The Mets officially extended the $21.05 million qualifying offer to 1B Pete Alonso, SP Sean Manaea and SP Luis Severino.
While all three have until November 22 to accept the QO, all three might go about the process differently. Alonso and Manaea will most certainly decline the offer and become free agents, exploring lucrative multi-year contracts. However, for Severino, he might be more inclined to accept the offer. His 2024 saw highs and lows and showed many flashes of his former self. He might not want to bet on himself quite yet though, and instead carve out another stellar year in an organization he trusts and that trusts him, accepting more money than he might make on the open market.
Photo by Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Alonso, a lifetime Met, will enter free agency for the first time in his career if he declines the QO. While he had a year to forget, but a playoff run to remember, he’s a career .249/.339/.514/.854 hitter. In his six-year career, he’s smashed 226 home runs (second all-time in Mets history), 586 RBIs and is a four-time All-Star and NL Rookie of the Year winner. The question surrounding Alonso won’t be whether he takes the QO, it’s almost a given he’ll reject it. It’s whether he returns to the Mets. If he does, he’ll no doubt etch himself into history books for years to come.
Manaea signed a two-year, $28 million contract with the Mets during the 2023 offseason, which included a player option for 2025. After posting a career-best 3.47 ERA in 32 starts, Manaea solidified him as the ace of the Mets’ rotation, leading them to the NLCS. Through a career-high 181.2 innings pitched, the southpaw struck out 184 batters, walked 63 and kept hitters at a measly .202/.280/.338 slash line.
Like Manaea, Severino was signed as a reclamation project, a high-reward and low-risk signee. He finished the 2024 campaign with a 3.91 ERA in 31 games, striking out 161 and walking 60 through 182 innings pitched. Severino threw a four-hit complete game shutout against the Marlins in August, a bounce-back game after a rough outing in Seattle. President of baseball operations David Stearns noted, “He had a great year. We want him back.”
It’s no surprise the Mets shelled out the QO to both pitchers; entering the 2025 season, the rotation lock-ins are David Peterson and Kodai Senga. If Severino accepts, that’s another hole filled, but more work will need to be done to round out the rotation and depth.
Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, Alex Bregman, Max Fried, Willy Adames, Anthony Santander, Teoscar Hernández, Nick Pivetta, Christian Walker and Nick Martinez also received the $21.05 million qualifying offer from their teams. Like Alonso, Manaea and Severino, they all have until November 22 to accept or decline the offer. If they decline, they will be free agents.
The qualifying offer was implemented in 2012, and of the 131 players the offer has been extended to, 13 have accepted it. Marcus Stroman and Neil Walker are the only Mets to have accepted the QO from the team in 2020 and 2016, respectively. Teams who offer their players qualifying offers and reject them will receive a Draft pick compensation if they sign with a new team in free agency.
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