The Mets have 16 players eligible for salary arbitration this offseason, including some of their most important core pieces.
The 16 players are Pete Alonso, Miguel Castro, J.D. Davis, Edwin Diaz, Robert Gsellman, Luis Guillorme, Joey Lucchesi, Seth Lugo, Jose Martinez, Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo, Tomas Nido, Jose Peraza, Dominic Smith, Drew Smith, and Trevor Williams.
It's fair to believe that contracts will be tendered to most of the above players, with Gsellman, Martinez, Peraza, and Williams perhaps the non-tender candidates.
Once a player is offered arbitration, the team and that player's agent have until a set date -- usually at some point in February -- to come to terms on a new contract. If that doesn't happen, both sides submit salary proposals and the player's salary is determined at a hearing by independent arbitrators.
A team can offer arbitration to a player and then trade that player. So the Mets can tender contracts to players who might not be in their plans.
According to the MLB Trade Rumors algorithm that "looks at the player’s playing time, position, role, and performance statistics while accounting for inflation," here's what the Mets' arbitration-eligible players are projected to make in 2022...
Pete Alonso: $7.3 million
Miguel Castro: $2.6M
J.D. Davis: $2.7M
Edwin Diaz: $10.4M
Robert Gsellman: $1.6M
Luis Guillorme: $700,000
Joey Lucchesi: $1.6M
Seth Lugo: $3.7M
Jose Martinez: $1.0M
Jeff McNeil: $2.8M
Brandon Nimmo: $6.0M
Tomas Nido: $900K
Jose Peraza: $1.0M
Dominic Smith: $4.0M
Drew Smith: $900K
Trevor Williams: $3.8M
If the Mets tender contracts to all of the above players and they receive salaries similar to the projections, it would add roughly $51 million to the team's payroll.
As things currently stand, the Mets have approximately $135 million committed to payroll for 2022.
The luxury tax threshold for 2022 is not yet known, with the Collective Bargaining Agreement set to expire on Dec. 1. It was $210 million in 2021.
If the luxury tax is in place (as is expected), the Mets will very likely have to exceed it.