The early days of the 2025-26 offseason haven’t brought much quiet to Queens. The New York Mets have already started reshaping the edges of their roster, and the mood around the organization feels like a mix of urgency and realism. On Tuesday, they cut ties with the injured Frankie Montas and protected outfield prospect Nick Morabito by adding him to the 40-man roster. Those are small but telling hints of a front office preparing for a winter full of uncomfortable choices.
A Crucial Deadline Arrives
The next wave of decisions will come fast. Friday marks the deadline for clubs to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players, a bit of annual business that sounds mundane but often dictates the direction a team takes into the offseason. When a club decides to non-tender a player, it’s essentially choosing not to offer a contract for the coming year, pushing that player into the free agent pool.
For a team like the Mets, who finished an underwhelming 83-79 despite having the talent to make noise in the National League, these moves matter. Arbitration is one of the few areas where financial cost and roster strategy intersect directly. By rule, every player on the 40-man roster with fewer than six years of service time must either be tendered a contract or cut loose, and those choices end up shaping everything that follows.
Most of New York’s arbitration class looks straightforward. David Peterson, Tyrone Taylor, Francisco Alvarez, Luis Torrens, Huascar Brazoban, and Reed Garrett are all safe bets to receive offers. Some are core pieces, others provide depth or upside, but none fall into the gray area that forces tough conversations in front offices. Surprises might still happen, of course, but they are likely to be kept.
Two Clear Non-Tender Candidates
The Mets did have one potential bubble player in infielder Nick Madrigal, but that situation resolved itself when he elected free agency instead of accepting an outright assignment. That move leaves two pitchers standing out as clear non-tender candidates: Max Kranick, projected at roughly $1 million, and Tylor Megill, projected at $2.6 million.
Kranick’s story is a medical roller coaster that landed in a strangely positive place. He underwent flexor tendon repair surgery in early August, and while that procedure still comes with a long recovery, it’s a much better alternative than Tommy John surgery. He’s expected to miss most of 2026 but could return in the second half if everything breaks right. Even so, a club like the Mets has to decide whether occupying a 40-man spot for him fits their offseason plans.
Megill’s case is tougher. He did have Tommy John surgery at the end of September, which almost certainly wipes out his entire 2026 season. The Mets liked what he gave them this year, including his solid 3.95 ERA, and there’s a scenario where they pay him through rehab in hopes of a 2027 bounce-back. But in practice, it’s hard to justify that kind of commitment when the roster crunch is already here and pressure is mounting to improve the pitching staff.
A Winter Built on Difficult Choices
The Mets know they need more than minor tweaks to climb out of the middle of the pack. That reality makes decisions like these unavoidable. Paying pitchers to rehab isn’t out of the question, but the cost isn’t just financial; it’s positional. Every 40-man spot the Mets lock up now is one that can’t be used later when free agents become available or trades materialize.
Still, each choice sends a message about where the Mets believe they stand. They’ve already moved on from Montas. They’ve protected a young outfielder they believe has value. Now their next steps will reveal whether this front office prioritizes flexibility, loyalty, upside, or some blend of all three.
The offseason is only getting started, and the Mets have plenty of opportunities ahead. The question is which risks they’ll take, and which ones they’ll decide aren’t worth it.
