The Mets went into the 2017 season with what seemed to be plenty of options for the rotation. After all they had Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler, Seth Lugo, and Robert Gsellman for five spots.

If anything they seemed to have a surplus of solid arms. However, baseball is not that cut-and-dry.

DeGrom was the only starter to pass the 30-start threshold and other pitchers like Rafael Montero, Chris Flexen, Tommy Milone, Tyler Pill, and Adam Wilk were thrown into the fire to try and replace those starters.

After what happened in 2017, it would be wise to add an experienced starter for 2018. While adding Yu Darvish, Jake Arrieta, or Lance Lynn would obviously be nice, none of them are in the Mets’ price range.

Still, there are plenty of experienced starters on the market that the Mets can add at an affordable price.

R.A. Dickey

At age-43, R.A. Dickey is still a viable rotational option. While few pitchers are productive in their forties, Dickey is the exception.

The knuckleballer is coming off a 2017 campaign where he logged 190 innings down in Atlanta. That included 31 starts, a 10-10 record, a 4.26 ERA, a 1.368 WHIP, and 136 strikeouts.

To give a little context, all those numbers mentioned (expect WHIP) were better for Dickey in 2017 than in 2016. As for his WHIP, it was only 0.001 point higher in 2017. Statiscally speaking, Dickey hasn’t shown signs of slowing down just yet.

While that could change immediately at his age like it did to Bartolo Colon from 2016 to 2017, his affordability makes signing him a low-risk move.

MLB Trade Rumors doesn’t even rank him in their top-50 free agent list. Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports ranks Dickey as 59th on his list of the top-80 free agents. He predicts him landing a one-year $7 million deal and also lists an expert’s prediction of him getting paid $6.5 million for one year.

Not only would Dickey be affordable, but he would be coming back to where he found success and made a name for himself.

John Lackey

After a terrific season in St. Louis in 2015, the Chicago Cubs signed John Lackey to a two-year, $32 million contract to add to their World Series push.

Although it seemed like the Cubs overpaid for a 37-year-old starter, Lackey repaid the team by pitching well in 2016 when the Cubs won the World Series for the first time in 108 years.

Last year he did not live up to the $16 million investment as he went 12-12 with a 4.59 ERA, a 1.277 WHIP, and 149 strikeouts in 170 2/3 innings and 31 games (30 starts).

While that’s not promising as he is now 39, it was only one season. The last time Lackey even had a 4.00+ ERA was in 2011.

Furthermore, even if Lackey were to repeat his 2017 season, it would at least provide the Mets with an ample amount of innings; something they needed last season.

If Heyman’s prediction is accurate, Lackey is looking at a one-year, $9 million deal. The expert he lists, on the other hand, expects him to get $8 million for one year.

Jason Vargas

Jason Vargas stands out on this list for two reasons: he was an All-Star and led the American League in wins in 2017. It’s not often a player like that appears on a list revolved around affordable options.

However, he has a couple of things going against him. One of those things was a poor second half. Vargas made 32 starts in 2017. During the first 16 he went 12-3 with a 2.33 ERA, a 1.115 WHIP, and 73 strikeouts in 101 1/3 innings pitched.

That contrasted greatly from his next 16 starts which included a 6-8 record, 6.66 ERA, a 1.609 WHIP, and 60 strikeouts in 78 1/3 innings pitched.

If his first and second halves were swapped, Vargas would’ve been heading into the offseason with a lot of momentum.

The other reason why Vargas will be affordable is his age. At 34 year-old, Vargas won’t be cashing in on a big contract. MLB Trade Rumors has him signing a one-year, $10 million contract. The more of the offseason passes by, the more likely that already-reasonable price may drop.

Jhoulys Chacin

Jhoulys Chacin has a slightly different resume than the other three options on the list. He is by far the youngest member of this list as he will be entering his age-30 season.

Instead of having a recent track record of success, Chacin had his best season since 2013.

He went 13-10 with a 3.89 ERA, a 1.270 WHIP, and 153 strikeouts in 180 1/3 innings pitched across 32 starts.

Since there’s always the idea that one good year could an outlier, Chacin shouldn’t be receiving a big contract at this point.

Heyman ranks Chacin as 30th on his list of free agents and expects him to agree to a two-year, $20 million deal while the expert he lists believes the deal will be $17 million over two years.

MLB Trade Rumors believes he will receive a more modest deal. The website ranks him as the 33rd best available free agent this offseason and predicts he will eventually sign a two-year, $14 million contract.