MLBTR Releases 2025-26 Free Agency Predictions

With free agency officially underway, MLB Trade Rumors has released their contract projections for the top 50 players in this year’s class. The site’s panel of four writers, which includes Tim Dierkes, Anthony Franco, Darragh McDonald and Steve Adams, all predicted which team would end up signing every player on the list as well.

Of the three players who received multiple predictions to the Mets, Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami was the most prominent. MLBTR believes he’ll receive a deal worth $180 million over eight years, with both Dierkes and Adams predicting that he’ll ultimately end up in Queens.

Murakami possesses otherworldly raw power, evidenced by the fact that he hit 265 home runs in 1,003 games with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball. The 25-year-old also belted 22 homers over just 224 plate appearances in 2025 while missing time with an oblique injury.

The youngest player in NPB history to win the Triple Crown back in 2022 with 56 home runs, a .318 batting average and 134 RBIs, Murakami projects as a first baseman or designated hitter in MLB even though he primarily slotted in at third base in Japan. The Mets’ interest in him will largely be predicated on what happens with Pete Alonso, and while Murakami does have swing-and-miss concerns as well as some struggles facing higher-end velocity, he’s the kind of talent worth breaking the bank for.

Another player who landed multiple Mets predictions was right-handed pitcher Brandon Woodruff, with Dierkes, Franco and McDonald all believing David Stearns will look to reunite with his former ace from their time together in Milwaukee.

Woodruff didn’t pitch during the 2024 campaign after undergoing surgery to repair the anterior capsule in his right shoulder, but he was his usual self when healthy this past season for the Brewers. After returning from a rehab assignment in July, he recorded a 3.20 ERA and 3.17 FIP with 83 strikeouts over 64 2/3 innings. The 32-year-old sustained a lat strain in September, however, which sidelined him throughout the entire postseason.

There’s certainly some questions about Woodruff’s durability, but he’d be a logical target for the Mets given their need for starters and his aforementioned connection to Stearns.

The final player who received several predictions to join the Mets this offseason was right-handed reliever Robert Suarez, with both Dierkes and McDonald guessing that’ll he be donning the blue and orange in 2026.

Suarez spent each of the past four years with the San Diego Padres after previously spending parts of five seasons in NPB with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Hanshin Tigers. He was an All-Star in both 2024 and 2025 for San Diego while logging a 2.87 ERA with 134 strikeouts and 76 saves in 135 appearances over that span.

MLBTR projects that Suarez will sign for $48 million over three years, and if the Mets can’t find a way to keep Edwin Díaz around, than perhaps the former could emerge as a target of theirs over the coming months.

Among the players who received a single prediction to sign with the Mets from MLBTR’s panel were Alonso, Dylan Cease, Tatsuya Imai, Alex Bregman, Devin Williams, Nick Martinez, Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto. Interestingly enough, there was little faith Díaz would return to the club, as he instead forecast to join the Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees.

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