On November 4, the New York Mets announcement that pitcher Sean Manaea would decline his $13.5 million player option for the 2025 season and become an unrestricted free agent.

This decision is not a surprise. Manée was planned to withdraw after massively increasing his value during a 2024 campaign where he produced a 12-6 record and a 3.47 ERA while pitching 181.2 innings in the regular season. The 32-year-old then went 2-1 with a 4.74 ERA in 4 postseason starts.

While Manaea has made it clear that he enjoyed his season in New York and is open to re-signing with the Mets, other teams will surely try to acquire him as well.

And a November 11 article, Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report predicted he would sign with the Texas Rangers.

“The story of the greatest season of Manaea’s career is pretty crazy,” Kelly wrote. “He lowered his release point after studying likely NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale’s pitch against the Mets in late July, and with a few other adjustments, he put together a terrific campaign after posting a 4 ERA .73 between 2022 and 2023:

“Various teams, including the incumbent Mets, will be interested in Manaea. He should be able to work out a three-year contract that will allow him to return to the open market after 2026 if he outperforms the pact at that point.” Kelly added before predicting that Manaea would sign a three-year, $55 million contract with the Rangers, which includes an opt-out option available after the 2026 season.

The Rangers targeting Manaea makes sense, considering they need to improve their roster after a disappointing 2024 season following their 2023 World Series championship.

But most Mets fans are hoping that prediction doesn’t come true and that Manaea returns to Queens in 2025.