The New York Mets have had major rotation issues throughout the season. They have lacked stability and durability from many of the arms that carried them to the Championship Series a year ago. Kodai Senga is really struggling, David Peterson is starting to slide a bit, and Sean Manaea misses most of the season to this point, but has not been as efficient as the Mets had hoped when he has been on the mound.

Looking towards next season, the Mets will likely be on the hook for a player’s contract that has been a massive bust up to this point.

Frankie Montas is expected to exercise the option

New York Mets starter Frankie Montas signed a one-year, $17 million deal before the 2025 season. He also has a player option for 2026 that will also be worth $17 million. This is bad news for the Mets because he has been terrible, and recently tore his UCL, which means he may be missing from the rotation for most of the 2026 season as well.

Montas made seven starts before being demoted to a bullpen role, and his overall ERA sits at 6.28 in 38.2 innings this season. The Mets, usually big spenders in MLB, might have reached big time on this contract. He had a 4.84 ERA last season, only pitched in one game in 2023, and only made eight starts in 2022.

Understandably, the Mets took a flyer on him as a potential reclamation project, but it’s looking more likely that he’ll be out of baseball instead of getting another chance with someone else. It will be interesting to see how he recovers from the UCL injury, but if he loses any more velocity, it will be difficult for Montas to be serviceable.

New York has a similar scenario with reliever A.J. Minter, who has pitched all of 11 innings this season. He is on the docket for $11 million next season. He’s more proven lately as a productive arm, but has been injured for the entirety of this season.