Mets’ Needs After Strong Start to Offseason

After a productive Winter Meetings that saw the Mets bring in Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander along with José Quintana and Brooks Raley, they went on to make a pair of big splashes on Thursday night as well. They re-signed Brandon Nimmo to an eight-year, $162 million deal after the chances of a reunion looked bleak just hours earlier, and also brought in one of their top trade deadline targets from last season in David Robertson with a one-year, $10 million deal.

Those moves brought the team’s luxury tax payroll up to $328 million, but it doesn’t appear the team is done making moves, nor should they be. While the Mets have undoubtedly had a great offseason up to this point, there are still holes that need to be filled, and we are going to take a look at the spots on the roster that could be filled with fresh faces as a result.

Starting Pitching

After Jacob deGrom, Taijuan Walker and Chris Bassitt hit free agency, the Mets were tasked with filling their spots in the rotation along with the combined 403 1/3 innings the trio threw in 2022. They took monumental steps towards doing so with the signings of Verlander as a deGrom replacement and co-ace alongside Max Scherzer to go with Quintana as a middle-of-the-rotation option, but the team could still use a third guy from the open market to round it all out. There have been widespread reports about their fervent interest in Kodai Senga, who is a hot commodity and has plenty of suitors and is likely to command a deal in the five-to-six-year range. With further reports stating that Senga wants to play in a big market and for a contender, it feels as if the cards are aligning for a serious pursuit by the Mets.

If they don’t end up landing Senga, another starter that has piqued their interest is former Blue Jay Ross Stripling. Stripling had the best year of his career in 2022, as he put up a 3.01 ERA and 3.1 fWAR over 32 starts and 24 appearances in 134 1/3 innings of work. He would fit as a back-end option that would serve as pitching depth and would allow for guys such as David Peterson and Tylor Megill to potentially move into the bullpen and fill a swingman-type of role.

Bullpen

Much like the starting rotation, the Mets came into the offseason knowing that they would have to undergo a massive retooling of the bullpen, as only Drew Smith remained among the key parts from 2022. They started off with a bang by re-signing Edwin Díaz in the exclusivity period shortly after the conclusion of the World Series and have since added depth through a variety of avenues with names like Stephen Ridings, Zach Greene, Jeff Brigham, Elieser Hernandez, and William Woods. The team also added a pair of back-end arms with Robertson and Raley, but will still likely need to add one or two more established arms to truly feel good about how things are shaping out for 2023.

Adam Ottavino may very well still be a candidate to return after his masterful 2022 campaign that saw him step up as the team’s set-up man with a 2.06 ERA and 1.1 fWAR in 66 appearances. Perhaps Andrew Chafin, a long-time target, is also a fit as another lefty alongside Raley after a fantastic season in Detroit where he had a 2.83 ERA and was continuously effective against both righties and lefties.

An important piece of information to note is that Seth Lugo is unlikely to return after years of being a stalwart in the ‘pen for the Mets, as he is garnering league-wide interest in his preferred role as a starter.

Power Bat

With the return of Nimmo, the Mets are set to essentially “run it back” offensively. The further integration of top prospects Brett Baty and Francisco Álvarez into the lineup should add more of a power element in 2023, but the jury is out on whether or not it is enough for a team who struggled to keep pace in that department. What makes this need trickier than the others is the fact that every position feels set outside of the team’s designated hitter. Daniel Vogelbach is likely to fill that role against righties once again, but Darin Ruf’s immense struggles at the end of last season have led to trade rumors and made him an unsuitable option going forward.

One potential fit that checks multiple boxes is Adam Duvall. He appeared in just 86 games last season due to a left wrist injury, but he is just one year removed from hitting 38 home runs and has three 30-homer campaigns under his belt. He also has a 101 wRC+ against lefties across his career, making him a potential platoon option with Vogelbach, and is also a plus-defender and base runner, adding further value in other areas of the game.

Former Met Brandon Drury could also step in as a possible DH option due to his .299/.329/.626 slash line against southpaws this past season while also hitting 28 home runs.