Once a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is signed, the New York Mets are expected to resume their search for additional starting pitching depth, which could potentially entice them to pursue Tyler Anderson once again.

After all, the Mets were reportedly interested in acquiring Anderson’s services prior to last season’s trade deadline, where they were rumored to be one of a handful of teams inquiring to the Pittsburgh Pirates regarding the 32-year-old. Despite all that, the Seattle Mariners were declared the winner as they landed the impending free agent for the remainder of the campaign.

But after the Mariners didn’t tender the veteran hurler a qualifying offer, he ultimately became a free agent for the third time in his professional career earlier this offseason. As soon as this current lockout expires – whenever that happens – the 6’2″ starter will be tasked with searching for his next contract, something the Mets could certainly assist him with.

Before the league-wide transaction freeze commenced, New York solidified its top four starters by adding Max Scherzer to a group that already featured Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco and Taijuan Walker. Beyond them, however, there remains plenty of uncertainty surrounding the final rotation spot.

As currently constructed, an in-house competition between David Peterson and Tylor Megill would likely be required to determine which pitcher would round out the club’s pitching staff. Having said that, considering both hurlers are fairly inexperienced at the major league level, it might be beneficial to add a veteran arm to this group.

Since this organization lacks left-handed pitching, as Peterson, Joey Lucchesi and Thomas Szapucki are the only lefties featured on the 40-man roster, it’d probably be wise to add another starter of that variety. With that in mind, pursuing Anderson for the second time in less than a year would make plenty of sense.

Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

Despite splitting the 2021 season between two organizations, Anderson enjoyed plenty of success with both the Pirates and Mariners, as he performed to one of the best showings of his major league career.

Over his 31 starts, the former first-round selection compiled 167.0 innings pitched, posting a respectable 4.53 ERA, 4.24 xERA, 4.37 FIP, 4.60 xFIP and a 2.1 fWAR rating – his highest rating since 2016 (2.4).

If we dig deeper, we’ll discover that Anderson has been exceptional at limiting hard contact throughout his time in the majors, which has seen him record a career 30.7% hard-hit rate against and an 86.7 mph average exit velocity against. In particular, his 33.0% hard-hit rate against from this past season ranked in the 88th percentile among all qualified pitchers – his 87.0 mph average exit velocity against finished in the 84th percentile.

For a team like the Mets, whose starters finished with the eighth-worst hard-hit rate against (39.9%) and tied for the eighth-worst average exit velocity against (89.2 mph) in 2021, according to FanGraphs.com, they’d surely benefit from acquiring a starter that thrives in that department.

Along with limiting hard contact, Anderson also excels at keeping runners off the base paths and inducing a decent amount of strikeouts as well. Reaching a new level on that front last season, the former Mariner registered a career-best 5.4% walk rate, which placed tied for fourth-best among all qualified starters.

As for his ability to induce swings and misses, the Nevada native produced a 19.1% strikeout rate – his highest rate since 2019 (21.7%) – a 23.1% whiff rate along with a career-best 33.3% chase rate. Given that his chase rate ranked in the 94th percentile, it seems he should be capable of generating even more strikeouts in future seasons.

But if the five-pitch hurler (four-seamer, cutter, changeup, sinker and curveball) is to accomplish that feat, a few mechanical adjustments will likely be required involving his low-80s changeup.

While Anderson created the majority of his strikeouts with his two main fastballs (four-seamer and cutter) in 2021, it was his changeup that earned the highest whiff rate (28.7%) among all of his pitches. Unfortunately, inconsistent command prevented it from serving as a reliable out pitch, resulting in a measly 14.3% strikeout rate.

As shown in the chart above, Anderson’s off-speed pitch was primarily located in the bottom half of the strike zone, and below it at times as well. But on occasion, it’d hang up around the letters of opposing batters, allowing them to produce a concerning .488 slugging percentage against it.

If New York’s coaching staff were able to help the left-hander improve his changeup’s downward movement, which averaged just 28.2 inches of drop last season, there’s a pretty strong chance it’d become a much more effective weapon moving forward.

Then, rather than counting on just two pitches during strikeout situations, Anderson would be able to add a third offering to that mix, one that could potentially transform into his most valuable pitch. Either way, making this type of adjustment would undoubtedly better his career in the long run.

Considering the Oregon standout recently turned 32-years-old, and is coming off a one-year, $2.5-million contract, chances are he’ll be seeking a multi-year deal that’d pay him a sizeable raise from last season’s salary. Based on the 2.1 WAR rating from his latest performance, it’d be reasonable to assume he could fetch a deal worth somewhere around $8-$10 million per season.

Though the Mets have already spent $130 million in free agency on their rotation this winter, for a pitcher of Anderson’s caliber, making another investment, albeit, one much smaller than Scherzer’s lucrative deal, could prove to be extremely worthwhile.

While the veteran lefty would still likely need to compete for that final rotation, given his six seasons of major league experience, paired with his 2021 performance, his chances of winning that gig would probably be fairly high. In turn, Megill could begin next season at triple-A Syracuse, with Peterson potentially taking over the vacant muli-inning reliever role.

That way, New York would not only possess a talented left-hander in its starting rotation but also a lefty in the bullpen, who in all likelihood, could be utilized in several different situations – including medium to high leverage if needed.

So despite missing out on Anderson last summer, the front office appears poised with an opportunity to acquire its target a second time around.