Mets reach agreements with six of seven arbitration-eligible players

The Mets avoided arbitration with six of seven arbitration eligible players prior to yesterday’s 1:00 p.m. deadline, though the club failed to settle with Jeff McNeil and will go to arbitration with the defending National League batting champion. The Mets agreed to terms on one-year deals with Pete Alonso, Drew Smith, Elieser Hernández, Luis Guillorme, Tomás Nido , and Jeff Brigham.

Most notably, Alonso and the Mets agreed to a one-year, $14.5 million deal, which is the largest contract ever given to a first baseman in arbitration. Alonso, who is coming off a season in which he became the first Met to hit 40 home runs in two separate seasons and broke the club’s single-season RBI record, was projected by MLB Trade Rumors to receive $15.9 million in arbitration. Alonso has one more year left in arbitration before hitting free agency following the 2024 season.

The Mets were unable to reach an agreement with McNeil, and the two sides will settle this in arbitration later in the offseason. The Mets filed at $6.25 million, while the club’s second baseman filed at $7.75 million. McNeil was projected to earn $6.2 million in arbitration by MLB Trade Rumors. McNeil is coming off a career year in which he earned his first career Silver Slugger award, was named to his second NL All Star team, and led the league with a .326 batting average.

As for the rest of the team’s players, the Mets agreed to a $1.3 million contract with Smith (MLBTR projection: $1.2 million), a $1.6 million contract with Hernández (MLBTR projection: $1.8 million), a $1.575 million contract with Nido (MLBTR projection: $1.6 million), and a $1.6 million contract with Guillorme (MLBTR projection: $1.5 million). Numbers were not yet made available for Brigham, who was projected to earn $800,000 by MLB Trade Rumors.