The New York Mets are heading into the offseason after losing the World Series and heading into 2016, Sandy Alderson has the chance to continue building around the young core of pitchers for NY. Yoenis Cespedes, Daniel Murphy and Bartolo Colon are hitting free agency and if the team loses those players, names like Ian Desmond, Ben Zobrist and Darren O'Day couple be potential targets.
The Mets won 90 games last season and took the NL East division title and now the team is looking to try and get back to the playoffs again. The team has some issues to address this offseason and they have already taken care of one major thing, as the Mets announced that Terry Collins has signed a new contract. According to ESPN.com, Collins agreed to a two-year deal to stay with the Mets and it came as he finished out the last year of his contract in 2015.
Sandy Alderson and Collins spoke to the media on Wednesday and now the Mets move into the offseason with their manager secure. The Mets had put up losing records in each of the past six seasons before breaking through this year and now the team is hoping for a sustained run of success moving forward. The Mets have nine players hitting free agency and depending on who the team brings back, Alderson could dip into the market to bring in some new players to help fill holes for the Mets.
The top players hitting the market for the Mets include Daniel Murphy and Yoenis Cespedes and the way things stand now, it's very likely that those players will be leaving for other teams. The Mets also have Colon, Jerry Blevins, Tyler Clippard, Bobby Parnell, Kelly Johnson, Eric O'Flaherty and Juan Uribe hitting the market. According to Adam Rubin at ESPN New York, Alderson said that he is "open" to Colon coming back if the pitcher is okay with the role the team will use him in.
The Mets have Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz in the rotation and Colon likely would be a fifth starter/emergency option. The team also has Zack Wheeler coming back from Tommy John surgery and he is another player that can help in the starting rotation and could push Colon into a relief role if he returns. Rubin writes that the Mets are likely going to extend a qualifying offer to Murphy, which would give the team a draft pick if he signs elsewhere. Cespedes cannot receive a qualifying offer this year.
According to Jon Heyman at CBS Sports, the Mets are likely going to let Cespedes and Murphy walk due to money, although the payroll could rise a bit for the team to over $100 million. Heyman speculates that the Mets could look at Ben Zobrist or Ian Desmond as free agent options, as they have a major hole at shortstop that they could try to fill. The team also has needs in the bullpen and a pitcher like O'Day could be a fit for that role.