The Mets have eight players eligible for salary arbitration this offseason, which is five fewer than they had last offseason — when Pete Alonso was due for a large raise in his final year before free agency.
The eight players eligible this offseason are David Peterson, Paul Blackburn, Tyrone Taylor, Tylor Megill, DJ Stewart, Alex Young, Luis Torrens, and Sean Reid-Foley.
Technically, Brooks Raley is also eligible. However, he recently underwent Tommy John surgery and will not be offered arbitration.
Joey Lucchesi is also on the 40-man roster and is technically eligible, but it’s impossible to see the Mets offering him arbitration following a season where they repeatedly passed him over when there were rotation openings.
Once a player is offered arbitration, the team and that player’s agent have until a set date — usually at some point in February — to come to terms on a new contract. If that doesn’t happen, both sides submit salary proposals and the player’s salary is determined by independent arbitrators at a hearing.
A team can also offer arbitration to a player and then trade that player. So the Mets can tender contracts to players who might not be in their plans.
According to the MLB Trade Rumors algorithm that “looks at the player’s playing time, position, role, and performance statistics while accounting for inflation,” here’s what the Mets’ arbitration-eligible players are projected to make in 2025…
David Peterson: $4.4 million
Paul Blackburn: $4.4 million
Tyrone Taylor: $2.9 million
Tylor Megill: $2.1 million
DJ Stewart: $1.7 million
Alex Young: $1.4 million
Luis Torrens: $1.1 million
Sean Reid-Foley: $900,000
If the Mets tender contracts to all of the above players and they receive salaries similar to the projections, it would add roughly $19 million to the payroll.
However, it’s hard to see the Mets offering arbitration to Stewart, Young, and possibly Reid-Foley — whose health is in question after an injury-ravaged end to the season.
As things currently stand, the Mets have approximately $150 million committed to the payroll for 2025 — a figure that will likely rise to around $170 million once arbitration raises and money owed to zero-to-three players who are tendered contracts is added in.
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