Sad News: Yankees Star Gerrit Cole Has Been Banned In Any American baseball

The signing of J.D. Martinez solved a Mets problem and exacerbated an issue.

We now know who is hitting behind Pete Alonso. What we don’t know is if Alonso or Martinez will be Mets in 2025. They are not alone.

The signing of Martinez gave the Mets 26 players with full major league contracts. Fifteen can be free agents after this season. It includes every veteran starter not named Kodai Senga and about every established reliever not named Edwin Diaz.

To some degree, this is by design. The Mets committed themselves to not committing too much future roster space or payroll in acquisitions this offseason. They signed eight players to fully guaranteed major league deals (so not counting the split contracts of Austin Adams and Michael Tonkin). The only one that is not a straight one-year deal was the two-year pact with Sean Manaea, in which the second season is a player option.

For the Yankees, of their 21 players with major league deals, nine can be free agents, at a time when many player reps fret about what they see as a strategy by teams to sign one-year deals to flood the free-agent market each offseason with supply to try to lower prices

For the New York clubs, two of MLB’s biggest looming free agents — Alonso and Juan Soto (both Scott Boras clients) — play here. And the Yankees also are looking at potentially a final year for the left side of the infield of Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres, plus a sizable portion of the bullpen led by closer Clay Holmes.

The teams have indicated they want to keep Alonso and Soto, but they also are two of three teams with payrolls above $300 million this season for luxury-tax purposes. Thus, they can’t keep everyone. So this is Hardball’s accounting of the top 10 New York players with the most to play for in their walk years:

For the New York clubs, two of MLB’s biggest looming free agents — Alonso and Juan Soto (both Scott Boras clients) — play here. And the Yankees also are looking at potentially a final year for the left side of the infield of Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres, plus a sizable portion of the bullpen led by closer Clay Holmes.

The teams have indicated they want to keep Alonso and Soto, but they also are two of three teams with payrolls above $300 million this season for luxury-tax purposes. Thus, they can’t keep everyone. So this is Hardball’s accounting of the top 10 New York players with the most to play for in their walk years:

He is still just 27. He has assembled two good seasons since returning from shortstop to a full-time second baseman. Torres was among the league leaders in raising his walk rate from 2022 and, especially, lowering his whiff rate. If he does that again, his youth and bat should play well in the market.

4. Luis Severino

He had to sign a one-year, $13 million prove-it contract. What would a 25-plus start, successful season mean for him? Would teams think he has unlocked the ability to marry health to his talent?

5. Anthony Rizzo

He has a $17 million team option for 2025 or a $6 million buyout. So the Yankees will have an $11 million decision on whether to bring back a player who turns 35 in August. It sure helps that he is such close pals with the influential Judge. It would help more if he thrives like he did last season before suffering his concussion.