First Half Record: 38-37 (5/10 International League East)
Second Half Record: 43-31 (2/10 International League East)
The 2025 Syracuse Mets season started off poorly, but by the second half of the season, the team was beginning to find its footing. They ended the season as playoff contenders, just missing a playoff berth in the last week of the season, but as is almost always the case with Triple-A, roster moves over the course of the off-season almost completely reshaped the team and numerous players who helped spur that playoff push did not return. Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams were traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in January. Nolan McLean and Jared Young spent their entire season rostered at the major league level. Veteran free agents who had solid seasons, such as Pablo Reyes and Joey Meneses, were not re-signed. Further compounding matters, players who we expected to be good were, for various reasons, not. Jonah Tong and Ryan Clifford, both of whom were expected to potentially be major league contributors in 2026, both struggled.
Much like the 2025 season, the 2026 Syracuse Mets got some new life in the second half, in particular around the trade deadline. Players who deserved promotions were sent to Syracuse, such as D'Andre Smith, Billy Amick, Emilien Pitre, and Brian Metoyer, and had success. Players who had been scuffling, such as Tong, Dylan Ross or Tobias Myers, found their grooves. Syracuse went 5-6 in July following the All-Star break, 17-9 in August, and an impressive 13-5 in September to find themselves in the hunt for the International League second-half championship.
The Syracuse Mets fought tooth and nail until literally the last day of the season; they came into 2026's final regular series game on a six-game winning streak and found themselves a half-game behind the Rochester Red Wings in the standings. Rochester, unfortunately, won their game against the Buffalo Bisons, ending Syracuse's season.
MJ Melendez: 75 G, 265 AB, .264/.361/.604, 70 H, 20 2B, 2 3B, 22 HR, 40 BB, 79 K, 5/11 SB, .293 BABIP
(Runner Up: Yonny Hernandez)
MJ Melendez signed a one year, $1.5 million split contract with the Mets back in early February. With Carson Benge still a major unknown and Luis Robert representing an omnipresent health risk, Melendez gave them a player who could handle an outfield corner and was a left-handed bat with some pop. The former Royals prospect had unimpressive surface numbers from 2022 until 2025, but was roughly a league-average offensive contributor thanks to his power. In 2025, the bottom fell out on him, prompting Kansas City to demote him to Triple-A for the majority of the season, and then non-tender him.
He did not make the team out of spring training and began the 2026 season rostered with the Triple-A Syracuse Mets, but by mid-April was called back up to Queens thanks to Luis Robert's early season injury. He looked good in limited innings in April, but as the calendar moved into May and he began getting more playing time, it became increasingly clear that he was struggling. By the end of June, Melendez was hitting .192/.315/.350 in 120 at-bats over 56 games and the decision was made to outright him back down to Triple-A Syracuse to make room for Tyrone Taylor on the Mets' roster.
The slugging outfielder had no issues handling Triple-A pitching. In one game in June and 22 in July, he hit .247/.382/.616 with 3 doubles, 8 home runs, 3 stolen bases, and 16 walks to 27 strikeouts. In 21 games in August, he hit .256/.307/.634 with 8 doubles, 1 triple, 7 home runs, 1 stolen base, and 6 walks to 24 strikeouts. In 17 games in September, he hit .339/.458/.695 with 6 doubles, 5 home runs, and 13 walks to 15 strikeouts. All in all, after being sent back to Triple-A, he finished the season hitting .276/.378/.645 with 17 doubles, 1 triple, 20 home runs, 4 stolen bases, and 35 walks to 66 strikeouts. Combined with his time in March and April, Melendez hit a combined .264/.361/.604 in 75 Triple-A games with 20 doubles, 2 triples, 22 home runs, 5 stolen bases, and 40 walks to 79 strikeouts.
