The Mets have already seen one player go from afterthought to useful piece, and now they’re staring at a few more who could follow that path.
Jared Young is the template here. In 2025, he barely made a dent with the Mets, logging just 47 plate appearances and hitting .186.
But the power was real enough - four homers helped him to a .722 OPS - and his Triple-A numbers told a different story entirely. At Syracuse, he hit .300 with a .956 OPS, which made him easier to keep around.
In 2026, he’s been far better than he was a year ago.
That kind of jump is what the Mets would love from a few other names on the roster. The bar is pretty simple: a player who wasn’t good this season, isn’t making big money, and can turn into a much better piece next year. Tobias Myers, Eric Wagaman, and Chayce McDermott all fit the conversation in different ways.
Myers is the most precarious of the group. He’s in a fight for his place, with no minor league options left and competition from players like Jonathan Pintaro.
His season has been rough enough to earn some blunt descriptions: ineffective, insufficient, and insulting. Still, there is a track record to point to.
Myers posted a 3.15 ERA over his two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, and even if he wasn’t blowing hitters away, he was preventing runs. That history gives him a chance to bounce back - if the Mets decide to give him one.
He’s also a non-tender candidate this offseason because of the lack of flexibility.
Wagaman looks like the cleaner fit for the Young comparison. He’s hitting only .191 for the Mets, but the logic behind bringing him in was solid from the start.
He had multiple minor league options, and there was belief he could fill the need for a right-handed bat against lefties. The numbers support that idea more than his current big league line does.
Last season with the Miami Marlins, he hit .283 with a .783 OPS against southpaws. He’s also been used all over the corner spots, which makes him a useful piece to carry.
And in Triple-A, he’s been productive again, putting up an .838 OPS in 142 plate appearances for Syracuse.
McDermott is the wild card, and maybe the least believable answer - but he belongs in the discussion anyway. The Mets acquired him at the trade deadline in the Ben Rortvedt deal, and he entered the 2025 season as Baltimore’s fourth-ranked prospect.
Since then, the picture has changed fast. His final minor league option is already gone for 2026, and his big league numbers have been ugly: a 10.18 ERA in the majors and a 5.06 ERA with the Mets.
That doesn’t look like a pitcher ready to lock down a bullpen role, and it would be a surprise if he simply stayed on the 40-man roster without a decision being made first. The Mets could DFA him and try to sneak him through waivers, or non-tender him and bring him back on a minor league deal.
There is at least one encouraging note. In Syracuse, McDermott has allowed only one run over his first 8.2 innings.
He’ll turn 28 in August, so this isn’t a kid the Mets can stash and dream on forever. If he does turn into something useful, the route will look very different from what Young or Reed Garrett did - but the end result would be the same.
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