players make the decision to retain them a no-brainer, however two might be in danger of being non-tendered and become free agents.
Lefty reliever Josh Edgin, 29, is projected to make $800k next season through arbitration. Before appearing in 16 games in 2016, he had been working his way back from Tommy John surgery. When he last pitched in 2014, he was very effective, posting a 1.32 ERA in 27.1 innings with 28 strikeouts.
In 2016, he pitched 10.1 innings, striking out 11 and recording a 5.23 ERA. He has good stuff, and with time he could return to his 2014 form, but some pitchers have a hard time coming back from Tommy John surgery. It seems like $800k is good a low risk bet on him pitching well, especially with the only other Mets lefty being Josh Smoker. I don’t expect the Mets to non-tender Edgin tomorrow, but he is certainly on the bubble.
The player in the most danger of being non-tendered is veteran catcher Rene Rivera. Rivera, 33, ended up being an integral part of the Mets 2016 run to the playoffs. As Noah Syndergaard‘s personal catcher, Rivera provided a level of defense and leadership that Travis d’Arnaud could not.
Despite his value in those departments, Rivera was not much of an offensive threat as he slashed 222/.291/.341 with six home runs and 26 RBIs. The question the Mets face is this: Is he worth the $2.2 million he is projected to make in 2016?
The Mets have Travis d’Arnaud in whom Sandy Alderson has publicly said he puts his trust going to this season. The Mets also have young Kevin Plawecki who, despite his lack of production so far, has always shown a lot of potential behind the dish. They could have Plawecki back up d’Arnaud in the Majors, or start him in AAA where he can get consistent at bats and have Rivera return to back up d’Arnaud.
While d’Arnaud’s throwing got better towards the end of the season, it is certainly not close to where it needs to be. Unless he hits well enough to offset his lack of defensive production, it would be good to have Rivera available.
