The Mets surprised some, including myself, yesterday as they non-tendered a total of five players:
- Scott Atchison
- Omar Quintanilla
- Jordany Valdespin
- Jeremy Hefner
- Justin Turner
The first two names were not surprising, the third was borderline not surprising. The final two were. I’m not a Justin Turner fan, although he seems to perform well in the utility role. His non-tender was surprising because I thought the Mets really like him, maybe they bring him back on a smaller contract.
Jeremy Hefner was also surprising because he is still under team control in 2015. Even though he can’t contribute next year, the price of pitching right now is so high, I felt the Mets would try to hold onto as many as they could.
Other teams let go of players that may make sense for the bargain hunting Mets:
- JP Arencibia: The Mets have been linked to JP a lot over the last couple of seasons starting with the Dickey trade. He projects to be a back up catcher with some pop, and would be an improvement over Anthony Recker right now
- Chris Coghlan: Has not done much since his rookie season but may be a very cheap addition to add some outfield depth to a team that lacks it
- Sandy Rosario: Successful season last year, could make a good addition to the bullpen
- Tommy Hanson: Struggled last season, still has a career 3.80 ERA
- John Axford
- Andrew Bailey
If the Mets make a few major moves, one or two of the players above in addition could make a very different looking team.
