The Hidden Cost of Carson Benge's Rookie of the Year Snub for Mets

Carson Benge was snubbed for the National League's Rookie of the Year Award. That decision by voters could cost the Mets a long-term asset to help improve the franchise's fortunes.

Sep 7, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; New York Mets right fielder Carson Benge (3) runs toward third base against the Miami Marlins during the first inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The National League Rookie of the Year Award was handed out Monday night, and as expected, New York Mets outfielder Carson Benge did not win. Cincinnati Reds infielder Sal Stewart took home the honors, and Benge finished in second place despite outpacing Stewart in many advanced metrics.

Here's how Carson Benge and Sal Stewart stacked up in some of the analytical statistics this season pic.twitter.com/c8FyidNpfv

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) November 10, 2026

The difference between Benge and Stewart appeared to be an emphasis from voters on traditional counting statistics. Stewart produced 12 more home runs and finished third in baseball with 112 RBI, wildly outpacing the 64 RBI Benge delivered in his 20/20 campaign.

The NL Rookie of the Year balloting pic.twitter.com/SRAD6CkoKH

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) November 10, 2026

It was going to be an uphill battle for Benge to win Rookie of the Year after he slumped in the first five weeks of the season. It created a perception that he didn't do as much as Stewart, who started the year hot and was pretty consistent throughout the season. While it is a bummer for Benge not to take home the Mets' first NL Rookie of the Year Award since Pete Alonso in 2019, the voters' decision also cost David Stearns a valuable team-building tool.

How Carson Benge's Rookie of the Year snub cost the Mets a key draft pick

As part of the 2022 CBA, MLB introduced the Prospect Promotion Incentive, also known as PPI, to combat the idea of service time manipulation. The PPI allows teams who promote top prospects to the majors at the start of a season, rather than waiting to ensure an extra year of club control, an extra first-round draft pick if that player wins Rookie of the Year.

That pick falls at the end of the first round and gives teams a chance to not only add an extra young prospect to their farm system but also an additional allotment of bonus pool money to use for their draft class. That kind of asset could be valuable for the Mets, who David Stearns wants to build into a big-money version of the Milwaukee Brewers but has seen his top pick drop10 slots every year due to the team's large payroll exceeding the third layer of the competitive balance tax.

That drop is guaranteed to happen again this year unless the Mets land a pick inside the top six of the draft lottery, which is protected from being dropped. The extra pick and bonus money would offset a potential drop, giving Stearns more capital to attack the draft and build farm system depth he can use for future trades or to supply more depth to the big-league roster.

The good news is that the PPI program offers another avenue for teams to get that extra pick in the future. Any player who finishes in the Top 3 in either MVP or Cy Young voting before reaching arbitration would also net their team an extra draft pick, and Stewart is ineligible for that category since the program prevents teams from double-dipping with the same player.

That could be good news for the Mets, as both Benge and Nolan McLean, who finished fourth in the voting, are ascending young talents who could contend for those awards in the future if their development continues to progress in a linear fashion.

There is also a chance that MLB expands the PPI program in the new collective bargaining agreement, allowing the Mets to keep pursuing those bonus picks by aggressively promoting their talented young players in the future.

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