The New York Mets are already looking toward a major offseason reset, and one of the names emerging as a potential target is San Diego Padres left-handed reliever Adrian Morejon. With New York coming off a disappointing 2026 season and missing the postseason despite carrying one of baseball’s highest payrolls, president of baseball operations David Stearns is expected to make significant changes before the 2027 campaign. Among the areas that could receive attention is the bullpen, where the Mets may look to add another high-end late-inning arm.
The Morejon connection comes from SNY’s Danny Abriano, who identified the Padres reliever as a potential answer to New York’s need for a closer-level pitcher. Abriano’s offseason plan calls for the Mets to pursue an elite late-inning reliever, and Morejon stands out because of his combination of overpowering velocity, strikeout ability and recent consistency. Morejon is entering his age-28 season and is scheduled to reach free agency after completing a one-year, $3.9 million contract with San Diego. That makes him one of the more intriguing bullpen arms available this winter.
Morejon’s 2026 season gives the Mets plenty of reasons to pay attention. He finished the regular season with a 2.83 ERA, 107 strikeouts and three saves across 76 appearances and 86 innings. His strikeout rate was an impressive 11.2 per nine innings, while his 1.08 WHIP showed that he was generally able to limit traffic despite working in a high-pressure relief role. Baseball Savant also lists him among the National League leaders in appearances, while his underlying metrics reinforce the impression of a pitcher whose stuff has reached another level.
The most eye-catching part of Morejon’s profile is his fastball. According to Abriano’s analysis, both his four-seam fastball and two-seam fastball averaged close to 100 mph during the 2026 season. Baseball Savant metrics also placed him in the 90th percentile or better in 10 of 12 key categories cited by SNY. That combination of velocity and quality of contact prevention helps explain why his market could become competitive once free agency opens. For a Mets club searching for more reliability at the back end of games, an arm capable of generating swings and misses at that level could become particularly attractive.
Morejon’s emergence is not an overnight development. San Diego originally signed him as an amateur free agent in 2016 after he came out of Cuba, and he reached the major leagues in 2019. Early in his career, the Padres attempted to use him as a starter and in different multi-inning roles, but injuries and inconsistency limited his ability to establish himself. Eventually, San Diego transitioned him into a full-time relief role, and that move has produced the strongest stretch of his career. MLB noted ahead of the 2025 season that Morejon had posted a 2.83 ERA and 2.79 FIP over 60 appearances the previous year while becoming increasingly effective in high-leverage situations.
That progression has continued. Over the past three seasons, Morejon has been one of the Padres’ most dependable relief weapons. Heavy cited a 2.57 ERA and 248 strikeouts over 223⅓ innings during that span, while another Heavy report earlier in September highlighted 5.8 fWAR and a 2.60 ERA with 236 strikeouts across 215 relief innings. Those numbers illustrate why his upcoming free agency could generate significant interest. Morejon has demonstrated that he can consistently handle major-league hitters without needing to rely on a single dominant pitch.
His versatility could also make him particularly interesting to New York. Although the Mets are being linked to Morejon primarily as a potential closer or high-leverage reliever, his history as a starter creates another possible avenue. Morejon has a four-seam fastball, sinker, slider and changeup, giving him a broader arsenal than many conventional one-inning relievers. A previous Heavy report noted that teams such as the Mets or Detroit Tigers could potentially explore the possibility of moving him back into a starting role. That would carry risk because his best and most consistent work has come out of the bullpen, but the possibility could increase his value to teams searching for pitching flexibility.
For the Mets, however, the more immediate issue is what happens at the back of their bullpen. New York’s relief corps finished 2026 with a 3.76 ERA, which ranked 10th among MLB teams. On the surface, that is a respectable figure, but the club still had reason to look for improvement. Devin Williams, who signed a three-year, $51 million contract to serve as the team’s closer, posted a 4.43 ERA and was the only regular Mets reliever with negative WAR, according to the Heavy report. That leaves the Mets with a potentially important decision about how they want to structure the ninth inning in 2027.
