The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12-year, $325 million deal on Thursday night, and multiple reports suggest the Mets are not going to target high-end starters after missing on the 25-year-old.

With that said, I believe it’s notable to look at what the Mets rotation currently looks like for the 2024 season:

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

And what it would look like for the 2025 season, given current contracts:

  • RHP Kodai Senga
  • ?
  • ?
  • ?
  • ?

The point is that Quintana, Houser, and Severino all become free agents after the 2025 season, meaning the Mets have not only immediate needs for starters but also long-term as well. The Mets do have a solid group of pitching prospects —Christian Scott, Mike Vasil, Dominic Hamel, Tyler Stuart, Blade Tidwell— that will be in Double-A and Triple-A during the 2024 season, and it’s possible that a couple will make their MLB debuts next year, but the Mets shouldn’t count on them in 2024, and they will need to fill lots of innings for 2025 as currently constructed.

The top end of the free agent market includes Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell before you get to names like Shōta Imanaga, Lucas Giolito, and others, and the biggest name getting discussed on the trade market remains Dylan Cease from the White Sox.

President of baseball operations David Stearns added Severino and Houser this offseason as solid depth options, though they still need at least one starter who projects to be more of a topline pitcher and likely another starter on top of that. And unless Stearns wants to keep this trend of acquiring starting pitchers next offseason, both of those starters should be on multi-year deals.