Although 2021 feels like eons away at the moment, for the Mets it will prove to be a pivotal winter in whether or not the club will contend beyond 2020 (if we have a 2020 season). With so many short-term deals on the roster set to expire, the 2021 club could look very different – and not in a good way.
One area that will absolutely have to be addressed is the starting rotation.
With three of the club’s five starters (Marcus Stroman, Rick Porcello, and Michael Wacha) all slated to hit free agency at season’s end, along with the injury to flame thrower Noah Syndergaard, even a rotation anchored by the greatness of Jacob deGrom would have little success contending in the NL East.
The 2021 starting pitcher free agent class is set to be one of the deepest in some time, and should present the Mets with a plethora of options from premiere top-of-the-rotation arms to reliable depth pieces at the back end.
Below you will find a few names (some old and some new) that the Mets need to consider bringing to Flushing in order to contend on the mound in 2021:
4) Rick Porcello and/or Michael Wacha
We’ll have to see how 2020 plays out (if at all), but when you consider the injury to Noah Syndergaard combined with the fact that the Mets won’t get anywhere near full value for the one-year contracts they signed Porcello and Wacha to, it would be wise to bring one or both of them back to sure up major league level depth for the back of a rotation that will badly need it.
3) Anibal Sanchez
When we look at the crop of available starters, one name that stands out as an enticing one-year deal is Nationals 2019 postseason standout Anibal Sanchez. Sanchez has been a renaissance in the later years of his career, posting a 2.50 ERA in three postseason starts to help the Nationals secure the franchise’s first World Series title.
Sanchez would be a more than suitable middle of the rotation arm, and he knows the division well after pitching for Miami (then Florida), Atlanta, and now Washington.
Sanchez’s veteran presence would be a stabilizing force for the rotation until Syndergaard’s return from Tommy John surgery sometime in the summer of ’21, which could then provide another back end starter or reliable swing man out of the pen down the stretch for New York.
2) Marcus Stroman
With 2020 in jeopardy, the possibility of the Mets trading for only 11 starts of Marcus Stroman is a real possibility. Even if an abbreviated season is played this year, it will leave a bad taste in a lot of Mets fans’ mouths if the native Long Islander’s time in New York was so short.
Combine that with the fact that the only two starters the Mets would have on the roster for 2021 is deGrom and Steven Matz, it may be necessary to bring back Stroman long term to anchor the number two spot in the rotation.
Albeit a small sample size, Stroman showed success in a new league, striking out 60 batters in only 59.2 IP for New York, which was a significant uptick from his time with the Blue Jays.
Stroman has shown that he can pitch on the big stage of the postseason (in the 2015 postseason only months after tearing his ACL), and the fiery right-hander seems to relish playing in front of his hometown fans.
1) Trevor Bauer
Now before everyone goes crazy about Bauer’s “peculiar” personality and disappointing second half of 2019, let’s consider a few things first.
Besides possessing a live arm and above average pitching smarts, one thing that makes Bauer so enticing (especially in the Mets’ case) is his ability to take the ball every fifth day. Bauer has averaged over 200 IP in 2018 and 2019, and for a rotation facing so much uncertainty this coming winter, stability will go a long way.
Besides his reliability to take the ball, Bauer possesses plus stuff that could play well pitching in a bigger park like Citi Field. Bauer did not fair well adjusting to the bandbox that is Great American Ballpark last year, but the more spacious confines in Queens might help bring out the dominant pitcher he was in Cleveland.
No matter who you may want to fill in this rotation, we can agree that this is a deep free agent class with a lot of potential. If the Amazins are willing to add from this pool of quality performers, the 2021 rotation could quickly return as a major strength for the ball club.
