For the most part, it seems that the New York Mets have the roster they’re going to enter the 2025 regular season with all set.
It was a massively successful offseason by any metric, especially considering the offensive firepower that New York both brought back and added to its lineup from one season ago.
Of course, a team’s success isn’t just about how their lineup or starting rotation looks on paper. It’s also about how the different pieces gel together in the locker room, and how that can either enhance or detract from team chemistry.
Two crucial pieces to this latter equation for the Mets last season were Jose Iglesias and J.D. Martinez. The Mets ‘OMG’ theme in the second half was predicated on Iglesias’ song and Martinez’s high-level and meticulous hitting approach rubbed off on many teammates.
Both Iglesias and Martinez are free agents, and neither seems likely to return to Queens next season. In a February 20 article (which is behind a paywall), New York Post MLB insider Jon Heyman suggested that the Milwaukee Brewers could be a potential fit for both Iglesias and Martinez in free agency.
It would be interesting to see both former Mets in Milwaukee, if only because of how New York knocked them out of the 2024 MLB playoffs in devastating fashion last season.
Heyman also discussed that the Mets’ apparent disinterest in re-signing Iglesias is because they have a firm belief that top prospect Luisangel Acuña is poised for a breakout year and because incumbent second baseman Jeff McNeil has an essentially untradeable contract.
Even if these two past “glue” players aren’t in the Mets’ clubhouse for the 2025 season, they’ll surely receive a loud ovation whenever they hate their return to Citi Field — even if they’re wearing another team’s jersey.