While most of the attention this offseason has been on the New York Mets big name free agent signings, the team has made a number of moves to fill out depth via minor free agent signings. While not the most exciting, these players can be crucial to surviving the grueling grind of a 162-game season.

Sometimes, a minor league free agent or split contract player will surprise you. In the best-case scenario, sometimes you can find a diamond in the rough. Other times, a hot spring training can earn an unheralded player a role with the big league club on opening day, and sometimes a minor league free agent can be a crucial fill-in for a couple of weeks while helping navigate big league injuries.

The Mets have been very active adding depth via the signings of minor league free agents this offseason, and these three players stand above the rest as pieces who could play a role on the big league roster in 2025.

1) Edward Oliveras

When the Mets signed outfielder Edward Oliveras to a minor league deal a couple of weeks ago, they added a player who has a chance to be a meaningful contributor in the Majors this season.

As currently constructed, the Mets have a logjam in the outfield. The projected starters are Brandon Nimmo in left, a guy you might have heard of named Juan Soto in right, and one of Tyrone Taylor or Jose Siri in center, with the loser of that centerfield battle serving as the fourth outfielder. On top of that, Starling Marte is also still on the roster taking up a spot as the de facto DH and fifth outfielder.

However, Marte might not be long for the Mets roster, and moving on from him could open up an opportunity for Oliveras. Despite being a guy who just signed a minor league deal while entering his age-29 season, there’s a lot to like about the Venezuelan native.

Oliveras is currently playing in the Venezuelan Winter League where he is tearing the cover off the ball. In 21 games he’s hit four homers and posted an eye-popping 1.128 OPS. Granted, the competition in the Venezuelan Winter League is not up to par with LIDOM, the more well-known winter league from the Dominican Republic.

Despite that, there are more reasons to get excited about Oliveras. For one, he owns a .302/.380/.505 career line in AAA across 545 plate appearances. As a Major Leaguer, he struggled to the tune of a 73 wRC+ in 196 plate appearances for the Pittsburgh Pirates last season, he was productive the previous two years with a 104 wRC+ in 2023 across 385 plate appearances and a 109 wRC+ in 2022 over 174 plate appearances.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the defensive chops to handle centerfield and is a slightly below-average defender in the corners, however, if the Mets move on from Marte there is a world where he could earn the fifth outfielder role at the conclusion of Spring Training. It’s not crazy to envision him as a slightly above-average bat who plays slightly below-average defense, which in totality is still a useful reserve.

In the worst-case scenario, he begins the season in the minors and is the first call-up should an injury strike in the outfield. In either case, that holds real value and would make this signing a big win for the Mets.

2) Jared Young

When the Mets signed infielder Jared Young to a split contract they indicated some belief that he could contribute in the Majors in 2025. The nature of the split contract signals that they believe he could be useful to the big league club and thus opted to give him some level of security over what a standard minor league deal could offer.

While the former Cubs’ and Cardinals’ farm hand has only compiled 69 mostly forgettable plate appearances at the big league level, he’s shown some promise with the bat during his lengthy minor league career.

Over four AAA seasons, he’s tallied 1258 plate appearances while posting a .268/.367/.485 slash line and 54 homers indicating some ability to draw walks and hit for power. Perhaps more impressive were the numbers he put up after moving to Korea last season.

With the KBO’s Doosan Bears, the 29-year-old Young posted a 1.080 OPS with 10 homers in 38 games. Again, like the Venezuelan Winter League, the KBO isn’t the top competition overseas, however, such an impressive performance over there cannot be ignored.

Young also provides intriguing positional versatility. A first baseman by trade, he can also play second, third, and both corner outfield spots. The Mets currently don’t have a first baseman on the Major League roster, though that will certainly change before the start of Spring Training.

More important is that versatility he provides with trade rumors swirling around the Mets current crop of utility infielders – Jeff McNeil, Luisangel Acuna, and Ronny Mauricio. A trade that relieves that bottleneck could open a pathway for Young to get Major League playing time, and if he gets the opportunity he may show that he can translate some of his plate discipline and power to the Bigs while covering a variety of positions.

3) Brandon Waddell

The Mets’ scouting department must have seen something while looking at the Doosan Bears as they added yet another player who found success in Korea inking Brandon Waddell, 30, to a minor league deal.

Waddell, just by nature of being a southpaw, adds value to the Mets as the pitching staff is comprised almost entirely of righties with only starter David Peterson and reliever Danny Young serving as left-handed options. Most of the depth at AAA is also right-handed, limiting the Mets’ options to match up and shuttle arms back and forth to keep everyone fresh.

Waddle only has 11 appearances spanning 12.2 very poor innings at the Major League level. He owns a career ERA of 5.37 in AAA over the course of 186 innings spread over four seasons. Nothing about these numbers is remarkable.

However, he left the US for greener pastures abroad during the 2022 season. While he was primarily a reliever in the Minors, he reinvented himself as a starting pitcher in Korea where he pitched to a 2.98 ERA while making 43 starts across the better part of the last three seasons.

While the same caveat that applied to his Doosan Bears teammate Jared Young regarding the level of competition in Korea also applies to Waddell, it’s hard to deny that his success over there isn’t intriguing, especially considering the relatively large sample.

At the end of the day, the Mets will get a chance to see if he unlocked something during his years in Asia, and at the very least, have acquired an arm with the versatility to eat some innings either as a spot-starter or reliever while throwing from the left side where options are scarce.

None of these moves are splashy, but there’s a good possibility that one if not more of these players will end up playing a valuable role for the Amazins’ in 2025.