Two of the more obvious moves to happen this offseason were finalized this morning, as Brooks Raley had his option exercised by the Mets, and Frankie Montas exercised his player option, marking their return to the Mets organization for the 2026 season, the team announced today.
Brooks Raley, as I wrote in his 2025 season review, was excellent after he returned to the mound after missing most of 2024 and the beginning of 2025 with Tommy John surgery. He had a 2.45 ERA, and was second among Mets relievers
in fWAR (0.8) and Win Probability Added (0.78), behind now free agent Edwin Díaz. With a relatively inexpensive team option of $4,750,000 attached to his 2025 contract, there was little doubt that it would be picked up by the Mets. The bullpen is in a little bit of flux going into the offseason, so the stability that Raley will provide is invaluable.
On the other hand, Frankie Montas had a similarly easy to predict option but for completely different reasons. Montas, who signed a two year, $34m deal with an opt out after the 2025 season, had nothing short of a disastrous time last year. In February, he was announced with a lat strain that put him out for two months. He made his season debut in June, had a 6.28 ERA in nine games (seven starts), and then had Tommy John surgery in August, which will almost certainly cost him all of his 2026 as well. He was never going to opt out of his deal with the season-long injury he suffered in late 2025, and will rehab his elbow with the Mets next season.