SNY’s offseason assessment suggests Williams could potentially be better suited to a setup role after his uneven 2026 campaign. Kodai Senga is another interesting bullpen possibility, but using him there for an entire season would depend on health and how the Mets evaluate his role. That creates an opening for New York to pursue a true late-inning weapon. Morejon’s profile fits that need because he has already demonstrated that he can work in important situations and generate strikeouts without needing to be protected from difficult matchups.
The Mets’ larger offseason picture also helps explain why Morejon is being discussed. New York finished 2026 with a 74–88 record and missed the postseason for the second consecutive year. Stearns acknowledged after the season that too many of his previous offseason decisions had not worked out, while SNY described the upcoming winter as an important one for the Mets’ baseball operations leadership. The organization is expected to address multiple areas, including starting pitching, first base and the bullpen. Tarik Skubal has been identified as a major rotation target, while the Mets are also expected to look externally for help at first base.
The financial side could make a Morejon pursuit possible. His current one-year, $3.9 million contract is scheduled to expire after San Diego’s postseason run, meaning he will enter the open market seeking a substantial increase. Heavy noted that the Mets’ willingness to commit significant money to relief pitching should not necessarily be questioned because of the Williams contract. New York has already shown that it is willing to spend heavily on a closer, even if the results of that particular investment have been mixed.
There is also a broader reason the Mets could be aggressive. Several sizable contracts are scheduled to come off their books after the 2027 season, potentially giving the organization more payroll flexibility down the road. SNY specifically pointed to Sean Manaea, Jorge Polanco and Kodai Senga entering the final years of their respective deals, while Bo Bichette’s situation could also affect future payroll planning. That could make a multiyear commitment to a premium reliever easier for the Mets to consider, particularly if they believe Morejon can remain effective through his late 20s and into his early 30s.
For San Diego, losing Morejon would create its own challenge. He has become an important piece of a Padres bullpen that has relied on his ability to attack hitters with premium velocity. He also recently appeared during San Diego’s postseason matchup with the Chicago Cubs, further highlighting his importance to the club’s current October roster. MLB’s 2026 All-MLB nominees also included Morejon among the National League relief pitchers, another indication of how highly his season has been regarded.
Still, the Mets connection should be viewed as an offseason possibility rather than a completed deal or confirmed negotiation. The reporting currently establishes that Morejon is a player SNY believes New York should pursue, while earlier reporting also connected him with the Mets as a possible free-agent destination. Other teams could enter the market, especially because a 27-year-old left-handed reliever with elite velocity and recent high-level production is likely to attract attention.
If New York ultimately makes Morejon a serious target, the biggest question may be how the Mets envision using him. They could sign him strictly as a high-leverage reliever and potentially give him an opportunity to compete for the closer’s job. They could also explore a more creative role that eventually involves starting, although his injury history and the success he has found in relief would make that a significant decision. For now, the clearest fit is in the late innings, where his fastball velocity and strikeout ability could give the Mets another weapon.
The potential pursuit also fits into the larger message surrounding New York’s offseason: after two straight seasons without a playoff appearance, the Mets are expected to make meaningful changes rather than simply run back the same roster. Morejon is not the only pitching target being discussed, and landing him would not solve every issue facing the club. But adding an established, high-end reliever would address one of the areas identified by SNY while giving the Mets another option in the most important innings of a game.
For Morejon, meanwhile, free agency represents an opportunity to capitalize on several seasons of development. What began as an uncertain career involving injuries, starting attempts and changing roles has evolved into one of the more intriguing relief-pitching profiles on the market. Whether he remains a setup man, becomes a closer or receives another chance to start could ultimately depend on which organization is willing to make the biggest commitment to his future. For the Mets, that decision could become one of the most interesting bullpen storylines of the 2026-27 offseason.
Bottom line: The Mets are linked to Morejon as a potential free-agent target, particularly because they are looking for a high-end late-inning arm. His 2.83 ERA, 107 strikeouts, near-100-mph fastballs and recent three-year track record make him a significant name to watch this offseason.
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