The septet of arbitration-eligible players will exchange figures with the Mets on Friday.
As expected, all seven of the Mets' arbitration-eligible players—Daniel Murphy, Ike Davis, Bobby Parnell, Eric Young Jr., Dillon Gee, Lucas Duda, and Ruben Tejad—have filed for arbitration for the 2014 season. That means the players and the Mets will exchange salary figures for the upcoming season on Friday. From there, the Mets will have some time to come to terms with each player. Teams and players rarely actually go to arbitration hearings.
Back in October, MLB Trade Rumors posted estimated salaries for each player. Those salaries are included in parentheses below and have been pretty accurate over the past few offseasons.
Daniel Murphy ($5.8 million)
Coming of a season in which he posted a 106 wRC+ and 3.0 fWAR, this is the second baseman's second year of arbitration eligibility. He excelled on the basepaths last year, but improvement at the plate would be a welcome sight this year.
Ike Davis ($3.5 million)
Although his name has been in trade rumors all winter, Davis is still a Met. It wouldn't be a shock to see him settle on a contract slightly lower than the estimate above after a second consecutive season with a dismal first half. And Davis's "second half" consisted of just a month of playing time. His stats from that time should not be considered too heavily.
Dillon Gee ($3.4 million)
After a scary injury cut his 2012 season short, Gee got off to a slow start in 2013 but was excellent from the end of May through the end of the season.
Bobby Parnell ($3.2 million)
Having undergone neck surgery in the fall, Parnell's health can obviously not be guaranteed, but it sounds like everything is on track for the closer to begin spring training and the season on time. He's been the team's best relief pitcher for several years now.
Eric Young Jr. ($1.9 million)
The speedy outfielder made quite an impression on Mets fans with his frequent and efficient base stealing, and he figures to fit well as a fourth outfielder on the team's roster.
Lucas Duda ($1.8 million)
Duda and Davis are redundant, but letting either one go at an affordable salary would not be ideal. Duda seems to be the Mets' preferred left-handed first baseman, but he could see far less playing time if Davis is still with the team on Opening Day.
Ruben Tejada ($1.0 million)
Unless the Mets sign Stephen Drew, Tejada will get another shot to play shortstop this year. He's still pretty young and is only one season removed from a capable level of production at the plate and in the field. It will be disappointing if the Mets haven't improved at short by Opening Day, though.
