Most of the focus of Mets fans has been on the fate of their big free agents, first baseman Pete Alonso and closer Edwin Diaz, but the New York Mets also have a major bullpen rebuild on their agenda this winter.

It’s a lot more important than most people think, especially with relievers Ryne Stanek, Gregory Soto, Tyler Rogers and Ryan Hensley all becoming free agents, according to Tim Britton and Will Sammon of The Athletic.

Failure was a constant theme for three of the four hurlers, so bringing more than one back feels problematic. Stanek had a 5.30 ERA in 56 innings, and he’s 34. Soto was picked up as one of the best left-handed middle relievers in this year’s trade market, and his ERA was 4.50. Rogers was better, albeit not as good as he was with the San Francisco Giants. 

Helsley was the worst by far, mostly because the Mets saw him as a lights-out, eighth-inning option to get to Diaz, according to Sammon and Britton. Instead his 3.00 ERA with the St. Louis Cardinals ballooned to 7.20 in New York, which is part of the reason the Mets will be looking for multiple relievers. 

There’s not much left on the depth chart, either. The Mets have club options on lefty Brooks Raley and right hander Drew Smith, who missed all of 2025. Lefty A.J. Minter will start the season on the IL, and the Mets did manage to sign Richard Lovelady to a one-year deal. Minor league fireballer Dylan Ross is expected to step into a role that’s undefined right now, but at least his performance at Triple A Syracuse this year showed he’s clearly ready for a big-league tryout.

The game that will follow this winter is called bullpen roulette. As Sammon and Britton pointed out, every team is in it, and there’s no sure thing. Rogers is the closest thing to that if he continues to get his footing in New York,, but none of the others look worth bringing back, Helsley especially. 

The first step is to lock up Diaz assuming he opts out, which is almost a certainty. Step two is to hire a pitching coach with the chops to handle a bullpen full of new guys while developing young starters Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat and Jonah Tong, but that’s not going to be an easy hire. 

There’s going to be plenty of action revolving around the Mets bullpen this offseason, and a lot of it will happen with Mets fans keeping their fingers crossed.