The New York Mets have completed one of the most embarrassing collapses in recent memory. By losing on the regular season's final day, the Mets miss out on the postseason entirely. The season began with World Series aspirations, and understandably so, after adding Juan Soto to a roster that just made an NLCS appearance, but a three-month collapse has the Mets sitting on their couches before the month of October begins.
They were 21 games over .500 in June, and finished the year with an 83-79 record, missing out on the postseason despite six National League teams making it in. From not hitting with runners in scoring position for much of the season to a slew of injuries to their entire starting rotation falling apart to one of the worst trade deadlines in Mets history, there are so many reasons to point to when explaining why New York collapsed.
Given how the season ended, changes will certainly be coming in the offseason. It's probably likely that one of Edwin Diaz or Pete Alonso, two stars with opt-outs in their deals, will leave in free agency, but the Mets should bring both of them back. The same cannot be said about these nine players.
Mets offseason preview after epic collapse
- Mets trade deadline additions are likely to depart
- Failed Mets free agency signings won't be back
- Mets have several trades to make this offseason
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Mets trade deadline additions are likely to depart
RHP Ryan Helsley
The Mets aggressively pursued rentals, thinking they had a great shot of winning this season, but that obviously was not the case. Ryan Helsley was the biggest of the rentals, and the biggest flop of the deadline in the majors.
By pairing him with Edwin Diaz, the Mets thought they had formed one of the best late-game bullpen duos in the majors. Diaz lived up to his end of the bargain, but Helsley posted a 7.20 ERA in 22 appearances with New York. What's even crazier is that he actually pitched better down the stretch, not allowing a single run in his final seven innings of work. He lowered his ERA from 11.08 to one above 7.00 by finishing strongly.
Perhaps Helsley has figured out whatever was troubling him and will have a huge 2026, but he'll have to prove that while wearing another uniform. It did not work out in Queens, and that's a very sad reality.
OF Cedric Mullins
The Mets entered the trade deadline with a gaping hole in center field, but there weren't many options available. The Mets acquired one of the few, Cedric Mullins, hoping he'd outperform the likes of Tyrone Taylor and Jeff McNeil, who is not even a center fielder, but he failed to do so in all facets of the game.
Mullins slashed .182/.281/.281 with two home runs and 10 RBI with the Mets, and even cost the team a game in the field. There was an incredibly low bar for Mullins to clear, and somehow, he didn't come close to reaching it.
The Mets have a top prospect, Carson Benge, nearing MLB-readiness, and even if they determine he isn't, just about anyone would be an upgrade over Mullins.
LHP Gregory Soto
One month after the trade deadline, Gregory Soto appeared to be an ideal fit in this Mets bullpen, as he allowed just two runs in 11 innings of work. In the month of September, though, Soto allowed 10 runs in 11.1 innings of work. Why he struggled to the extent he did down the stretch is unclear to me, but he simply did not get the job done. For that, his time with the Mets should come to an end.
Soto did admittedly run into quite a bit of bad luck, and actually displayed better control with the Mets than he had in several stops in his career, but the results matter, and Soto did not bring them. The Mets need to overhaul much of their bullpen and bring new faces into the mix. That starts with letting Soto go.
RHP Tyler Rogers
Tyler Rogers is yet another reliever whom the Mets brought in to solidify the back end of the bullpen, and to his credit, he was the best of all of the deadline pickups. Unfortunately, that isn't saying much.
Rogers had a 2.30 ERA in 28 games, but he also allowed 27 hits in 27.1 innings of work and struck out just 10 batters. Yes, he pitches to contact, but pitching to contact can backfire even if he doesn't give up many hard hits. We even saw this in Sunday's game.
Rogers has a lot of value as a guy who consistently pitches a ton and can generate weak contact, but his inability to miss bats is worrisome, and he's also 34 years old. It wouldn't be the worst idea in the world to bring him back, but I'd be surprised if he ended up back in Queens.
Failed Mets free agency signings won't be back
RHP Ryne Stanek
Ryne Stanek had his ups and downs after the Mets acquired him in 2024, but he was one of their many postseason heroes, pitching well enough to convince David Stearns to bring him back. Unfortunately, the right-hander posted a 5.30 ERA in 65 games and particularly struggled in high-leverage situations.