Melendez seems like the definition of a Quad-A player. Including this season, he has a cumulative .213/.298/.385 batting line in 491 games over the course of his five-year career, good for an 89 wRC+. In 248 games spent at the Triple-A level, with the Syracuse Mets and the Omaha Storm Chasers, he has a cumulative .259/.346/.527 batting line, good for a 121 wRC+. I would be interested in bringing the slugger back for the 2027 season and giving him another shot. His pop from the left-side seems legit, and by all accounts, he was a good dugout presence. Worst case scenario, if he is given some playing time in a limited capacity and sinks, he can be outrighted to Triple-A.
Xzavion Curry: 16 G (14 GS), 72.1 IP, 68 H, 27 R, 27 ER (3.36 ERA), 18 BB, 41 K, .256 BABIP
(Runner Up: Jonah Tong)
In 2019, when I saw that the Cleveland Indians drafted Xzavion Curry in the 7th round of the 2019 MLB Draft, I wish that the Mets had drafted him if no reason other than his name. Ultimately, it was not possible, as Cleveland gave him a $125,000 signing bonus, and while that was still an underslot deal as compared to the MLB-recommended slot of $197,300, it would've been way too much money for the Mets to give to a player, given that they were arranging picks carefully to be able to afford prep pitching star Matthew Allan. Ironically, the Mets might have been better off drafting Curry, as Allan was limited to just 30.1 innings over seven years due to repeated catastrophic arm injuries and their 7th round pick, Luke Ritter put in plenty of work to turn himself into a viable MLB hitter but simply wasn't able to get over the hump.
Curry worked his way up the Cleveland minor league ladder quickly, making his major league debut in 2022. He spent the entire 2023 season on Cleveland's major league roster, but spent 2024 bouncing up and down between their major league roster and the Triple-A Columbus Clippers. He was left exposed to waivers that August and was claimed by the Miami Marlins. All in all, he appeared in 50 games with Cleveland, appearing in 50 games and making 15 starts, and posted a 4.53 ERA in 129.0 innings, allowing 140 hits, walking 41, and striking out 85.
The Marlins rostered him at the major league level for the remainder of the 2024 season, where he was solid, but after struggling at the beginning of 2025, Curry was optioned down to Triple-A Jacksonville. The 26-year-old continued struggling in Triple-A and was released in early June. In total, he appeared in 12 games for the Marlins, making 1 start, and posted a 3.43 ERA in 21.0 innings, allowing 13 hits, walking 5, and striking out 14.
He sat idle for roughly a month and then signed a contract with the Tigres de Quintana Roo in July. He had a solid few games in the Mexican League, and that prompted the Colorado Rockies to sign him to a minor league contract in early August. Curry made a few starts for their Triple-A affiliate, the Albuquerque Isotopes, and then became a free agent at the end of the year.
The right-hander did not receive any offers from MLB clubs over the off-season and returned to the Tigres when the 2026 season began as a result. He did not remain there for long, as the Mets offered a minor league deal in early May. He spent the year bouncing up-and-down from Triple-A Syracuse to Queens and back, posting a 3.36 ERA in 72.1 innings with the Syracuse Mets over 16 appearances and 14 starts and a 5.48 ERA in 21.1 innings for the Mets over 9 appearances and 1 start.
If you look at his stats and the underlying metrics supporting them for both his time in Triple-A and his time in the majors, there are very few positives about Curry: his fastball is below-average, he doesn't strike enough batters out, he gives up too many fly balls, when hitters make contact they barrel the ball with more regularity than you'd want…and yet, the right-hander managed to post a 3.36 ERA in 72.1 innings in the International League, a full run-and-a-half below the league average, and run a .256 BABIP. Just nine other players in the league threw at least 72.1 innings and had an ERA under 3.36, and most of them did so with much more impressive peripherals than Curry. And until his particularly dreadful final appearance of the season with the Mets that saw him give up 6 earned runs in 3.0 innings against the Baltimore Orioles, the right-hander had a 3.44 ERA in 18.1 innings at the MLB level.
I don't know exactly how he finagled all of that, but I'd bring Curry back on a minor league contract next season just to see if we might possibly figure out how.
