When the Mets were projected to win well over 90 games before the 2023 season started, Jeff McNeil was one of several players who was looking really good. Having hit .326/.382/.454 with a 141 wRC+ and a National League batting title just last year, the second baseman/corner outfielder seemed to have put his down year in 2021 firmly in the rear view mirror.
Following that excellent season, the Mets signed McNeil to a four-year contract that covered his final two arbitration-eligible years and what would have been his first two years of free agency.