A new report offers up several reasons why the New York Mets surprisingly won’t look outside the organization to fill Frankie Montas’ spot in the rotation early in the season.
There is a great deal of excitement surrounding the Mets heading into the 2025 MLB season. The team stunned the baseball world last year when they made a magical run to the NLCS in October. Then in the offseason, they won the bidding war for New York Yankees superstar Juan Soto. It has many hoping for a trip to the World Series later this year.
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However, the club was hit with bad news in the first week of spring training when it was revealed that offseason addition Frankie Montas would be sidelined for at least the next two months. He has a lat injury that won’t let him pitch at all for six to eight weeks, and then he will need a full spring training before he is ready to make his 2025 debut.
With Montas expected to miss the first month of the season, it has led to speculation the organization could look externally to fill his spot. However, on Friday, The Athletic Mets insider Will Sammon explained why that simply won’t happen.
New York Mets believe in internal Frankie Montas replacement options
Salmon began by making the point that even without Montas, the team believes they still have seven players who can be starters in 2025. Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, David Peterson, Clay Holmes, Griffin Canning, Tylor Megill and Paul Blackburn.
Many have speculated they could bring back Jose Quintana, who is still in free agency. However, Salmon claimed there is a feeling around the club that “Megill could be just as good, if not better, than someone like Jose Quintana.” And that various stat projections show they will post similar numbers this season. But Megill has more upside among scouts.
The team also believes Canning and Blackburn are “serviceable” back-of-the-rotation options that would be suitable placeholders until Montas is ready. Furthermore, Salmon speculates the team would like to keep a roster spot open for top prospect Brandon Sproat. While he won’t be ready on opening day, there is a belief he can make an impact on the roster by the midway point.
Then there is the financial element of not adding more payroll. “Mets owner Steve Cohen said he didn’t expect his club’s payroll to remain this high for 2025. He added that he could see the figure rise to somewhere around $340 million or more with in-season expenses,” Salmon added. “By not adding to the number now, the Mets would be giving themselves more wiggle room at the deadline.