Jose Iglesias enjoyed a career rebound last season with the New York Mets, becoming a fan-favorite after slashing .337/.381/.448 with a .830 OPS in 85 games. While the 35-year-old infielder wants to be part of the Mets roster again in 2025, there’s at least one issue preventing it.
Mets owner Steve Cohen already announced the club “blew through” its payroll budget for the 2025 season, but he wants to field one of the best teams in baseball. While the roster would certainly be better with Iglesias on it, New York already has the second-highest payroll in the sport. Adding Iglesias would likely require cutting salary elsewhere and New York’s efforts to get off one of its bigger contracts isn’t going well.
- New York Mets payroll 2025 (FanGraphs): $331 million
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Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes that one of the biggest reasons why the Mets are reluctant to re-sign Jose Iglesias, a fan favorite in 2024, is because of infielder Jeff McNeil. New York would evidently like to replace McNeil with Iglesias, but it can’t find anyone willing to trade for the two-time All-Star selection.
- Jeff McNeil contract (Spotrac): $15.75 million salary in 2025, $15.75M salary in 2026, 415.75 million club option for 2027
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McNeil, who turns 33 in April, won the MLB batting title and a Silver Slugger Award in 2022. The All-Star infielder’s success at the plate earned him a four-year contract extension worth $50 million total, but his production has dipped steadily ever since.
After slashing .307/.370/.458 with a .827 OPS and 128 OPS+ from 2018-’22 with a 16.9 Wins Above Replacement, McNeil’s numbers have plummeted. He barely eclipsed a .700-plus OPS in 2023, but his OBP has been in free fall – .382 to .333 to .308 – over the last three seasons.
- Jeff McNeil stats (ESPN): .238/.308/.384, .692 OPS, 12 home runs, 26 doubles in 424 at-bats
The veteran doesn’t make up for it defensively either. Two years removed from finishing in the 95th percentile for Baseball Savant‘s Range (8 Outs Above Average), McNeil is now coming off a 2024 campaign where he finished in the 63rd percentile (0 OAA). Barring a hot start this spring, the Mets are likely stuck with him.
