Mets tender contracts to all arbitration-eligible players

Ahead of tonight’s 8:00pm non-tender deadline, the Mets tendered contracts to all of their arbitration-eligible players: Michael Conforto, Edwin Diaz, Robert Gsellman, Seth Lugo, Steven Matz, Brandon Nimmo, Marcus Stroman and Noah Syndergaard.

The only non-tender candidate on the Mets’ roster at the end of the season was Joe Panik, who became a free agent on November 1 after declining an outright assignment to Triple-A.

Of the Mets’ arbitration eligible players, Marcus Stroman is the only player entering his fourth and final year of arbitration and is due for the largest raise—his projected arbitration figure is $11.8 million, according to MLB Trade Rumors. He is followed by Noah Syndergaard, projected to make $9.9 million in 2020. Syndergaard is the only Met entering his third year of arbitration. Michael Conforto and Steven Matz are both slated for free agency in 2022 and are predicted to earn $9.2 million and $5.3 million, respectively. All of the remaining arbitration eligible players are entering the first year of arbitration. Of that group, only Edwin Diaz is due for a significant raise, projected at $7.0 million.

With these raises—given that they shake out close to their projected figures—the Mets’ 2020 payroll for the purposes of the competitive balance tax will be approaching the threshold, over which the Mets would have to pay the tax. The team has already indicated that they have “limited room” in their budget, according to reports, and there exists little evidence to believe that they are inclined to exceed the competitive balance tax threshold.