Prioritizing Alonso is costly: 3 New York Mets free agents that won't be back in 2025 and why

The New York Mets have 13 players set to enter free agency this Winter. Their big free agent is Pete Alonso, who is going to be one of the biggest priorities for the front office over the next few months.

Alongside Alonso, the Mets are heavily rumored to be aggressively pursuing superstar outfielder Juan Soto, who could get a contract worth north of $550 million. With the Mets pursuing both Alonso and Soto, their offseason could become very expensive, very quickly, if they are successful in acquiring one or both of these two stars.

With them looking to throw so much money at the big names, they won't have as much money for the middle players on their roster. Out of their 13 upcoming free agents, there are multiple names that stand out as players that won't be brought back in 2025.

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3. RHP Ryne Stanek

Right handed reliever, Ryne Stanek, is set to become a free agent this offseason. Unfortunately for him, that likely means his time with the Mets will end when the Mets' season ends.

Stanek wasn't great during the regular season, especially after he landed with the Mets. During his time with New York, Stanek posted a 6.06 in 16.1 innings. He wasn't great with the Mariners either. In fact, Stanek hasn't put up a sub-4.00 ERA seasons since 2022 with the Astros.

He did crack New York's postseason roster and he has thrown well in a limited sample size this October. Across 4.1 innings, he's allowed just one earned run on two hits. Not a huge sample size, but he's been effective when his number is called.

But, as he heads to unrestricted free agency, he won't be at the top of the Mets list of priorities to bring back. That's going to become a theme on this list of players. The reality of the situation is the Mets are going to be paying a ton of money to a few top free agents. Another team will prioritize a guy like Stanek in free agency, while the Mets will look for the best budget options for their team when it comes to building the middle of their bullpen.

2. OF Jesse Winker

Jesse Winker has completely played himself out of his current market value. He's only making $2 million on the year, being paid by both the Nationals and the Mets, but he's played more like a $10 million or $15 million player.

On the year, he slashed .253/.360/.405 between his time with the Nationals and the Mets. During the postseason, he's been a net-positive player for the Mets as well. He has a few extra base hits and he's gotten on base better than his batting average would indicate thanks to a few walks that he's drawn.

Winker has brought the energy and passion to the Mets, sparking them all throughout his time with the team. He's likely going to get paid this offseason because of how well he's performed this year, but the Mets have bigger fish to fry than trying to bring back a platoon outfielder.

For the Mets, they need to prioritize their starting rotation and the big two free agents that they're looking to acquire, Pete Alonso and Juan Soto. Adding to the pitching rotation will be expensive too.

Money typically isn't a problem for the Mets and Steve Cohen, but with him looking to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at the top free agents in the class, there won't be as much money to go around for a guy like Winker. Winker will likely end up signing a one or two year deal worth $15 million to $25 million.

1. LHP Sean Manaea

Sean Manaea has a player option worth $13.5 million for 2025 with the Mets. Before the season, if you would have polled the executives around the game, I'd bet that many would have expected Manaea to be opting into this option at the end of the year. But Manaea has played well above his pay for the 2024 season. He's signed to agent Scott Boras, who's notorious for getting as much money as possible for his clients. With Boras as his agent and such a successful season, I would full expect Manaea to decline his option and hit the open market.

On the year, Manaea posted a career best in innings pitched (181.2), ERA (3.47), H/9 (6.6) and HR/9 (1.0). He was truly a different pitcher than he's been in the past and the southpaw has carried that over to the postseason for the Mets.

After being horrific in his first 7.2 postseason innings with the Athletics and Padres, Manaea has given the Mets starts of five innings of two run baseball and seven innings of one run baseball.

With such a successful season, Manaea has likely played himself right out of the Big Apple. Boras won't be interested in giving out any discounts to stay with the Mets, so with New York pursuing Alonso and Soto among others, I would imagine Manaea will be in a new uniform in 2025.