As the Los Angeles Dodgers tidy up their 40-man roster to accommodate their shiny new acquisitions, I find myself compulsively refreshing my phone, fully expecting another All-Star player to join their ranks. But while the Dodgers keep grabbing headlines, New York Mets fans have their reasons to stay optimistic. There are still top-tier free agents on the market who could transform the team from playoff hopefuls to legitimate contenders—without taking them out of the mix for big moves from David Stearns. Let’s break down who these players are and why the Mets should act fast before opportunity passes them by.

1. Jurickson Profar

This 31-year-old jack-of-all-trades, who started as a utility infielder and morphed into an outfielder, is gearing up for his 12th big-league season—and he’s coming off a career year. His 2024 numbers were impressive: a .280 batting average, .380 on-base percentage, .459 slugging percentage, 24 homers, and 85 RBIs. Those stats didn’t just earn him his first All-Star nod; they also helped make the Padres a genuine NL contender—at least until the Dodgers swooped in and crushed their dreams in a nail-biting Game 5 of the NLDS.

With 52 starts at first base across his last eight seasons, he’s a viable solution for the Mets, who’ve been trying to sort out their corner infield puzzle. At a market value hovering around $13 million annually, bringing him to Queens on a two-year, $26 million deal—with a team opt-out after year one—feels entirely reasonable. And with no other teams offering long-term commitments, this move could be the ideal low-risk, high-reward signing that also keeps the Mets in a strong position to make future splashy acquisitions.

Profar’s breakout power in 2024 wasn’t just a stroke of luck—it resulted from deliberate adjustments to his hitting stance and mechanics. By opening up his stance slightly and shortening his swing path, he unlocked a new level of consistency and pop at the plate, culminating in career-best home run and RBI totals. But Profar’s success wasn’t built on raw power alone; he’s always been a master at working pitchers. Over the past four seasons, he’s posted elite plate discipline numbers, with a 23.3% chase rate, 18.4% whiff rate, 15.9% strikeout rate, and an 11% walk rate—ranking him in the top 75th percentile league-wide in those categories. His ability to grind out at-bats and force pitchers into mistakes makes him a valuable addition to any lineup, especially one as patient and disciplined as the Mets aim to be.