Mets Fireballer Reportedly Could Be Cut This Offseason After Inconsistent Season

What changes will be made this offseason with the New York Mets?

One of the biggest changes that could've been made with New York already has as the club hired former Milwaukee Brewers executive David Stearns to be the club's president of baseball operations. Stearns now will oversee the club into the future as the Mets look to get back to their winnings ways.

New York won 101 games in 2022 and followed it up with a clunker of a season in 2023 with just 75 wins. The Mets will be busy this offseason looking to add to the roster but also will make some subtractions. One player who surprisingly is a candidate to get non-tendered is relief pitcher Drew Smith, according to Major League Baseball Trade Rumors' Anthony Franco. 

Smith has spent his entire five-year big league career with the Mets. Overall, he has a career 3.53 ERA across 172 appearances. It would be somewhat surprising to see Smith let go. He didn't have his most impressive season in 2023 with a 4.15 ERA across 62 outings, but is projected to earn just over $2.3 million in 2024 and certainly could bounce back. 

The 30-year-old fireballer had a 3.33 ERA in 2022 across 44 outings and a 2.40 ERA in 2021 in 31 games. Plus, he finished in the 68th percentile in fastball velocity and 75th percentile in expected batting average against in 2023. There's strong potential in Smith and he could be an important part of the bullpen. If the Mets think they could improve through free agency maybe a move makes sense but it probably makes more sense to keep him around.