Nine Mets players become free agents

Nine 2015 New York Mets have become free agents: Yoenis Cespedes, Daniel Murphy, Bartolo Colon, Tyler Clippard, Kelly Johnson, Juan Uribe, Bobby Parnell, Jerry Blevins and Eric O'Flaherty.

Behind David Wright, Murphy is the second-longest tenured Met, having made his debut in 2008 and has had a solid, if at times frustrating, career. The Mets have until Friday to decide whether or not to extend him a qualifying offer.

Cespedes was acquired in the final minutes before the trade deadline on July 31 and was a revelation for the Mets in the regular season before struggling in the postseason. He cannot be given a qualifying offer because of stipulations in his contract.

As for the rest of the list, there are players here that Mets fans would like to see the team retain. If he were to accept a role as a relief pitcher/swing man, Bartolo Colon could make sense for the 2016 roster. Blevins, Uribe, and Johnson all have value on a major league roster. Blevins never really got the chance to excel as a Met, as he suffered a broken forearm in April and missed the rest of the season after re-injuring it.

Uribe and Johnson, both also trade deadline acquisitions this year, would be nice bench pieces to bring back and would provide insurance for David Wright's back condition and Dilson Herrera's relative big league inexperience at second.

O'Flaherty and Clippard were also acquired in trades. Clippard had a 3.06 ERA in 32.1 innings with the Mets in the regular season, but he had a 6.75 ERA in 6.2 innings of postseason work. O'Flaherty struggled from the time he was acquired through the end of the regular season and did not make any of the team's playoff rosters. Parnell has been a Met for a long time, but this could be the end of the road for him with the team.