Five Mets non-tendered

The Mets have announced that the following players have been non-tendered: Omar Quintanilla, Jordany Valdespin, Justin Turner, Jeremy Hefner, and Scott Atchison. These players are now free agents and can sign with any team. 

The Mets trimmed an estimated $4 million in payroll by cutting these players from their roster, which now stands at 35. 

Monday night marked the deadline for team's to tender contracts to their players. 43 players in total have been added to the current free agent class.

Quintanilla hit .222 with a .306 OBP in 95 games for the Mets last season. He was the team's primary shortstop while Ruben Tejada was in the minor leagues and on the disabled list with a knee injury. The former first round pick is a career .222 hitter with a .288 OBP. 

Coming into the season, Valdespin was expected to see some time in the outfield. In 66 games for New York, he hit .188 with 4 homers and 16 RBI. Following his demotion in June, he ripped manager Terry Collins, which put him in hot water throughout the entire front office. The year got even worse for him when he was suspended 50 games from baseball for using performance-enhancing drugs. He was reinstated on September 25th, but immediately assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas. 

Turner being non-tendered comes as a surprise, as the utility man put up a respectable .280/.319/.385 line in 2013. The 29 year old filled in for David Wright for some time, and also saw some action at shortstop. He was originally acquired by the Mets from the Orioles via waivers in 2010. He hit a combined .267 in 3 career seasons with New York.

Hefner wasn't even arbitration eligible yet, but the move is justified by the fact that he will be missing the entire 2014 season following Tommy John surgery. The 27 year old had a strong 3.39 ERA through his first 18 appearances (17 starts), but fell off a cliff after that. In his final 6 starts, he sported a horrible 7.58 ERA. Most of that can be blamed on a lingering injury he was dealing with. In August he was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas, and a team doctor recommended him to undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

Atchison, 37, came over to the Mets after a relatively solid season with Boston where he had a 1.58 ERA in 42 games. The veteran had a few DL stints with New York in 2013, and wound up putting up a 4.37 ERA in 50 relief appearances. 

Both Atchison and Quintanilla were expected to be cut, and they will probably not be brought back unless it's on minor league deals. Quintanilla did what he needed to do -- fill in for Tejada for the short-term. Atchison didn't really pan out as injuries kept him on the disabled list for a while, but since he was brought over for practically nothing it was a no-harm no foul situation.

I'm not too thrilled about letting Justin Turner go, as his versatility was underrated. Of-course, the Mets could look to bring him back on a cheaper deal, but now he's open to sign with anyone, and I'm already hearing rumblings about the Twins "really liking" him. He's a cheap, versatile player who can come through in the clutch, so I'm not entirely sure what the Mets are thinking here. 

Hefner's success in 2013 got me really excited, as I thought he could be a long-term back-end of the rotation kind of player. Actually, for a certain time in the season, he was the team's second-best pitcher behind Matt Harvey. The problem was his injury that lingered with him up until the point where the Mets couldn't hand him the ball every fifth day. When he was demoted, it was expected that something was up with his arm, as he looked fatigued out there. As for his long-term future, I'm not sure what it will bring. He will clearly miss the entire 2014 season, and after that the Mets may or may not hand him a minor league deal to get his value back up. In my opinion, I feel like he's going to leave the Mets because of either his anger towards the team for overworking him, or not properly diagnosing the injury at first. 

Finally, with Valdespin, he was bound to be let go some way or another, whether it was this or being traded to another club. His antics, ranging from excessive celebrations to even ripping the manager following a demotion, were not liked by the front office, and it was expected that he'd be gone. Many people agree with me when I say this: he's a million dollar player in term's of talent, but has a two cent head. He's the definition of raw talent, and any team that takes a flier on him should know that he comes with a considerable amount of baggage.