Leverage Situation | OPS |
|---|---|
High Leverage | .811 |
Medium Leverage | .521 |
Low Leverage | .751 |
Given how poorly this season went for Stanek, it's a no-brainer to let him walk as a free agent and sign elsewhere. He might bounce back - he has good stuff, and relievers can be extremely volatile. The Mets should not, and presumably will not, gamble on a better year from Stanek in orange and blue.
DH/OF Jesse Winker
Jesse Winker is another guy the Mets acquired last season who didn't exactly impress down the stretch, but excelled in October. He quickly became a fan favorite and was re-signed on a one-year deal to be the team's primary DH against right-handed pitching. Unfortunately, he had a .709 OPS this season and was limited to just 26 games all year due to injury.
Winker is an excellent clubhouse leader and clearly has a knack for coming through in a big moment, but given the injury concerns and how his season went when he was on the field, I'd be surprised if he was brought back.
Letting him go would free up more DH at-bats for either better options or even a guy like Juan Soto, who probably shouldn't be in the field 150+ times annually.
RHP Griffin Canning
Labeling Griffin Canning as a failed free agency signing might not be fair because he exceeded expectations. The right-hander had a 3.77 ERA in 16 starts, and the Mets went 12-4 when he pitched. Considering the fact that he signed a one-year, $4.25 million deal, the signing truly was a good one. The fact that he was limited to just 16 starts, though, after suffering an Achilles tear, is why he's on this list.
Perhaps things would've gone differently had Canning, a usable starter, been able to stay healthy, but he did not, and the Mets probably shouldn't consider bringing him back.
I have no idea how well Canning will pitch coming off an Achilles tear, and there's a chance the Mets will regret letting him go, but they cannot afford to take more risks in this rotation. The Mets need more certainty than what Canning can provide, and that's just the unfortunate reality.
Mets have several trades to make this offseason
3B Mark Vientos
Mark Vientos looked like the third baseman of the future for the Mets following a breakout 2024 campaign and an even better postseason, but he came crashing down to earth in a big way in 2025. I didn't necessarily expect him to repeat what he was able to accomplish in 2024, and I've always had questions about his defense, but he regressed heavily on both sides of the ball.
Vientos slashed .232/.285/.412 with 17 home runs and 61 RBI in 120 games. He had an outstanding month of August, which helped boost his overall numbers, but he ended his season just about as slowly as he began it. That, while he ranked in the sixth percentile in OAA, according to Baseball Savant, is just not good enough. His -0.2 bWAR just about sums it up.
The Mets floated the idea of trading Vientos around at the trade deadline, and they should strongly consider doing so in the offseason. Vientos' defense makes him unplayable at third base, I'm not convinced he'd be a good enough first baseman if Alonso were to depart, and his bat is too inconsistent to commit to giving him regular DH at-bats.
His market wouldn't be all that great, but the Mets should be able to get someone who can help in some way in 2026 more than Vientos can.
LHP David Peterson
David Peterson had a sub-3.00 ERA in 2024 and came up huge in that year's postseason. He continued his breakout by making it to the All-Star team in 2025. For the first four months of the season, he was the team's only pitcher who could make it past the fifth inning on any sort of consistent basis.
Unfortunately, Peterson had to endure the worst stretch of his career over the final two months of the season as he posted a 7.74 ERA in his last 10 starts. There were reasons to believe Peterson wasn't quite as good as he was in he first half, but going from elite to unusable in an eye blink is really hard to explain.
The Mets must add to their rotation for 2026 to be a better year. Nolan McLean and Clay Holmes should be locks. Youngsters Brandon Sproat and Jonah Tong should factor in at some point, and veterans Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea likely aren't going anywhere because of how poorly they performed and because of their contracts. The Mets have options, but not many great ones. Letting Peterson go and replacing him with a great arm would go
Given how poorly Peterson finished his season and that 2026 is his final year of club control, the Mets should float him on the block and see what kind of offers they can get. They won't be overwhelming, but there certainly will be a team out there willing to take a chance on him considering how well he pitched for a year and a half before his second-half implosion.