A season filled with OMGs and Grimace memes came to an end this weekend when the Dodgers toppled the Mets in a 10-5 win that propelled L.A. to a World Series showdown and left the Mets looking ahead to the 2025 campaign. New Yorks roster is teeming with veteran free agents, and president of baseball operations David Stearns and his staff will have their work cut out for them in reshaping the roster this offseason. Several outgoing Mets free agents made clear theyd have interest in returning, including some aging vets who are getting into the latter stages of their career. Designated hitter joked pickleball when asked what the future held for him ( ). The 37-year-old slugger said first and foremost, his future includes heading home to be with his new daughter, who he has barely seen since she was born in September. Beyond the family time, Martinez made clear that he hopes to continue his playing career but only if teams take the initiative. Im not going to come back because Im begging to come back, said Martinez. Im going to come back because it makes sense. At the end of the day, time is the most valuable thing. Presumably, that means theres a price point at which Martinez wont feel compelled to commit to further time away from his growing young family. But the slugger also recently appeared on the Baseball Isnt Boring podcast and told host Rob Bradford that frustration over a general lack of interest last offseason led him to ponder retirement. I felt like it was just an awkward year, said Martinez ( ). Here I am, the teams breaking in five days, and I dont even have a team yet. Your brain goes into a weird mode, where youre like Am I playing? Am I not? Am I playing? Am I not? Is this it? Am I retired? We werent asking for anything that, at the time, I feel like other players hadnt gotten. Martinez went on to say that he waited all offseason for offers to materialize and 100% considered retiring, even telling his best friend: I think this it. Im staying home. This is dumb. Im begging for a job, and I had a .900 OPS last year. Heading into the 2024-25 offseason, Martinez wont be coming off the same type of campaign he enjoyed with the Dodgers in 2023. During his lone year in L.A., he bashed 33 homers and hit .271/.321/.572 in 479 plate appearances. Martinez was still a clearly above-average bat this past season, but a sluggish start after signing late (March 23) and a dismal finish to the season left him with a .235/.320/.406 batting line. That was about eight Dakota Joshua Jersey percent better than average, by measure of wRC+ (108). An optimist could to s out a slow two weeks to start the season and overlook that finish to see that from mid-May through late August, Martinez hit .251/.336/.459 with 16 homers in 387 plate appearances, but teams wont be so charitable as to just write those struggles off and focus only on his peak in-season production. Martinez did note that hes encouraged by his batted-ball metrics even though the ultimate production wasnt in line with his best work, and to his credit, he maintained excellent marks in terms of exit velocity, barrel rate and hard-hit rate. He also cut back on his career-worst 2023 strikeout rate and improved his walk rate to its highest level since 2019. Teammate was more direct and more straightforward in his intentions to return next year. The 35-year-old lefty told reporters ( ): Im healthy. I feel good. I want to try one more time to win a championship. This was the closest Ive been in my career. One day Im going to get the opportunity. Quintana, 36 in January, pitched 170 1/3 innings of 3.75 ERA ball for the Mets in 2024 the second season of a two-year, $26MM free agent deal. His 18.8% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate dont nece sarily support that level of succe s, but Quintana was a reliable source of innings and has a lengthy track record of quality rotation work in the majors. Starting pitching is always in demand, and he has a good chance at commanding another eight-figure salary on a one-year deal if not potential to find a similar two-year deal to the one he just completed. Age considerations arent as prominent for 32-year-old , whos all but a lock to decline a $13.5MM player option in search of a multi-year deal in free agency. Manaea has signed back-to-back prove it deals, so to speak, signing consecutive two-year deals with opt-out opportunities. He opted out of his deal with the Giants following the 2023 season, will opt out of his Mets deal next month, and is now finally in position to command the type of lengthier multi-year deal thats eluded him to this point in free agency. The Mets will very likely make him a qualifying offer, but even with draft compensation attached to his name, Manaea could command a three-year pact this time around. The left-hander pitched a career-high 181 2/3 innings, plus another 19 in the postseason. His regular season ended with a 3.47 ERA, 24.9% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate. He was hit hard in his final start the one that ended the Mets season but held opponents to five runs in 17 innings acro s his first three postseason starts (2.65 ERA). Time will tell whether Manaea is back in New York, but the southpaw emphasized how much he loved his time with the organization and called the 2024 campaign the best season of his career ( ). I love my time here, said Manaea. I love New York. I love the organization. I love all the people here. Definitely give it a couple of days, let the body rest and then well go from there. In addition to the trio of Martinez, Manaea and Quintana, the Mets will also see , , , , , , , and all become free agents after the World Series. Kevin Lankinen Jersey