Which Player Do the Mets Extend First?

The Mets have a few players up for a contract extension, but only one can go first

The Mets have had a very successful offseason, acquiring many key players via trades and free agency that should set them up for a deep postseason run in 2021 and beyond.

But some of their core have expiring contracts at the end of the season. This includes the newly acquired Francisco Lindor, Michael Conforto, Noah Syndergaard, and Marcus Stroman.

And obviously, the hope for the team and for fans is that all four of them can be re-signed and stay with the team for many years to come.

Each player that was mentioned is important to the team’s success in their own way. With that being said, only one of them can be the top priority.

So who should go first?

Many will point to Lindor. The 27-year-old has proven to be one of the top players in baseball. Plus, trading for him but not extending him would be a poor use of prospect equity.

Others will say Syndergaard who, when healthy, can be one of the very best pitchers in baseball. It’s likely the Mets will see how he responds to the extended layoff post-Tommy John surgery before crossing that bridge.

However, the right answer here is Michael Conforto.

And truthfully, there is no wrong answer to this question. As stated earlier, the hope is that all of them can get extensions and stay in Queens for years to come.

But Conforto is the most deserving of the bunch.

He came up with the Mets in 2015, just a year after he was drafted 10th overall in the MLB draft out of Oregon State.

And sure, his first few years there were some struggles he had to endure. But the potential to be one of the better pure hitters in baseball was clearly there.

Conforto was an All-Star in 2017, where he had 3.6 wins above replacement in 109 games before his shoulder popped out on a swing in August, tearing his posterior capsule in the process and ending his season prematurely.

He struggled a bit after coming back from that injury in 2018 but started to figure it out more as the season went on. He also had a 3.4 WAR season in 2019 before a 2020 season that saw him become one of the better hitters in all of baseball.

Many will say Lindor is the way to go here since the Mets just traded for him and gave up a good amount to get him. And no Mets fan would be mad if he was in fact the first one extended.

But the Mets also have a very good backup plan if Lindor walks in free agency. Ronny Mauricio is the Mets consensus top prospect and is also a shortstop just like Lindor.

And that’s not to say Mauricio will definitely be as good as Lindor, but he does have a world of potential and should be MLB-ready by 2022.

Syndergaard and Stroman could also be viewed as potentially expendable, as the Mets have plenty of pitching prospects in their farm system. Though, proven, upper-echelon rotational depth is certainly a foundational aspect of building a winning ballclub.

If the Mets fail to extend Conforto, that would be a much bigger problem in terms of organizational depth.

The top outfield prospect in the organization is Pete Crow-Armstrong, but he is still years away from seeing an MLB field and projects as a centerfielder.

Conforto has paid his dues with the Mets. He was here as a rookie for the World Series run in 2015 and has endured some bad times with the club as well.

Plus, he’s just a phenomenal baseball player that the team, under any circumstance, shouldn’t let hit free agency.

It’s time for the Mets to pay him back for his time put in.

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