Eric Young Jr. is now a free agent and Ruben Tejada's roster spot appears safe for now
The Mets have elected to non-tender Eric Young Jr., according to Marc Carig of Newsday. Tonight is the deadline for clubs to decide whether they want to offer arbitration eligible players a contract or cut them loose.
Young is now a free agent and can sign with any team that may be interested in his talents. Ruben Tejada was another Met who many thought could have been non-tendered but it appears he is staying on the team for now. Daniel Murphy, Lucas Duda, Dillon Gee, Jenrry Mejia, and Bobby Parnell will also head to arbitration—or, more likely, settle on contracts beforehand—with the Mets this offseason.
Young was traded from Colorado to the Mets in exchange for Collin McHugh during the 2013 season. Terry Collins gave Young plenty of chances to perform since then but he hit .229/.299/.311 in 316 plate appearance in 2014. The Mets saw no point in keeping Young around when he was outplayed last year by younger and less expensive outfielders like Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Matt Den Dekker, who should be competing for the club's fourth outfielder role in the spring.