Over the weekend, the Mets saw two of their depth pieces head back to free agency, with MJ Melendez and Vidal Brujan choosing the open market after finishing the season in the minors.
Melendez got the longer look in Queens. Early on, he was getting regular run as the club’s DH, and through his first 45 plate appearances he was hitting .333/.409/.615 during a season that was already going off the rails for the team.
That surge didn’t last. He faded badly and finished hitting .192 in the majors.
Brujan’s big-league stay was much shorter. He logged only 13 plate appearances and collected a single hit.
The minors told a different story. In Triple-A, Melendez crushed 22 home runs in just 305 plate appearances and hit .264/.361/.604. Brujan also held his own, batting .278/.385/.421 while stealing 16 bases.
The Mets knew what they were getting when they brought both in. Brujan was there as infield depth, plain and simple.
Melendez was the kind of player they could keep in the system because he had a final minor league option left. In 2027, though, only one of them looks worth a return trip.
Melendez is the one who makes sense to circle. He is not landing a major league deal, but a minor league reunion would fit the way the Mets have used this type of player before. The roster has long had room for left-handed hitters who can provide a little pop and handle outfield duties, even if that’s the whole package.
Beyond Nick Morabito, who is a different type of player entirely, there isn’t an obvious young option waiting to fill that depth role. The Mets are expected to add reinforcements this offseason, and some of them could look a lot like Melendez. Brujan’s spot, meanwhile, is likely to be absorbed by another waiver claim or minor league free-agent pickup.
That kind of player has had a steady place on Mets rosters in recent years, from Daniel Vogelbach to Jesse Winker to Jared Young before his breakout. Melendez at least showed some progress in the outfield, even if he’s not Carson Benge and he’s certainly not Juan Soto.
Melendez played his last game for the big-league Mets on June 25, a day before the team fired Carlos Mendoza. He was then demoted and later DFA’d, but stayed in the organization.
The contract situation made that path straightforward: he was signed to a one-year $1.5 million deal, and accepting the assignment kept it intact. Had the Mets kept him on the 40-man roster, he would have been arbitration-eligible in 2027.
By staying, he was guaranteed only a minor league salary sponsored by Cup Noodles. Apparently it hasn’t been Cup-O-Noodles since the early 1990s.
Who knew?
Brujan’s case was simpler. The Mets didn’t have much use for him, and at his best he offers defense and a little speed. With additional infield depth now coming from prospects, his role feels even less necessary than before.
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