David Stearns doesn’t need to be scared off by the qualifying offer if Adrian Morejon reaches the market this winter. In fact, the Mets should be ready to pounce.
Morejon is one of the rare relievers whose value has been strong enough to survive the kind of penalty that usually makes teams back away. He may be attached to a qualifying offer, but his performance has been so loud that the usual free-agent drag doesn’t erase the appeal. Over the last two seasons, he leads all left-handed relievers in fWAR with 5.1 and appearances with 151, and he sits second in FIP at 2.33, trailing only Aroldis Chapman.
That kind of production is why he stands out even in a market that can be unforgiving to bullpen arms. The issue is that qualifying-offer compensation can shrink the pool of interested teams, especially when the player in question is a reliever rather than a star position player or frontline starter. That’s the opening the Mets should be willing to exploit.
There’s also a real chance Morejon never gets that far. If he accepts the QO, he’d lock in a $23.15 million salary for next season, the highest ever for a relief pitcher. For a non-closer, that’s a massive guaranteed payday, and it would not be easy to walk away from it.
Still, the “non-closer” label is more about circumstance than ability. If the Padres hadn’t acquired Mason Miller at the 2025 trade deadline, Morejon would have been piling up saves in 2026. His underlying numbers back up the idea that he’s built for the ninth inning: he ranks in the 90th percentile or better on Baseball Savant in practically everything, including chase rate at 38.6% and whiff rate at 34.2%, both of which sit in elite territory.
That’s why the Mets shouldn’t treat the qualifying offer as a deal-breaker. David Stearns may hesitate after his Devin Williams gamble fell flat this year, but Morejon is a different case.
He keeps getting better, and his 2026 season peaked at 2.8 fWAR. Only one Mets pitcher, starter or reliever, topped that number: Nolan McLean.
On paper, the price is steep. A contract with an average annual value near $20 million, plus the loss of draft picks and international bonus pool money, sounds excessive for a reliever.
But Morejon isn’t just any reliever. He’s the kind of southpaw who can change a bullpen, and that makes him worth the cost.
In Other News...
Mets Are Finally Moving On From A Pitcher Fans Knew Too Well
David Peterson had become one of those familiar Mets fixtures by the time the 2026 season arrived, the longest tenured player on the roster and a pitcher the organization had watched grow from prospect to established arm over more than six seasons. But the year never really settled for him in New York, and his struggles eventually pushed the club to move him midseason to the Chicago Cubs, ending a run that had stretched across multiple front-office eras and plenty of turnover around him.
Peterson did show some improvement after the trade, enough to remind teams why his name had lingered in the conversation for so long. Now he is headed into free agency for the first time, and the timing adds another layer of uncertainty with looming CBA negotiations expected to shape the market. For the Mets, it is another sign that a once-familiar chapter is closing, even if the next one for Peterson is still waiting to be written. [Read more 🡒]
Mets Risk Letting A Dangerous Bat Slip To A Rival
The Mets offseason priorities are starting to come into focus, and for now Teruaki Sato does not appear to be at the top of the list. According to The Athletic, New York is less inclined to chase the Japanese slugger this winter, with Bo Bichette having opted into his 2027 deal and the organization already carrying a group of young infield prospects in the minors. Sato, one of the premier power bats in Japans NPB, has drawn attention around the league, including from the Phillies, Dodgers and Yankees.
For the Mets, the calculation seems to be less about the players talent than about timing and roster fit. Their bigger push is expected to come on the pitching side, though that does not necessarily close the door on Sato completely. If the market shifts or ownership decides to get more aggressive, New York could still circle back, but for now the danger is obvious: a bat with real thump could end up landing with a rival while the Mets wait on a different part of the board. [Read more 🡒]
Mets May Have Cut The Wrong Right-Handed Bench Bat
The Mets made a quiet roster move this week by removing Eric Wagaman from the 40-man roster, which sent him into free agency after a brief run with the club. Wagaman appeared in 26 games last season and did not provide much at the plate, but decisions like this are rarely just about one player. They usually reflect a bigger squeeze on the bench and the need to sort through limited roster space with an eye toward upside.
Christopher Morel and Mark Vientos are part of the broader conversation here, because the Mets have to decide which right-handed bats are worth keeping in the mix and which ones can be replaced. Wagamans exit may not register much on its own, but it does raise the kind of question teams hate answering later: whether the wrong depth piece got exposed in the shuffle. [Read more 🡒]